Safinamide and Dextromethorphan Interaction
Drug interaction information between Safinamide and Dextromethorphan.
Safinamide and Dextromethorphan have a documented major interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a major-severity interaction between Safinamide and Dextromethorphan. 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
Safinamide is an MAO inhibitor, and taking it with dextromethorphan can cause serious mental side effects like psychosis or strange behavior.
What To Do
Do not take these two medications together.
FDA Label Information
7.4 Dextromethorphan The combination of MAOIs and dextromethorphan has been reported to cause episodes of psychosis or bizarre behavior. Therefore, in view of XADAGO's MAO inhibitory activity, dextromethorphan is contraindicated for use with XADAGO.
Safinamide Also Interacts With
- Tramadol major
- Methylphenidate major
- Linezolid major
- Methadone major
- Meperidine major
Dextromethorphan Also Interacts With
- Memantine moderate
- Rasagiline moderate
- Tranylcypromine moderate
- Abiraterone minor
- Aripiprazole minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Safinamide and Dextromethorphan together?
This is a major interaction. Do not take these two medications together.
How serious is the interaction between Safinamide and Dextromethorphan?
This interaction is classified as "major" severity by the FDA. Major interactions may be life-threatening or cause serious side effects.
Why do Safinamide and Dextromethorphan interact?
Safinamide is an MAO inhibitor, and taking it with dextromethorphan can cause serious mental side effects like psychosis or strange behavior.
Understanding the Safinamide and Dextromethorphan Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a major-severity interaction. Safinamide belongs to the MAO-B Inhibitor class and Dextromethorphan belongs to the Antitussive class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Safinamide is an MAO inhibitor, and taking it with dextromethorphan can cause serious mental side effects like psychosis or strange behavior. 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. Safinamide has 10 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Dextromethorphan has 15. 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 Safinamide or Dextromethorphan 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.