Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine Interaction
Drug interaction information between Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine.
Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine have a documented major interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a major-severity interaction between Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine. 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 medications are designed to do the same thing in the brain to control body movements. Using both at once increases the risk of dangerous side effects because they have the same target.
What To Do
Do not use these drugs together. Your healthcare provider should prescribe only one of these medicines to manage your condition.
FDA Label Information
7.7 Concomitant Deutetrabenazine or Valbenazine Tetrabenazine is contraindicated in patients currently taking deutetrabenazine or valbenazine.
Tetrabenazine Also Interacts With
- Deutetrabenazine major
- Olanzapine moderate
- Risperidone moderate
- Ziprasidone moderate
- Haloperidol moderate
Valbenazine Also Interacts With
- Deutetrabenazine major
- Digoxin moderate
- Itraconazole minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine together?
This is a major interaction. Do not use these drugs together. Your healthcare provider should prescribe only one of these medicines to manage your condition.
How serious is the interaction between Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine?
This interaction is classified as "major" severity by the FDA. Major interactions may be life-threatening or cause serious side effects.
Why do Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine interact?
These medications are designed to do the same thing in the brain to control body movements. Using both at once increases the risk of dangerous side effects because they have the same target.
Understanding the Tetrabenazine and Valbenazine Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a major-severity interaction. Tetrabenazine belongs to the VMAT2 Inhibitor class and Valbenazine belongs to the VMAT2 Inhibitor class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: These medications are designed to do the same thing in the brain to control body movements. 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. Tetrabenazine has 16 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Valbenazine has 4. 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 use these drugs 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 Tetrabenazine or Valbenazine 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.