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Terbinafine and Cyclosporine Interaction

Drug interaction information between Terbinafine and Cyclosporine.

Terbinafine and Cyclosporine have a documented minor interaction in FDA labeling.

FDA drug labeling documents a minor-severity interaction between Terbinafine and Cyclosporine. 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.

Drug A

Terbinafine

Allylamine Antifungal

Drug B

Cyclosporine

Calcineurin Inhibitor (Immunosuppressant)

How They Interact

Terbinafine makes the body get rid of cyclosporine more quickly than normal.

What To Do

Your doctor may need to check your blood levels and adjust your cyclosporine dose to make sure it still works.

FDA Label Information

Drug interactions have also been noted with cimetidine, fluconazole, cyclosporine, rifampin, and caffeine. In vitro studies with human liver microsomes showed that terbinafine does not inhibit the metabolism of tolbutamide, ethinylestradiol, ethoxycoumarin, cyclosporine, cisapride and fluvastatin. Terbinafine increases the clearance of cyclosporine by 15%.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I take Terbinafine and Cyclosporine together?

This is a minor interaction. Your doctor may need to check your blood levels and adjust your cyclosporine dose to make sure it still works.

How serious is the interaction between Terbinafine and Cyclosporine?

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 Terbinafine and Cyclosporine interact?

Terbinafine makes the body get rid of cyclosporine more quickly than normal.

Understanding the Terbinafine and Cyclosporine Interaction

FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a minor-severity interaction. Terbinafine belongs to the Allylamine Antifungal class and Cyclosporine belongs to the Calcineurin Inhibitor (Immunosuppressant) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Terbinafine makes the body get rid of cyclosporine more quickly than normal. 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. Terbinafine has 17 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Cyclosporine has 89. 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: Your doctor may need to check your blood levels and adjust your cyclosporine dose to make sure it still works. 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 Terbinafine or Cyclosporine 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.