Imipramine and Sertraline Interaction
Drug interaction information between Imipramine and Sertraline.
Imipramine and Sertraline have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Imipramine and Sertraline. 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
Sertraline interferes with how your liver processes imipramine, which can lead to higher levels of imipramine in your blood.
What To Do
Your doctor may need to lower your imipramine dose and monitor you closely.
FDA Label Information
While all the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), e.g., fluoxetine, sertraline, and paroxetine, inhibit P450 2D6, they may vary in the extent of inhibition.
Imipramine Also Interacts With
- Epinephrine moderate
- Norepinephrine moderate
- Zolpidem moderate
- Paroxetine minor
- Flecainide minor
Sertraline Also Interacts With
- Clonazepam major
- Aspirin moderate
- Phenelzine moderate
- Fluoxetine minor
- Citalopram minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Imipramine and Sertraline together?
This is a minor interaction. Your doctor may need to lower your imipramine dose and monitor you closely.
How serious is the interaction between Imipramine and Sertraline?
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 Imipramine and Sertraline interact?
Sertraline interferes with how your liver processes imipramine, which can lead to higher levels of imipramine in your blood.
Understanding the Imipramine and Sertraline Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Imipramine belongs to the Tricyclic Antidepressant (TCA) class and Sertraline belongs to the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Sertraline interferes with how your liver processes imipramine, which can lead to higher levels of imipramine in your blood. 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. Imipramine has 20 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Sertraline has 34. 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: Your doctor may need to lower your imipramine dose and monitor you closely. 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 Imipramine or Sertraline 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.