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. Major interactions are generally avoided, moderate ones may need monitoring or a dose adjustment, and minor ones are usually low-risk. This page shows the documented mechanism and guidance. Label-documented interactions are not a complete safety review, so always confirm your own medications with a pharmacist or doctor. Educational information, not medical advice.
How They Interact
Clarithromycin can increase how much glimepiride lowers your blood sugar, which increases your risk of having a low blood sugar reaction.
What To Do
Check your blood sugar frequently and let your healthcare provider know if you experience symptoms of low blood sugar.
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...
Glimepiride Also Interacts With
- Albuterol minor
- Fluoxetine minor
- Clonidine minor
- Olanzapine minor
- Fluconazole minor
Clarithromycin Also Interacts With
- Quetiapine major
- Pioglitazone major
- Fluconazole major
- Cyclosporine major
- Lurasidone major
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Glimepiride and Clarithromycin together?
This is a minor interaction. Check your blood sugar frequently and let your healthcare provider know if you experience symptoms of low blood sugar.
How serious is the interaction between Glimepiride and Clarithromycin?
This interaction is classified as "minor" severity by the FDA. Minor interactions are unlikely to cause significant problems but should still be mentioned to your healthcare provider.
Why do Glimepiride and Clarithromycin interact?
Clarithromycin can increase how much glimepiride lowers your blood sugar, which increases your risk of having a low blood sugar reaction.
Understanding the Glimepiride and Clarithromycin Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Glimepiride belongs to the Sulfonylurea class and Clarithromycin belongs to the Macrolide Antibiotic class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Clarithromycin can increase how much glimepiride lowers your blood sugar, which increases your risk of having a low blood sugar reaction. Severity tiers matter: major flags generally advise avoidance, moderate flags often require monitoring or dose adjustment, and minor flags may only call for awareness.
Context around a specific patient determines real-world impact. Glimepiride has 16 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Clarithromycin has 81. Each additional medication compounds the interaction surface, which is why pharmacists run full-profile checks rather than evaluating one pair at a time. FDA-derived guidance for this pair is: Check your blood sugar frequently and let your healthcare provider know if you experience symptoms of low blood sugar. Timing of doses, renal and hepatic function, age, and other concurrent prescriptions all shape whether a labeled interaction matters clinically.
An interaction flag is not a verdict. A large share of labeled interactions are managed routinely in clinical practice, the fix may be as simple as spacing doses or adding a monitoring test. Others require the prescriber to choose a different medication entirely. This page surfaces FDA-sourced labeling and openFDA data for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice and cannot account for your full clinical picture. Never start, stop, or adjust either Glimepiride or Clarithromycin based on a web page, speak with your prescriber or pharmacist before making any change.
Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about drug interactions.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.