Nalbuphine and Oxycodone Interaction
Drug interaction information between Nalbuphine and Oxycodone.
Nalbuphine and Oxycodone have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Nalbuphine and Oxycodone. 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 lead to a dangerous increase in breathing problems and muscle weakness.
What To Do
Do not take these drugs together as it can be unsafe.
FDA Label Information
Intervention: Avoid concomitant use Examples: Butorphanol, nalbuphine, pentazocine, buprenorphine Muscle Relaxants Clinical Impact: Oxycodone may enhance the neuromuscular blocking action of skeletal muscle relaxants and produce an increased degree of respiratory depression.
Nalbuphine Also Interacts With
- Trazodone minor
- Cyclobenzaprine minor
- Mirtazapine minor
- Linezolid minor
- Phenelzine minor
Oxycodone Also Interacts With
- Carbamazepine moderate
- Rifampin moderate
- Buprenorphine moderate
- Butorphanol moderate
- Phenytoin moderate
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Nalbuphine and Oxycodone together?
This is a moderate interaction. Do not take these drugs together as it can be unsafe.
How serious is the interaction between Nalbuphine and Oxycodone?
This interaction is classified as "moderate" severity by the FDA. Moderate interactions may worsen your condition or change how your medications work.
Why do Nalbuphine and Oxycodone interact?
Combining these medications can lead to a dangerous increase in breathing problems and muscle weakness.
Understanding the Nalbuphine and Oxycodone Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a moderate-severity interaction. Nalbuphine belongs to the Opioid Agonist-Antagonist class and Oxycodone belongs to the Opioid Analgesic class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Combining these medications can lead to a dangerous increase in breathing problems and muscle weakness. 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. Nalbuphine has 19 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Oxycodone has 28. 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 drugs together as it can be unsafe. 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 Nalbuphine or Oxycodone 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.