Colchicine

Medically Reviewed by Harshi Dhingra, M.D.

Last Reviewed: Jun 21, 2022

Warnings

What are the risks of taking colchicine (Colcrys)?

Colchicine can cause serious health complications in some people. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist if these risks are a concern.
Other risks of colchicine (Colcrys) use include:

Overdose: An accidental or intentional colchicine overdose can be fatal in adults and children. Take this medicine exactly as directed by your doctor. Keep all medications, including colchicine, in a safe place, out of reach of children.
Blood Cell Formation: Colchicine can reduce the body’s ability to make blood cells. This risk is present even when you take colchicine at the recommended dose. It can be a serious problem if it is not identified in time. Keep all your doctors’ appointments and get regular labs done as advised. Tell your healthcare provider immediately if you notice any unusual bruising or bleeding, fever, or unexplained tiredness.
Drug Interactions: There can be drug interactions between colchicine and other medicines. Taking colchicine with other drugs can lead to dangerous adverse effects. Drug interactions can be more serious in people with renal or hepatic impairment (kidney or liver problems). Make sure you give your healthcare provider a complete list of your medications. Besides drug interactions, colchicine can also interact with certain foods. Eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice can increase the amount of colchicine in your body. This can increase the risk of adverse effects and colchicine toxicity.

Speak to your doctor or pharmacist about other treatment options if you are at high risk for the above complications.

What should I tell my doctor before taking colchicine (Colcrys)?

Tell your doctor if you are allergic to colchicine, any of the ingredients in colchicine tablets, capsules, solution, or other drugs. Your pharmacy can provide you with a list of ingredients.

Give your doctor and pharmacist a complete list of your current medicines, including prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbal supplements. This can help avoid fatal drug interactions.

Give your doctor a complete medical history, especially if you have ever had liver or kidney disease. It may not be safe for you to take colchicine if you have kidney or liver problems or are taking certain other medications.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding.

What precautions should I take while taking colchicine (Colcrys)?

Keep all your appointments at your doctor’s office. Your doctor may order lab tests to check your response to the medication and guide dose adjustment. For instance, your doctor may advise dose reduction based on the results of these tests.

Make a list of all your medications and take it to every healthcare appointment.

Tell your doctor if you become pregnant while taking colchicine.

You should not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice while on this medicine.

What are colchicine (Colcrys) interactions?

Concomitant use of colchicine with certain medicines can affect how the drug works or increase the risk of severe side effects. Your physician may choose a different medication, change the dose or frequency of your medicines, and/or monitor you carefully for side effects if there are known drug interactions.

There can also be interactions between colchicine and other medications, such as:

Antibiotics like clarithromycin (Biaxin), azithromycin (Zithromax), erythromycin (E.E.S., E-Mycin)
Antifungal medications like itraconazole (Sporanox), fluconazole (Diflucan), posaconazole (Noxafil), and ketoconazole (Nizoral)
Statins (cholesterol-lowering medications) like atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor), fluvastatin (Lescol), simvastatin (Zocor), and pravastatin (Pravachol)

HIV/AIDS medications like amprenavir (Agenerase), fosamprenavir (Lexiva), atazanavir (Reyataz), nelfinavir (Viracept), indinavir (Crixivan), saquinavir (Invirase), ritonavir (in Kaletra, Norvir)
Fibrates like fenofibrate (Lipofen, Antara), bezafibrate, and gemfibrozil (Lopid)
Calcium channel blockers like verapamil (Covera, Calan, Verelan, Isoptin)
Nefazodone

Aprepitant (Emend)
Cyclosporine (Gengraf, Sandimmune, Neoral)
Digoxin (Lanoxin, Digitek)
Diltiazem (Dilacor, Cardizem, Tiazac, others)
Ranolazine (Ranexa)

All possible drug interactions are not included in this list. Give your healthcare provider a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements, vitamins, and herbal remedies. Also, tell your healthcare provider if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs because some of these substances can cause serious health complications when used with prescription drugs.

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