Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking a butalbital and acetaminophen combination, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following :
- Anticoagulants (blood thinners), or
- Carbamazepine (e.g., Tegretol) or
- Contraceptives, oral (birth control pills) containing estrogen, or
- Corticosteroids (cortisone-like medicines) or
- Corticotropin (e.g., ACTH)?Butalbital may make these medicines less effective
- Antidepressants, tricyclic (amitriptyline [e.g., Elavil], amoxapine [e.g., Asendin], clomipramine [e.g., Anafranil], desipramine [e.g., Pertofrane], doxepin [e.g., Sinequan], imipramine [e.g., Tofranil], nortriptyline [e.g., Aventyl], protriptyline [e.g., Vivactil], trimipramine [e.g., Surmontil]) or
- · Central nervous system (CNS) depressants (medicines that often cause drowsiness)?These medicines may add to the effects of butalbital and increase the chance of drowsiness or other side effects
· Divalproex (e.g., Depakote) or
· Valproic acid (e.g., Depakene)?The chance of side effects may be increased
Other medical problems ?
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of butalbital and acetaminophen combinations. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially :
- Alcohol abuse (or history of) or
- Drug abuse or dependence (or history of)?Dependence on butalbital may develop; also, acetaminophen may cause liver damage in people who abuse alcohol
- Asthma (or history of), emphysema, or other chronic lung disease or
- Hepatitis or other liver disease or
- Hyperactivity (in children) or
- Kidney disease?The chance of serious side effects may be increased
- Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) or
- Mental depression or
- Overactive thyroid or
- Porphyria (or history of)? Butalbital can make these conditions worse
- Heart disease (severe)?The caffeine in some butalbital and acetaminophen combinations can make some kinds of heart disease worse
The above information thankfully comes from the health.am at the following link.