Naproxen and Cholestyramine Interaction
Drug interaction information between Naproxen and Cholestyramine.
Naproxen and Cholestyramine have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Naproxen and Cholestyramine. 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
Cholestyramine can slow down the absorption of naproxen into your system.
What To Do
It is not recommended to take these two medications at the same time.
FDA Label Information
Cholestyramine Clinical Impact: Concomitant administration of cholestyramine can delay the absorption of naproxen. Intervention: Concomitant administration of cholestyramine with naproxen tablets or naproxen sodium tablets is not recommended.
Naproxen Also Interacts With
- Methotrexate moderate
- Magnesium Oxide moderate
- Diflunisal moderate
- Sucralfate moderate
- Meloxicam minor
Cholestyramine Also Interacts With
- Olmesartan moderate
- Raloxifene moderate
- Propranolol minor
- Warfarin minor
- Tetracycline minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Naproxen and Cholestyramine together?
This is a moderate interaction. It is not recommended to take these two medications at the same time.
How serious is the interaction between Naproxen and Cholestyramine?
This interaction is classified as "moderate" severity by the FDA. Moderate interactions may worsen your condition or change how your medications work.
Why do Naproxen and Cholestyramine interact?
Cholestyramine can slow down the absorption of naproxen into your system.
Understanding the Naproxen and Cholestyramine Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a moderate-severity interaction. Naproxen belongs to the Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) class and Cholestyramine belongs to the Bile Acid Sequestrant class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Cholestyramine can slow down the absorption of naproxen into your 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. Naproxen has 23 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Cholestyramine has 34. 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: It is not recommended to take these two medications at the same time. 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 Naproxen or Cholestyramine 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.