Glimepiride and Clarithromycin Interaction

Drug interaction information between Glimepiride and Clarithromycin.

Glimepiride and Clarithromycin have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.

FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Glimepiride and Clarithromycin. This page displays the available source-record category and label text. The category is not an individual risk estimate or medication-combination direction.

Drug A

Glimepiride

Sulfonylurea

Drug B

Clarithromycin

Macrolide Antibiotic

How They Interact

Clarithromycin can increase how much glimepiride lowers your blood sugar, which increases your risk of having a low blood sugar reaction.

FDA Label Information

The following are examples of medications that may increase the glucose-lowering effect of sulfonylureas including glimepiride, increasing the susceptibility to and/or intensity of hypoglycemia: oral anti-diabetic medications, pramlintide acetate, insulin, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, H 2 receptor antagonists, fibrates, propoxyphene, pentoxifylline, somatostatin analogs, anabolic steroids and androgens, cyclophosphamide, phenyramidol, guanethidine, fluconazole, sulfinpyrazone, tetracyclines, clarithromycin, disopyramide, quinolones, and those drugs that are highly...

Frequently Asked Questions

What SPL severity band is on file for Glimepiride + Clarithromycin?

Compiled FDA labeling labels this pair minor. That is a source-record field, not an individual medication-combination decision.

Which drug in this pair has the larger labeled-interaction portfolio?

Clarithromycin has 81 labeled pairs on file vs Glimepiride's 16. In the minor band specifically: Glimepiride has 16 (also Albuterol, Fluoxetine, Clonidine, Olanzapine); Clarithromycin has 30 (also Amlodipine, Lorazepam, Diltiazem, Erythromycin).

What mechanism field is on file for Glimepiride and Clarithromycin?

Clarithromycin can increase how much glimepiride lowers your blood sugar, which increases your risk of having a low blood sugar reaction.

Clarithromycin carries more major-labeled pairs than Glimepiride

SPL source-record counts only. This page's band is minor · classes on file: Glimepiride (Sulfonylurea); Clarithromycin (Macrolide Antibiotic).

Clarithromycin has 16 major-labeled pairs vs Glimepiride's 0. This page itself is in the minor band, not the major band.

Glimepiride

0 major · 0 moderate · 16 minor · 16 total

Clarithromycin

16 major · 35 moderate · 30 minor · 81 total

Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. This registry does not provide individual medication-combination directions.