Meperidine and Rasagiline Interaction
Drug interaction information between Meperidine and Rasagiline.
Meperidine and Rasagiline have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Meperidine and Rasagiline. 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
Combining these medications can cause a life-threatening reaction called serotonin syndrome, where a brain chemical reaches dangerously high levels. This can lead to serious or even fatal health problems.
What To Do
Do not take these two medications together. Talk to your doctor about safer pain relief options that do not interact with your other medicine.
FDA Label Information
7 DRUG INTERACTIONS Meperidine: Risk of serotonin syndrome (4, 7.1) Dextromethorphan: Risk of psychosis or bizarre behavior (4, 7.2) MAO inhibitors: Risk of non-selective MAO inhibition and hypertensive crisis (4, 7.3) 7.1 Meperidine Serious, sometimes fatal reactions have been precipitated with concomitant use of meperidine (e.g., Demerol and other tradenames) and MAO inhibitors including selective MAO-B inhibitors [see Contraindications (4)] .
Meperidine Also Interacts With
- Safinamide major
- Tranylcypromine moderate
- Gabapentin minor
- Trazodone minor
- Tramadol minor
Rasagiline Also Interacts With
- Dextromethorphan moderate
- Tranylcypromine moderate
- Ciprofloxacin minor
- Dopamine minor
- Norepinephrine minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Meperidine and Rasagiline together?
This is a moderate interaction. Do not take these two medications together. Talk to your doctor about safer pain relief options that do not interact with your other medicine.
How serious is the interaction between Meperidine and Rasagiline?
This interaction is classified as "moderate" severity by the FDA. Moderate interactions may worsen your condition or change how your medications work.
Why do Meperidine and Rasagiline interact?
Combining these medications can cause a life-threatening reaction called serotonin syndrome, where a brain chemical reaches dangerously high levels. This can lead to serious or even fatal health problems.
Understanding the Meperidine and Rasagiline Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a moderate-severity interaction. Meperidine belongs to the Opioid Analgesic class and Rasagiline belongs to the MAO-B Inhibitor class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Combining these medications can cause a life-threatening reaction called serotonin syndrome, where a brain chemical reaches dangerously high levels. 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 Rasagiline has 7. 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: Do not take these two medications together. 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 Rasagiline 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.