Before taking triazolam,
tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to triazolam; any other medications; or any of the ingredients in triazolam tablets. Ask your pharmacist for a list of the ingredients.
tell your doctor if you are taking any of the following medications: antifungal medications including itraconazole (Onmel, Sporanox) and ketoconazole (Nizoral); certain medications for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) including indinavir (Crixivan), lopinavir (in Kaletra), nelfinavir (Viracept), ritonavir (Norvir, in Kaletra), and saquinavir (Invirase); and nefazodone. Your doctor will probably tell you not to take triazolam.
tell your doctor and pharmacist what other prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking or plan to take. Be sure to mention any of the following: amiodarone (Cordarone, Nexterone, Pacerone); certain antibiotics such as clarithromycin (Biaxin, in Prevpac), erythromycin (Erythrocin, E-mycin), telithromycin (Ketek), and troleandomycin (TAO) (not available in the US); antidepressants; certain antifungal medications; antihistamines; certain calcium channel blockers such as diltiazem (Cardizem, Dilacor, Tiazac, others), nicardipine (Cardene), nifedipine (Adalat, Afeditab, Procardia), and verapamil (Calan, Verelan); cyclosporine (Gengraf, Neoral, Sandimmune); ergotamine (Cafergot, Ergomar, Migranal, others); certain histamine-2 receptor blockers (H2 blockers) such as cimetidine (Tagamet) and ranitidine (Zantac); hormonal contraceptives (birth control pills, patches, rings, implants, or injections); isoniazid (Laniazid, in Rifamate, in Rifater); medications for anxiety, colds or allergies, mental illness, or seizures; muscle relaxants; sedatives; certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Brisdelle, Paxil, Pexeva), and sertraline (Zoloft); other sleeping pills; and tranquilizers. Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects. Many other medications may also interact with triazolam, so be sure to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking, even those that do not appear on this list.
tell your doctor if you drink or have ever drunk large amounts of alcohol, use or have ever used street drugs, or have overused prescription medications. Also tell your doctor if you have ever thought about killing yourself or tried to do so, and if you have or have ever had any condition that affects your breathing; depression; mental illness; sleep apnea (condition in which a person briefly stops breathing many times during the night); seizures; or kidney or liver disease.
tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking triazolam, call your doctor immediately. Triazolam may harm the fetus.
talk to your doctor about the safe use of triazolam if you are 65 years of age or older. Older adults should usually take lower doses of triazolam because higher doses may not be more effective and are more likely to cause serious side effects.
if you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking triazolam.
you should know that triazolam may make you drowsy during the daytime. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you.
you should know that some people who took medications for sleep got out of bed and drove their cars, prepared and ate food, had sex, made phone calls, or were involved in other activities while partially asleep. After they woke up, these people were usually unable to remember what they had done. Call your doctor right away if you find out that you have been driving or doing anything else while you were sleeping.
you should know that your mental health may change in unexpected ways while you are taking this medication. It is hard to tell if these changes are caused by triazolam or if they are caused by physical or mental illnesses that you already have or suddenly develop. Tell your doctor right away if you experience any of the following symptoms: aggressiveness, strange or unusually outgoing behavior, hallucinations (seeing things or hearing voices that do not exist), feeling as if you are outside of your body, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, slowed speech or movements, new or worsening depression, thinking about killing yourself, confusion, and any other changes in your usual thoughts, mood, or behavior. Be sure that your family knows which symptoms may be serious so that they can call the doctor if you are unable to seek treatment on your own.