Sertraline and Citalopram Interaction
Drug interaction information between Sertraline and Citalopram.
Sertraline and Citalopram have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Sertraline and Citalopram. 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
These two drugs belong to the same class and both raise serotonin, which can cause levels to become higher than intended.
What To Do
If your provider decides you need both, they should observe you carefully for side effects.
FDA Label Information
If concomitant treatment with sumatriptan and an SSRI (e.g., citalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline) is clinically warranted, appropriate observation of the patient is advised.
Sertraline Also Interacts With
- Clonazepam major
- Aspirin moderate
- Phenelzine moderate
- Fluoxetine minor
- Paroxetine minor
Citalopram Also Interacts With
- Linezolid major
- Pimozide major
- Escitalopram major
- Warfarin moderate
- Phenelzine moderate
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Sertraline and Citalopram together?
This is a minor interaction. If your provider decides you need both, they should observe you carefully for side effects.
How serious is the interaction between Sertraline and Citalopram?
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 Sertraline and Citalopram interact?
These two drugs belong to the same class and both raise serotonin, which can cause levels to become higher than intended.
Understanding the Sertraline and Citalopram Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Sertraline belongs to the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) class and Citalopram belongs to the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: These two drugs belong to the same class and both raise serotonin, which can cause levels to become higher than intended. 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. Sertraline has 34 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Citalopram has 9. 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: If your provider decides you need both, they should observe you carefully for side effects. 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 Sertraline or Citalopram 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.