Diarrhea, headache, nausea, vomiting, or dizziness may occur. If any of these effects last or get worse, tell your doctor or pharmacist promptly. Remember that this medication has been prescribed because your doctor has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects. Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: deep/fast breathing, unusual drowsiness, nausea/vomiting that doesn't stop, numbness/tingling of the hands/feet, unusual tiredness, easy bruising/bleeding, muscle pain/tenderness/weakness. Get medical help right away if you have any very serious side effects, including: muscle stiffness, increased sweating, vision changes (such as blurred vision, change in color vision, loss of vision), mental/mood changes (such as agitation, confusion), seizure. This medication may rarely cause a severe intestinal condition due to a bacteria called C. difficile. This condition may occur during treatment or weeks to months after treatment has stopped. Tell your doctor right away if you develop: diarrhea that doesn't stop, abdominal or stomach pain/cramping, blood/mucus in your stool. If you have these symptoms, do not use anti-diarrhea or opioid products because they may make symptoms worse. Use of this medication for prolonged or repeated periods may result in oral thrush or a new yeast infection. Contact your doctor if you notice white patches in your mouth, a change in vaginal discharge, or other new symptoms. This medication may increase serotonin and rarely cause a very serious condition called serotonin syndrome/toxicity. The risk increases if you are also taking other drugs that increase serotonin, so tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the drugs you take. Get medical help right away if you develop some of the following symptoms: fast heartbeat, hallucinations, loss of coordination, severe dizziness, severe nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, twitching muscles, unexplained fever, unusual agitation/restlessness. This drug may rarely cause an attack of extremely high blood pressure (hypertensive crisis), which may be fatal. Many drug and food interactions can increase this risk (see How to Use and Drug Interactions sections). Get medical help right away if any of these serious side effects occur: severe headache, fast/slow/irregular/pounding heartbeat, chest pain, neck stiffness/soreness, severe nausea/vomiting, sweating/clammy skin (sometimes with fever), widened pupils, vision changes (such as double/blurred vision), sudden sensitivity to light (photophobia). A very serious allergic reaction to this drug is rare. However, get medical help right away if you notice any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including: rash, itching/swelling (especially of the face/tongue/throat), severe dizziness, trouble breathing. This is not a complete list of possible side effects. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist. In the US - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at www.fda.gov/medwatch. In Canada - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345.
Some products that may interact with this drug include: diet pills/appetite suppressants (such as diethylpropion), drugs for attention deficit disorder (such as atomoxetine, methylphenidate), apraclonidine, bupropion, buspirone, carbamazepine, cyclobenzaprine, deutetrabenazine, a certain combination product (dextromethorphan/quinidine), maprotiline, methyldopa, metoclopramide, certain opioid pain relievers (such as fentanyl, meperidine, methadone, tapentadol), certain drugs for Parkinson's disease (such as entacapone, levodopa, tolcapone), certain supplements (such as tryptophan, tyramine), tetrabenazine, tricyclic antidepressants (such as amitriptyline, doxepin), valbenazine. The risk of serotonin syndrome/toxicity increases if you are also taking other drugs that increase serotonin. Examples include street drugs such as MDMA/"ecstasy," St. John's wort, certain antidepressants (including mirtazapine, SSRIs such as fluoxetine/paroxetine, SNRIs such as duloxetine/venlafaxine), tramadol, certain "triptans" used to treat migraine headaches (such as rizatriptan, sumatriptan, zolmitriptan), among others. The risk of serotonin syndrome/toxicity may be more likely when you start or increase the dose of these drugs. Some products can interact with linezolid if you take them together, or even if you take them weeks before or after taking linezolid. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you take anything in the list of products that may interact with this drug, or any of the products that increase serotonin, within 2 weeks before or after taking linezolid. Also tell them if you have taken fluoxetine within 5 weeks before starting linezolid. Ask your doctor how much time to wait between starting or stopping any of these drugs and starting linezolid. Taking other MAO inhibitors with this medication may cause a serious (possibly fatal) drug interaction. Do not take any other MAO inhibitors (isocarboxazid, metaxalone, methylene blue, moclobemide, phenelzine, procarbazine, rasagiline, safinamide, selegiline, tranylcypromine) during treatment with this medication. Most MAO inhibitors should also not be taken for two weeks before and after treatment with this medication. Ask your doctor when to start or stop taking this medication. Before using linezolid, report the use of drugs that may increase the risk of extremely high blood pressure (hypertensive crisis) when combined with linezolid, including herbal products (such as ephedra/ma huang), allergy and cold products (including decongestants such as phenylephrine/pseudoephedrine), and stimulants (such as amphetamines, ephedrine, epinephrine). Linezolid should not be used with any of these medications. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist for more details.
