Taking escitalopram with other medicines and herbal supplements

Cautions with other medicines

Some medicines and escitalopram can affect each other and increase the chances of you having side effects.

Tell your pharmacist or doctor if you're taking any of these medicines before you start escitalopram:

• any medicines that affect your heartbeat – escitalopram can give you an irregular heartbeat or make your heart beat faster
• any other medicines for depression – some rarely used antidepressants can affect escitalopram to cause very high blood pressure even when they have been stopped for a few weeks

These are not all the medicines that can affect escitalopram. For a full list, see the leaflet inside your medicine packet or check with your pharmacist.

Mixing escitalopram with herbal remedies and supplements

Do not take St John's wort, the herbal remedy for depression, while you're being treated with escitalopram as this will increase your risk of side effects.

There's not enough information to say that other herbal remedies and complementary medicines are safe to take with escitalopram. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines. They're generally not tested for the effect they have on other medicines.