Black Health

Medication Reference

Medications A-Z

A library of drug guides focused on a single question: how is this medication different for Black patients? Every page leads with the published evidence, cites FDA labels and professional-society guidelines, and flags uncertainty where the research is mixed or absent.

Used for

All indications ADHD ADHD (off-label) Acne Advanced CKD Allergic rhinitis Angina Antiphospholipid syndrome Anxiety Anxiety disorders Arthritis Asthma Asthma (add-on) Asthma (including SMART) Asthma (rescue) Atrial fibrillation Atrial fibrillation rate control Atypical pneumonia Bulimia CKD COPD COPD exacerbation CV prevention Cardiovascular risk reduction Cardiovascular risk reduction in T2D Chlamydia Community-acquired pneumonia Coronary artery disease DKA DVT/PE DVT/PE treatment and prevention Delayed sleep phase disorder Dental prophylaxis Depression Depression (FDA); Insomnia (off-label Diabetic kidney disease Edema Epilepsy adjunct; widely used off-label for neuropathic pain Erosive esophagitis Exercise-induced bronchospasm Fever GERD Generalized anxiety Generalized anxiety disorder Gestational diabetes Gonorrhea (with ceftriaxone) Gout flare H. pylori (with antibiotics) H. pylori component HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV treatment component HIV-1 treatment HIV-1 treatment (initial and switch) Heart failure Heart failure (reduced + preserved EF) Hyperlipidemia Hypertension Hypertension (second-line) Hypertension with low eGFR Hypothyroidism Inflammation Insomnia (off-label) Jet lag Mechanical heart valves Menstrual cramps Mild-to-moderate pain Moderate to moderately severe pain Narcolepsy OCD Obesity Obstructive sleep apnea with obesity Otitis media PAD PAD (low dose + aspirin) PCOS PCOS hirsutism PMDD PTSD Pain Panic disorder Pediatric depression Peptic ulcer disease Post-MI Post-herpetic neuralgia (FDA) Post-stent Prediabetes Primary aldosteronism Primary and secondary CV prevention Resistant hypertension Seasonal affective disorder Shift-work sleep disorder Sinusitis Smoking cessation Social anxiety Strep pharyngitis Strep pharyngitis (PCN-allergic) Stroke prevention (lacunar) Stroke prevention in LVH TSH suppression in thyroid cancer Type 1 diabetes Type 2 diabetes UTI Vasomotor symptoms of menopause (Brisdelle) Zollinger-Ellison syndrome anxiety fibromyalgia insomnia most common US use)

Bupropion

Norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI)

Brand: Wellbutrin, Zyban, Aplenzin

Bupropion is an important option for Black patients for two reasons:Tobacco disparity. Black Americans smoke at slightly lower rates than white Americans …

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Escitalopram

SSRI

Brand: Lexapro

The STAR*D and CO-MED trials enrolled reasonable numbers of Black participants (~18 percent in STAR*D). Remission rates with citalopram (closely related to …

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Fluoxetine

SSRI

Brand: Prozac, Sarafem

Fluoxetine is primarily metabolized by CYP2D6 (with contributions from CYP2C9 and 3A4). CYP2D6 allele distributions vary by ancestry, but variant effects on …

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Paroxetine

SSRI

Brand: Paxil, Pexeva, Brisdelle

Paroxetine is a potent CYP2D6 inhibitor and is itself metabolized by CYP2D6. This creates pharmacokinetic complexity that is not specifically race-differential but …

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Sertraline

SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor)

Brand: Zoloft

SSRIs as a class have more complex race-specific evidence than cardiovascular drugs. Three themes matter:Response rates. Post-hoc analyses of STAR*D (Lesser et …

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Trazodone

Serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI)

Brand: Desyrel, Oleptro

Low-dose trazodone for insomnia has weak clinical-trial support across all populations — a 2017 Cochrane review found only small, short-term benefits. But …

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Venlafaxine

Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)

Brand: Effexor, Effexor XR

Venlafaxine is metabolized to its active metabolite desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) by CYP2D6. CYP2D6 poor metabolizers — more common in some Black populations for …

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No medications match your search.