Rifadin IV Side Effects

Generic name: rifampin

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Mar 13, 2025.

Note: This document provides detailed information about Rifadin IV Side Effects associated with rifampin. Some dosage forms listed on this page may not apply specifically to the brand name Rifadin IV.

Applies to rifampin: oral capsule.

Other dosage forms:

• intravenous powder for solution

Precautions

It is very important that your doctor check your or your child's progress at regular visits. Blood and urine tests may be needed to check for unwanted effects.

Do not use this medicine if you or your child are also receiving certain medicines to treat HIV infection (eg, atazanavir, darunavir, fosamprenavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, tipranavir, Aptivus®, Fortovase®, Invirase®, Lexiva®, Norvir®, Prezista®, or Reyataz®).

Do not use this medicine together with praziquantel. If you or your child need to take praziquantel, you should stop using rifampin (the active ingredient contained in Rifadin IV) 4 weeks before starting praziquantel. You may restart rifampin one day after the last dose of praziquantel.

Liver problems may be more likely to occur if you drink alcoholic beverages regularly while you are using this medicine. Also, the regular use of alcohol may keep this medicine from working properly. Therefore, you should strictly limit the amount of alcoholic beverages you drink while you are using this medicine.

Check with your doctor right away if you or your child have fever, chills, cough, sore throat, swollen, painful, or tender lymph glands in the neck, armpit, or groin, or yellow skin or eyes while using this medicine. These could be symptoms of a serious condition called drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS).

Check with your doctor right away if you or your child have pain or tenderness in the upper stomach, pale stools, dark urine, loss of appetite, nausea, unusual tiredness or weakness, or yellow eyes or skin. These could be symptoms of a serious liver problem.

Serious skin reactions (eg, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis) can occur with this medicine. Check with your doctor right away if you or your child have blistering, peeling, or loosening of the skin, red skin lesions, severe acne or a skin rash, sores or ulcers on the skin, or fever or chills with this medicine.

Tell your doctor right away if you have chest pain, cough, coughing or spitting up blood, difficulty in breathing, sore throat, muscle aches, night sweats, sudden high fever, or unusual tiredness. These could be symptoms of a paradoxical drug reaction to this medicine. If your symptoms do not improve within a few days or if they become worse, check with your doctor.

This medicine may cause blood clotting problems, which may lead to bleeding. Check with your doctor right away if you or your child cough up blood, have bleeding gums, difficulty in breathing or swallowing, dizziness, headache, increased menstrual flow or vaginal bleeding, nosebleeds, prolonged bleeding from cuts, red or dark brown urine, or red or black, tarry stools after using this medicine.

This medicine may cause lung or breathing problems (eg, interstitial lung disease, pneumonitis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, pulmonary fibrosis, acute respiratory distress syndrome), which can be life-threatening and require immediate medical attention. Check with your doctor right away if you have chest pain, chills, dry cough, fever, general feeling of discomfort or illness, thickening of bronchial secretions, or trouble breathing.

Rifampin will cause urine, saliva, sputum, sweat, teeth, and tears to turn a reddish-orange to reddish-brown color. This is to be expected while you are using this medicine. This effect may also cause soft contact lenses to become permanently discolored. Standard cleaning solutions may not take out all the discoloration. Therefore, it is best not to wear soft contact lenses while using this medicine. Hard contact lenses are not discolored by this medicine. This condition will return to normal once you stop using this medicine. If you have any questions about this, check with your doctor.

If you or your child develop a skin rash, hives, or any allergic reaction to this medicine, check with your doctor right away.

This medicine may cause thrombotic microangiopathy (damage in the smallest blood vessels), including hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Tell your doctor right away if you have a change in mental status, dark or bloody urine, decreased urine output, difficulty speaking, fever, pale color of the skin, pinpoint red spots on the skin, seizures, severe chest pain, sudden weakness in the arms or legs, unusual bleeding or bruising, or yellow eyes or skin.

Birth control pills may not work properly while you are using this medicine. To keep from getting pregnant, use another form of birth control together with your birth control pills. Other forms include condoms, diaphragms, or contraceptive foams or jellies.

Before you have any medical tests, tell the doctor in charge that you or your child are using this medicine. The results of some tests may be affected by this medicine.

Do not take other medicines unless they have been discussed with your doctor. This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements.

Serious side effects of Rifadin IV

Along with its needed effects, rifampin may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.

Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur while taking rifampin:

Get emergency help immediately if any of the following symptoms of overdose occur while taking rifampin:

Symptoms of overdose

• blurred vision
• dizziness, faintness, or lightheadedness when getting up suddenly from a lying or sitting position
• fast, pounding, or irregular heartbeat or pulse
• feeling of fullness in the upper abdomen or stomach
• low blood pressure or slow pulse
• pain in the upper abdomen or stomach
• reddish-orange to reddish-brown color of the urine, stool, saliva, sputum, sweat, and tears
• seizures
• swelling around the eyes or face
• unconsciousness
• yellow eyes or skin

Other side effects of Rifadin IV

Some side effects of rifampin may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects.

Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:

For healthcare professionals

Applies to rifampin: compounding powder, intravenous powder for injection, oral capsule.

Dermatologic adverse events

• Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Serious cutaneous reactions
• Frequency not reported: Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome, erythema multiforme, face edema, itching with/without rash, mild cutaneous reactions, pemphigoid reaction, pruritus, rash, self-limiting cutaneous reactions, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, urticaria^[Ref]

Hypersensitivity

• Uncommon (0.1% to 1%): Hypersensitivity reactions
• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Anaphylaxis^[Ref]

Hypersensitivity reactions included acute renal failure, acute tubular necrosis, hematuria, hemoglobinuria, hemolysis, interstitial nephritis, renal insufficiency, and serious cutaneous reactions.^[Ref]

Renal

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Acute renal failure, acute tubular necrosis, interstitial nephritis, renal insufficiency
• Frequency not reported: Blood urea nitrogen elevations^[Ref]

Acute renal failure, acute tubular necrosis, interstitial necrosis, renal insufficiency were hypersensitivity reactions and usually occurred during intermittent therapy or during the resumption of intentional/accidental interruption of a daily dosage regimen. The effects were usually reversible when treatment was discontinued and appropriate therapy was instituted.^[Ref]

Hematologic

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Disseminated intravascular coagulation, hemolysis, thrombocytopenia
• Very rare (less than 0.01%): Agranulocytosis
• Frequency not reported: Decreased hemoglobin, eosinophilia, hemolytic anemia, leukopenia^[Ref]

Thrombocytopenia usually occurred with high-dose intermittent therapy, but has occurred with well-supervised daily therapy and after resumption of interrupted treatment; the effect is reversible if treatment is discontinued as soon as purpura occurs.

Hemolysis was a hypersensitivity reaction and usually occurred during intermittent therapy or during the resumption of intentional/accidental interruption of a daily dosage regimen. This effect was usually reversible when treatment was discontinued and appropriate therapy was instituted.^[Ref]

Hepatic

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Abnormal liver function tests, hepatitis, shock-like syndrome with hepatic involvement
• Frequency not reported: Jaundice, transient liver function test abnormalities, serum bilirubin elevations, serum transaminase elevations^[Ref]

Genitourinary

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Hematuria, hemoglobinuria
• Frequency not reported: Menstrual disturbances^[Ref]

Hematuria and hemoglobinuria were hypersensitivity reactions and usually occurred during intermittent therapy or during the resumption of intentional/accidental interruption of a daily dosage regimen. The effects were usually reversible when treatment was discontinued and appropriate therapy was instituted.^[Ref]

Musculoskeletal

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Myopathy
• Frequency not reported: Bone pain, extremity pain, muscular weakness^[Ref]

Bone pain was included in flu syndrome, and occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens; however, this event may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.^[Ref]

Psychiatric

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Psychoses
• Frequency not reported: Behavioral changes, mental confusion^[Ref]

Endocrine

• Rare (0.01% to 0.1%): Adrenal insufficiency^[Ref]

Adrenal insufficiency occurred in patients with compromised adrenal function.^[Ref]

Gastrointestinal

• Frequency not reported: Cramps, diarrhea, epigastric distress, flatulence, heartburn, nausea, pseudomembranous colitis, sore mouth, sore tongue, tooth discoloration/permanent tooth discoloration, vomiting^[Ref]

Nervous system

• Frequency not reported: Ataxia, cerebral hemorrhage, dizziness, drowsiness, generalized numbness, headache, inability to concentrate^[Ref]

Cerebral hemorrhage occurred in patients who continued or resumed treatment after the appearance of purpura.

Dizziness and headache were included in flu syndrome, and occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens; however, the events may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.^[Ref]

Cardiovascular

• Frequency not reported: Decreased blood pressure, extremity edema, flushing with/without rash, shock, vasculitis^[Ref]

Decreased blood pressure and shock were included in flu syndrome, and occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens; however, the events may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.^[Ref]

Other

• Frequency not reported: Chills, fatalities, fatigue, fever^[Ref]

Chills and fever were included in flu syndrome, and occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens; however, the events may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.

Fatalities occurred in patients who continued or resumed treatment after the appearance of purpura.^[Ref]

Metabolic

• Frequency not reported: Alkaline phosphatase elevations, anorexia, serum uric acid elevations^[Ref]

Ocular

• Frequency not reported: Conjunctivitis, visual disturbances^[Ref]

Immunologic

• Frequency not reported: Flu syndrome^[Ref]

Flu syndrome occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens, but may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.^[Ref]

Respiratory

• Frequency not reported: Shortness of breath, wheezing^[Ref]

Shortness of breath and wheezing were included in flu syndrome, and occurred in patients receiving intermittent regimens; however, the events may occur in patients taking this drug irregularly or if daily administration is resumed after a drug-free interval.^[Ref]

See also:

Frequently asked questions

• How long do antibiotics affect birth control?

Further information

Rifadin IV side effects can vary depending on the individual. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

Note: Medication side effects may be underreported. If you are experiencing side effects that are not listed, submit a report to the FDA by following this guide.

Medical Disclaimer