Drug interactions
Hydrocortisone + Torsemide
Severity: Moderate
Hydrocortisone and Torsemide: moderate interaction.
Last updated
For healthcare professionals — reference only. This page is a brief summary, not medical advice and not a substitute for official labeling or clinical judgement. Always verify before prescribing or dispensing.
Summary
Both drugs promote urinary potassium loss, so combined use can cause hypokalemia, particularly with systemic hydrocortisone given in higher doses. Low potassium may provoke weakness and arrhythmias, especially in patients on digoxin or with heart disease.
What this interaction means in plain words
Hydrocortisone and Torsemide can affect each other. The combination is often manageable, but it may need a change of dose, a change of timing, or extra checks while both are taken.
Hydrocortisone belongs to Endocrine; Torsemide belongs to Cardiovascular.
Why it happens
Additive potassium wasting from loop diuretic action and mineralocorticoid activity of hydrocortisone.
What to do
Monitor serum potassium and magnesium periodically and supplement potassium or add a potassium-sparing agent if levels fall.
What to ask your pharmacist
- Should I take them at different times of day?
- Does the dose of either medicine need to change?
- Is there anything I should avoid, such as alcohol or certain foods, while on both?
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Other interactions of Hydrocortisone
- Hydrocortisone + Mifepristone Contraindicated
- Hydrocortisone + Poliovirus vaccine live oral trivalent Contraindicated
- Hydrocortisone + Smallpox vaccine live Contraindicated
- Adenovirus types 4 and 7 live + Hydrocortisone Major
- Aldesleukin + Hydrocortisone Major
- Aspirin + Hydrocortisone Major
Other interactions of Torsemide
Frequently asked questions
Can I take Hydrocortisone with Torsemide?
MediHelp rates the interaction as moderate. Hydrocortisone and Torsemide can affect each other. The combination is often manageable, but it may need a change of dose, a change of timing, or extra checks while both are taken. Both drugs promote urinary potassium loss, so combined use can cause hypokalemia, particularly with systemic hydrocortisone given in higher doses. Low potassium may provoke weakness and arrhythmias, especially in patients on digoxin or with heart disease.
How serious is the interaction between Hydrocortisone and Torsemide?
MediHelp rates it moderate, on a four-level scale (minor, moderate, major, contraindicated) based on published labels and references. What to do, in brief: Monitor serum potassium and magnesium periodically and supplement potassium or add a potassium-sparing agent if levels fall.
What other medicines interact with Hydrocortisone?
MediHelp also lists interactions of Hydrocortisone with, for example, Mifepristone, Poliovirus vaccine live oral trivalent, Smallpox vaccine live. The full list is on the Hydrocortisone page.
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