Pimozide/Selected Azole Antifungals
This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional before taking or discontinuing any drug or commencing any course of treatment.
Medical warning:
Severe. These medicines may interact and cause very harmful effects and are usually not taken together. Contact your healthcare professional (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) for more information.
How the interaction occurs:
When pimozide is taken with some antifungal medicines, your body may process pimozide more slowly.
What might happen:
Your blood levels of pimozide may increase. This may result in an irregular heartbeat, which may be life threatening.
What you should do about this interaction:
Contact your healthcare professionals (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) as soon as possible about taking these two medicines together. They may already be aware of this drug interaction and may be monitoring you for it. Do not stop, start, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.
References:
1.Orap (pimozide) US prescribing information. Gate Pharmaceuticals August, 2011.
2.Sporanox (itraconazole) US prescribing information. Janssen Pharmaceutica Products, L.P. April, 2012.
3.Noxafil (posaconazole) UK summary of product characteristics. Schering-Plough Ltd. February 2, 2006.
4.Noxafil (posaconazole) US prescribing information. Schering Corporation June, 2012.
5.Vfend (voriconazole) US prescribing information. Pfizer Inc. November, 2011.
6.Desta Z, Kerbusch T, Soukhova N, Richard E, Ko JW, Flockhart DA. Identification and characterization of human cytochrome P450 isoforms interacting with pimozide. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1998 May;285(2):428-37.
