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Does Verapamil Interact With Clonidine?

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Posted on Thu, 12 Jan 2017
Question: can I take verapamil and clonidine?

If I have been taking clonidine daily, how long do I have to be off it before I can take the verapamil?
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Answered by Dr. Michelle Gibson James (56 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
would need to monitored closely

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

Verapamil and clonidine would need to be monitored for interactions.

Either increases the effect of the other.
This means that there can be a reduction in heart rate and in some cases, the blood pressure can decrease as well.

These can be monitored very closely to see if these effects occur. You would need to have a blood pressure monitor at home.

The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount of drug in the body to decrease by half.
It takes approximately 3 to 5 half lives for a medication to mostly eliminated.

The half life of clonidine is 12 to 16 hours, this means that it would take approximately 36 hours (1 1/2 days) to 80 hours (about 3 days) for it to mostly eliminated but the levels would be declining steadily till this point.

It would be safer to wait 24 to 36 hours at least but this should be discussed with your doctor for confirmation.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Michelle Gibson James

General & Family Physician

Practicing since :2001

Answered : 16808 Questions

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Does Verapamil Interact With Clonidine?

Brief Answer: would need to monitored closely Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic Verapamil and clonidine would need to be monitored for interactions. Either increases the effect of the other. This means that there can be a reduction in heart rate and in some cases, the blood pressure can decrease as well. These can be monitored very closely to see if these effects occur. You would need to have a blood pressure monitor at home. The half life of a drug is the time it takes for the amount of drug in the body to decrease by half. It takes approximately 3 to 5 half lives for a medication to mostly eliminated. The half life of clonidine is 12 to 16 hours, this means that it would take approximately 36 hours (1 1/2 days) to 80 hours (about 3 days) for it to mostly eliminated but the levels would be declining steadily till this point. It would be safer to wait 24 to 36 hours at least but this should be discussed with your doctor for confirmation. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions