When two or more medicines are taken at the same time, the effects of one of the medicines can be altered by the other. This is known as a drug-drug interaction.
Paracetamol may interact with the following medicines:
- busulfan – treats some types of cancer
- carbamazepine – treats a number of conditions, including epilepsy and some types of pain
- colestyramine – treats a number of conditions, including the itchiness that is caused by primary biliary cirrhosis (a type of liver disease)
- coumarins – these are present in oral anticoagulant medicines (medicines to prevent the blood clotting), such as warfarin (see below)
- domperidone – relieves sickness and treats a number of conditions, including indigestion
- metoclopramide – relieves sickness and treats a number of conditions, including indigestion
To check that your medicines are safe to take with paracetamol, you can:
- ask your GP or local pharmacist
- read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine
- check the Medicines information tab at the top of this page
Warfarin
Warfarin is an anticoagulant (blood-thinning) medicine that is used to treat and prevent conditions such as:
If you take warfarin, prolonged regular use of paracetamol may increase its anticoagulant effect, making it more difficult for your blood to clot. This can increase the risk of bleeding. This effect is not thought to happen with occasional doses of paracetamol.
See the Health A-Z topic about Warfarin for more information about this medicine.
Paracetamol-containing medicines
You should not take paracetamol with other products that contain paracetamol, such as co-dydramol, co-codamol and Tramacet. This is due to the risk of overdosing on paracetamol.
