Meperidine and Gabapentin Interaction
Drug interaction information between Meperidine and Gabapentin.
Meperidine and Gabapentin have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Meperidine and Gabapentin. 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
Both drugs slow down the central nervous system. This can lead to increased sleepiness, dizziness, or breathing difficulties.
What To Do
Your doctor may need to adjust your doses, and you should be monitored for signs of excessive sedation.
FDA Label Information
Examples: Benzodiazepines and other sedatives/hypnotics, anxiolytics, tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, general anesthetics, antipsychotics, gabapentinoids (gabapentin or pregabalin), other opioids, alcohol.
Meperidine Also Interacts With
- Safinamide major
- Rasagiline moderate
- Tranylcypromine moderate
- Trazodone minor
- Tramadol minor
Gabapentin Also Interacts With
- Acetaminophen/Oxycodone moderate
- Oxycodone minor
- Estradiol minor
- Naproxen minor
- Norethindrone minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Meperidine and Gabapentin together?
This is a minor interaction. Your doctor may need to adjust your doses, and you should be monitored for signs of excessive sedation.
How serious is the interaction between Meperidine and Gabapentin?
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 Meperidine and Gabapentin interact?
Both drugs slow down the central nervous system. This can lead to increased sleepiness, dizziness, or breathing difficulties.
Understanding the Meperidine and Gabapentin Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Meperidine belongs to the Opioid Analgesic class and Gabapentin belongs to the Anticonvulsant / Nerve Pain Agent class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Both drugs slow down the central nervous system. 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. Meperidine has 31 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Gabapentin has 19. 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 doses, and you should be monitored for signs of excessive sedation. 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 Meperidine or Gabapentin 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.