Gemfibrozil

Medically Reviewed by Dr. Harshi Dhingra, M.D.

Last Reviewed: Dec 15, 2022

Warnings

Gemfibrozil Risks, Warnings, and Complications

Gemfibrozil can cause serious adverse effects in certain people. Talk to your doctor about alternative therapy for elevated triglycerides if you are at a high risk of complications from gemfibrozil use. Some of the potential risks of taking gemfibrozil include:

GALLSTONES: Gemfibrozil has been linked to an increased risk of developing gallstones. Your doctor will likely not prescribe gemfibrozil if you have gallbladder disease. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you experience stomach pain, back pain, nausea, or vomiting during gemfibrozil therapy.
MUSCLE DAMAGE: Taking gemfibrozil to control serum triglycerides can lead to muscle damage, which in turn can lead to acute renal failure (kidney failure). The risk of this occurring is higher in people who are also taking a statin medication. Seek immediate medical attention if you develop sudden muscle pain, weakness, or dark-colored urine during gemfibrozil therapy.
DRUG INTERACTIONS: Gemfibrozil can have dangerous drug interactions with certain other medications. You should not take gemfibrozil with lipid-lowering drugs such as simvastatin (Zocor) as it can lead to severe muscle damage and kidney failure. Patients taking warfarin (Coumadin) should talk to their provider about adjusting their anticoagulant dose and getting their INR checked on a regular basis. Other possible dangerous drug interactions with gemfibrozil include dasabuvir (in Viekira Pak), a medicine used to treat hepatitis C, and repaglinide (Prandin, in Prandimet), a medicine used to treat diabetes type 2. Check with your healthcare provider or pharmacist before starting any new medication or supplement while on gemfibrozil.

Precautions Before Starting Gemfibrozil

Tell your doctor if you have ever had an allergic reaction to gemfibrozil, any of the active or inactive ingredients in gemfibrozil tablets, or any other drugs. Your pharmacy can give you a list of ingredients.

Give your doctor a complete medical history. Gemfibrozil may not be right for people with certain health conditions, such as severe renal dysfunction or renal impairment (kidney disease), liver disease, or gallbladder disease.

Give your doctor or pharmacist a complete list of your other medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, supplements, and herbal products. This can help avoid possible drug interactions between gemfibrozil and your other medications.

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, could be pregnant, or are planning a pregnancy. Also tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding.

Precautions During Use of Gemfibrozil

Keep all your healthcare appointments during treatment with gemfibrozil. Your doctor may want to check a baseline plasma creatinine (renal function), periodic liver function studies, and periodic blood counts during treatment with this medicine.

If you are taking a medication called colestipol (Colestid), be sure to take it at least 2 hours away from gemfibrozil.

Tell your doctor if you become pregnant while on gemfibrozil.

Gemfibrozil Drug Interactions

Certain other medicines can affect how gemfibrozil works if administered concomitantly. Gemfibrozil and other medicines taken together can also increase the risk of severe adverse reactions. Your doctor may change the therapeutic doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for adverse effects if there are known adverse reactions with concomitant administration of gemfibrozil and your other medicines.

The following medications can have possible interactions with gemfibrozil:

Lipid lowering drugs (statin medications) such as atorvastatin (Lipitor, in Caduet), fluvastatin (Lescol), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Altoprev), pravastatin (Pravachol), pitavastatin (Livalo), and rosuvastatin (Crestor)
Cholesterol lowering drugs like ezetimibe (Zetia, in Vytorin),
Bosentan (Tracleer) used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension
Gout medications like colchicine (Mitigare, Colcrys, in Col-Probenecid)
Cancer treatment drugs like dabrafenib (Tafinlar), paclitaxel (Abraxane, Taxol), and irinotecan (Camptosar, Onivyde)
Medicines prescribed to prostate cancer patients such as enzalutamide (Xtandi)
Medications used to treat hepatitis C such as dasabuvir (in Viekira Pak)
Diabetes medications such as glyburide (Diabeta, Glynase, in Glucovance), pioglitazone (Actos, Oseni, Duetact, in Actoplus Met), rosiglitazone (Avandia), and repaglinide (Prandin, in Prandimet)
Anti-diarrhea medications like loperamide (Imodium)
Asthma medications such as montelukast (Singulair)
Medications used to treat high blood pressure, such as olmesartan (Benicar, Tribenzor, in Azor) and valsartan (Diovan, Exforge, in Entresto)
Antibiotics such as rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane, in Rifamate, Rifater)
Anticoagulants like warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven)

The above list may not include all the possible interactions of gemfibrozil. Give your doctor or pharmacist a complete list of your medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements, and herbal remedies. Also, tell your healthcare provider if you smoke, drink alcohol, or use recreational drugs because some of these substances can cause serious health complications when used with prescription and over-the-counter medicines.

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