Insulin Detemir and Clonidine Interaction
Drug interaction information between Insulin Detemir and Clonidine.
Insulin Detemir and Clonidine have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Insulin Detemir and Clonidine. 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
Clonidine can make blood sugar levels unpredictable and can also hide the physical warning signs of low blood sugar.
What To Do
Increase how often you check your blood sugar since you may not notice the typical signs of a low.
FDA Label Information
Drugs That May Increase or Decrease the Blood Glucose Lowering Effect of LEVEMIR Drugs: Alcohol, beta-blockers, clonidine, and lithium salts. Drugs That May Blunt Signs and Symptoms of Hypoglycemia Drugs: Beta-blockers, clonidine, guanethidine, and reserpine Intervention: Increased frequency of glucose monitoring may be required when LEVEMIR is co-administered with these drugs. ( 7 ) • Antiadrenergic Drugs (e.g., beta-blockers, clonidine, guanethidine, and reserpine): Signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia may be reduced or absent.
Insulin Detemir Also Interacts With
- Fluoxetine moderate
- Pramlintide moderate
- Octreotide moderate
- Albuterol minor
- Olanzapine minor
Clonidine Also Interacts With
- Carvedilol moderate
- Metoprolol moderate
- Repaglinide moderate
- Sotalol moderate
- Amitriptyline minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Insulin Detemir and Clonidine together?
This is a minor interaction. Increase how often you check your blood sugar since you may not notice the typical signs of a low.
How serious is the interaction between Insulin Detemir and Clonidine?
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 Insulin Detemir and Clonidine interact?
Clonidine can make blood sugar levels unpredictable and can also hide the physical warning signs of low blood sugar.
Understanding the Insulin Detemir and Clonidine Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Insulin Detemir belongs to the Long-Acting Insulin class and Clonidine belongs to the Central Alpha-2 Agonist class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Clonidine can make blood sugar levels unpredictable and can also hide the physical warning signs of low blood sugar. 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. Insulin Detemir has 11 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Clonidine has 29. 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: Increase how often you check your blood sugar since you may not notice the typical signs of a low. 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 Insulin Detemir or Clonidine 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.