Trazodone and Phenelzine Interaction
Drug interaction information between Trazodone and Phenelzine.
Trazodone and Phenelzine have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Trazodone and Phenelzine. 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
Both of these medications increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, which can lead to a dangerous reaction called serotonin syndrome.
What To Do
Talk to your doctor about the risks, as they may need to adjust your doses or change your treatment.
FDA Label Information
Examples: isocarboxazid, moclobemide, phenelzine, selegiline, tranylcypromine Other Serotonergic Drugs Clinical Impact: The concomitant use of serotonergic drugs including trazodone and other serotonergic drugs increases the risk of serotonin syndrome.
Trazodone Also Interacts With
- Linezolid major
- Aspirin moderate
- Tranylcypromine moderate
- Selegiline moderate
- Tramadol minor
Phenelzine Also Interacts With
- Sertraline moderate
- Fluoxetine moderate
- Citalopram moderate
- Venlafaxine moderate
- Fluvoxamine moderate
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Trazodone and Phenelzine together?
This is a moderate interaction. Talk to your doctor about the risks, as they may need to adjust your doses or change your treatment.
How serious is the interaction between Trazodone and Phenelzine?
This interaction is classified as "moderate" severity by the FDA. Moderate interactions may worsen your condition or change how your medications work.
Why do Trazodone and Phenelzine interact?
Both of these medications increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, which can lead to a dangerous reaction called serotonin syndrome.
Understanding the Trazodone and Phenelzine Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a moderate-severity interaction. Trazodone belongs to the Serotonin Antagonist and Reuptake Inhibitor (SARI) class and Phenelzine belongs to the Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI) class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: Both of these medications increase the amount of serotonin in your brain, which can lead to a dangerous reaction called serotonin syndrome. 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. Trazodone has 40 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Phenelzine has 27. 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: Talk to your doctor about the risks, as they may need to adjust your doses or change your treatment. 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 Trazodone or Phenelzine 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.