Drug Interactions between Contrave and Zoloft

GENERALLY AVOID: Excessive use or abrupt discontinuation of alcohol after chronic ingestion may precipitate seizures in patients receiving bupropion. Additionally, there have been rare postmarketing reports of adverse neuropsychiatric events or reduced alcohol tolerance in patients who drank alcohol during treatment with bupropion. According to one forensic report, a patient died after taking large doses of both bupropion and alcohol. It is uncertain whether a drug interaction was involved. Single-dose studies in healthy volunteers given bupropion and alcohol failed to demonstrate either a significant pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interaction.

MANAGEMENT: The manufacturer recommends that alcohol consumption be minimized or avoided during bupropion treatment. The use of bupropion is contraindicated in patients undergoing abrupt discontinuation of alcohol.

GENERALLY AVOID: Alcohol may potentiate some of the pharmacologic effects of sertraline. Use in combination may result in additive central nervous system depression and/or impairment of judgment, thinking, and psychomotor skills. In addition, limited clinical data suggest that consumption of grapefruit juice during treatment with sertraline may result in increased plasma concentrations of sertraline. The proposed mechanism is inhibition of CYP450 3A4-mediated metabolism by certain compounds present in grapefruit. An in-vitro study demonstrated that grapefruit juice dose-dependently inhibits the conversion of sertraline to its metabolite, desmethylsertraline. In a study with eight Japanese subjects, mean plasma levels of sertraline increased by approximately 100% and maximum plasma concentrations increased by 66% after the ingestion of three 250 mL glasses of grapefruit juice per day for 5 days and administration of a single dose of sertraline 75 mg on the sixth day. In another small study with 5 patients, mean sertraline trough levels increased by 47% after taking sertraline for at least 6 weeks, then taking sertraline with 240 mL grapefruit juice daily for 1 week. The clinical significance is unknown; however, pharmacokinetic alterations associated with interactions involving grapefruit juice are often subject to a high degree of interpatient variability. The possibility of significant interaction in some patients should be considered.

MANAGEMENT: Patients receiving sertraline should be advised to avoid or limit consumption of alcohol. Ambulatory patients should be counseled to avoid hazardous activities requiring complete mental alertness and motor coordination until they know how sertraline affects them, and to notify their physician if they experience excessive or prolonged CNS effects that interfere with their normal activities. Some authorities recommend that consumption of grapefruit juice should be avoided during sertraline therapy.

GENERALLY AVOID: Coadministration of naltrexone with other agents known to induce hepatotoxicity may potentiate the risk of liver injury. Naltrexone, especially in larger than recommended doses (more than 50 mg/day), has been associated with hepatocellular injury, hepatitis, and elevations in liver transaminases and bilirubin. Other potential causative or contributory etiologies identified include preexisting alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis B and/or C infection, and concomitant usage of other hepatotoxic drugs.

MANAGEMENT: The use of naltrexone with other potentially hepatotoxic agents should be avoided whenever possible (e.g., acetaminophen; alcohol; androgens and anabolic steroids; antituberculous agents; azole antifungal agents; ACE inhibitors; cyclosporine (high dosages); disulfiram; endothelin receptor antagonists; interferons; ketolide and macrolide antibiotics; kinase inhibitors; minocycline; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents; nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors; proteasome inhibitors; retinoids; sulfonamides; tamoxifen; thiazolidinediones; tolvaptan; vincristine; zileuton; anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine, hydantoins, felbamate, and valproic acid; lipid-lowering medications such as fenofibrate, lomitapide, mipomersen, niacin, and statins; herbals and nutritional supplements such as black cohosh, chaparral, comfrey, DHEA, kava, pennyroyal oil, and red yeast rice). Patients should be advised to seek medical attention if they experience potential signs and symptoms of hepatotoxicity such as fever, rash, itching, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, malaise, right upper quadrant pain, dark urine, pale stools, and jaundice. Periodic monitoring of hepatic function is advisable.

MONITOR: Additive or synergistic effects on blood pressure may occur when bupropion is combined with sympathomimetic agents such as nasal decongestants, adrenergic bronchodilators, ophthalmic vasoconstrictors, and systemic vasopressors. Treatment with bupropion can result in elevated blood pressure and hypertension. In clinical practice, hypertension, in some cases severe and requiring acute treatment, has been observed in patients receiving bupropion alone and in combination with nicotine replacement therapy. These events have occurred in both patients with and without evidence of preexisting hypertension. Furthermore, postmarketing cases of hypertensive crisis have been reported during the initial titration phase with bupropion-naltrexone treatment.

MANAGEMENT: Caution is advised when bupropion is used with other drugs that increase dopaminergic or noradrenergic activity due to an increased risk of hypertension. Blood pressure and heart rate should be measured prior to initiating bupropion therapy and monitored at regular intervals consistent with usual clinical practice, particularly in patients with preexisting hypertension. Dose reduction or discontinuation of bupropion should be considered in patients who experience clinically significant and sustained increases in blood pressure or heart rate.

MONITOR: The concomitant use of bupropion and nicotine replacement for smoking cessation may increase the risk of hypertension. In a clinical study (n=250), 6.1% of patients who used sustained-release bupropion with nicotine transdermal system developed treatment-emergent hypertension, compared to 2.5% of patients treated with bupropion alone, 1.6% treated with nicotine alone, and 3.1% treated with placebo. Three patients in the bupropion plus nicotine group and one patient in the nicotine-only group discontinued treatment due to hypertension. The majority had evidence of preexisting hypertension.

MANAGEMENT: Blood pressure monitoring is recommended for patients concomitantly using bupropion and nicotine replacement for smoking cessation.