Can Percocet interact with other medications?

The pain reliever Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen) interacts with many other drugs, so it's important that your doctor know what medications and supplements you're on before you start taking Percocet. Medications that may interact with Percocet include the following:

• drugs that suppress the central nervous system (CNS). The oxycodone in Percocet is an opioid (narcotic) that affects the central nervous system and causes slowed breathing and low blood pressure. Taking another drug that affects the CNS in the same way can lead to serious side effects, including coma and death. Examples of drugs that affect the CNS include other pain medications that contain an opioid (such as morphine or codeine), phenothiazines (used to treat mental illness, allergic reactions and nausea), some tranquilizers, sedative-hypnotics and drugs that treat nausea.
• monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Don't take Percocet if you use, or have used in the last 14 days, an MAOI, such as tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Emsam) or isocarboxazid (Marplan). Mixing the oxycodone in Percocet with an MAOI can lead to slow or shallow breathing, seizures, shock or coma.
• agonist/antagonist opioid analgesics. These pain relievers (pentazocine, nalbuphine, naltrexone and butorphanol, for example) reduce the action of oxycodone, so if you've been taking Percocet for a while and then take one of these drugs, you could experience withdrawal symptoms from oxycodone.
• muscle relaxers. These can slow breathing, as can Percocet.
• anticholinergics. Combining these with Percocet can produce paralytic ileus, a condition in which digested food does not pass through the intestines.
• loop diuretics, zidovudine, lamotrigine. Percocet may reduce the effectiveness of these drugs.
• propranolol and probenecid. These can cause Percocet to be overly potent.

It's also important to steer clear of alcohol while taking Percocet. Drinking can increase the medication's potency and cause severe side effects, even death. Also, research finds that alcoholics may experience liver damage if they regularly take moderate or excessive amounts of acetaminophen, one of the active ingredients in Percocet.