Jump to content

so don't drink grapefruit juice if you take statins ...


suein56
 Share

Recommended Posts

This is from the Daily Wail but it came up when I was looking into possible bad reactions for my husband who takes stuff to care for his stent, as he is allergic to all kinds of things. I had no idea about such reactions to certain fruit juices.

Edit: Sorry forgot to add the link: here

Sue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not just with statins either is grapefruit contraindicated:

Is Grapefruit safe?

Contraindications

Contraindicated in patients taking medication which is metabolized by liver/cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) enzyme system

Interactions

Grapefruit juice increases intestinal cell wall metabolism (CYP3A4) of albendazole, amiodarone, benzodiazepines (ie, midazolam and triazolam), buspirone, calcium channel blockers (including amlodipine, diltiazem, felodipine, nicardipine, nifedipine, nimodipine, nisoldipine, and verapamil), carbamazepine, cisapride, clomipramine, cyclosporine, dextromethorphan, estrogens (eg, estrone and ethinyl estradiol), fluvoxamine, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (eg, atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin but not pravastatin), losartan, macrolide antibiotics (eg, clarithromycin, erythromycin), pimozide, praziquantel, quinidine, saquinavir, and scopolamine. Plasma concentrations of digoxin and sildenafil may be increased; while plasma concentrations of amprenavir, etoposide, fexofenadine, and itraconazole may be decreased. Grapefruit juice appears to delay both the absorption of indinavir and the time to reach peak plasma concentrations of indinavir and quinidine. It would be prudent to advise patients to take these medications with a liquid other than grapefruit juice and to avoid grapefruit juice.

.

Toxicities

Grapefruit juice can create adverse effects by altering drugs metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme system (eg, some nonsedating antihistamines, benzodiazepines, selected calcium channel blockers, estrogens, quinidine, and cyclosporine).

References

  1. Grapefruit. Review of Natural Products. factsandcomparisons4.0 [online]. 2004. Available from Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. Accessed April 16, 2007.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="5-element"]

Not just with statins either is grapefruit contraindicated:[/quote]

This amazes me; my OH suffered a major anaphylactic shock when he mixed a statin with other drugs prescribed by his GP, but no one said anything about drug mixes or fruit juices following his angioplasty. He was given A4 sheets of advice but nothing about reactions/allergic reactions. 

Sue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many thanks for posting this.

I had to come off of one type of statin (Crestor) due to adverse effects and am now on Lypanthyl. I have a couple of cartons on grapefruit juice in the fridge - better leave them for someone else to sup [:)]

rgds, Tina

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

   I was interested to read this advice about grapefriut juice..

Had my thyroid removed last year and have been told  a) to take my Lévothyrox thyroid replacement dose 20-30 minutes before eating breakfast

                                                                                   b)not to take grapefruit or grapefruit juice for several hours ,

I have, in fact , crossed any thing connected with grapefruit off the shopping list - and don't really miss it now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whenever either of us is prescribed a new medication,out comes by wife's medical books. I had a heart attack some years ago,no problems since, and my wife said no more grapefruit/apple juice with those pills. After taking them for about 8 years, there is now a label attached to the pill packet advising the same thing.

By the way.Edwina say's it's now safe to eat eggs!!!

Regards.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...