Taking labetalol with other medicines and herbal supplements

Cautions with other medicines

There are some medicines that may affect the way labetalol works.

Tell your doctor if you're taking:

• other medicines for high blood pressure – when taken together with labetalol, this can sometimes lower your blood pressure too much, which may make you feel dizzy or faint. If this keeps happening to you, tell your doctor. They may change your dose
• other medicines that can lower your blood pressure – these include some antidepressants, nitrates (for chest pain), baclofen (a muscle relaxant), medicines for an enlarged prostate, like tamsulosin, or medicines for Parkinson's disease, such as co-careldopa or levodopa
• medicines for your heart, such as amiodarone, flecainide or digoxin
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen – they can stop labetalol working properly
• medicines for diabetes, particularly insulin – labetalol may make it more difficult to recognise the warning signs of low blood sugar. Speak to your doctor if you have low blood sugar levels without getting any of the usual warning signs. Check your blood sugar after exercise, and follow the usual advice about checking it before driving or operating machinery
• steroids like prednisolone
• cough medicines that contain pseudoephedrine or xylometazoline
• medicines for allergies, such as ephedrine, noradrenaline or adrenaline
• medicines for asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Mixing labetalol with herbal remedies or supplements

There might be a problem taking some herbal remedies and supplements together with labetalol, especially ones that cause side effects like low blood pressure.

There's not enough information to say that other herbal remedies and supplements are safe to take with labetalol. They're not tested in the same way as pharmacy and prescription medicines.