Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine Interaction
Drug interaction information between Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine.
Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine. 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
Olanzapine can raise blood sugar levels, which makes it harder for insulin to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range.
What To Do
Your doctor may need to adjust your insulin dose or have you monitor your blood sugar more closely.
FDA Label Information
Drugs That May Decrease the Blood Glucose Lowering Effect of LEVEMIR Drugs: Atypical antipsychotics (e.g., olanzapine and clozapine), corticosteroids, danazol, diuretics, estrogens, glucagon, isoniazid, niacin, oral contraceptives, phenothiazines, progestogens (e.g., in oral contraceptives), protease inhibitors, somatropin, sympathomimetic agents (e.g., albuterol, epinephrine, terbutaline), and thyroid hormones.
Insulin Detemir Also Interacts With
- Fluoxetine moderate
- Pramlintide moderate
- Octreotide moderate
- Albuterol minor
- Clonidine minor
Olanzapine Also Interacts With
- Fluoxetine major
- Tetrabenazine moderate
- Omeprazole minor
- Warfarin minor
- Diazepam minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine together?
This is a minor interaction. Your doctor may need to adjust your insulin dose or have you monitor your blood sugar more closely.
How serious is the interaction between Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine?
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 Olanzapine interact?
Olanzapine can raise blood sugar levels, which makes it harder for insulin to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range.
Understanding the Insulin Detemir and Olanzapine 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 Olanzapine belongs to the Atypical Antipsychotic class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Olanzapine can raise blood sugar levels, which makes it harder for insulin to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range. 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 Olanzapine has 26. 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 adjust your insulin dose or have you monitor your blood sugar more 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 Insulin Detemir or Olanzapine 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.