Statins and grapefruit warnings plus#

On the third day, the patient started experiencing lightheadedness, dizziness, and nausea. She started drinking about 6-8 ounces of grapefruit juice with every meal for 2 days. Share this:Ĭase 2: A 50-year-old woman takes amlodipine, atenolol, and clonidine for high blood pressure. She followed Poison Control's directions and her symptoms resolved in 3 days. Poison Control recommended that she stop drinking the grapefruit juice. The grapefruit juice was interacting with her amlodipine this made her blood pressure drop too low.

After doing so, his headache resolved.Ĭase 2: A 50-year-old woman takes amlodipine, atenolol, and clonidine for high blood pressure. The patient was advised to discontinue his sertraline for a few days. There is a known drug interaction between sertraline and grapefruit juice when they are taken together, there is an increased risk of side effects or toxicity from the sertraline. He called Poison Control because of his symptoms. The following day, he developed a severe headache. One day after being on these medications for a long time, he drank a large amount of grapefruit juice.

If you're not sure, ask your pharmacist if it's safe to take grapefruit with your medicine.Ĭase 1: A 52-year-old man normally takes sertraline and bupropion for depression.

If there's a sticker warning you about grapefruit, don't eat or drink any grapefruit products.

Look at your prescription medicine bottle.

Rose Ann Gould Soloway, RN, BSN, MSEd, DABAT emerita If you aren't sure, ask your pharmacist or doctor.Īnd if you think you might be having a reaction between a medicine and grapefruit or grapefruit juice, call Poison Control right away. When a prescription drug is filled, the label usually states if you should avoid any particular foods. Treatment would be the same as for an overdose.

What happens if you take grapefruit together with an interacting drug? It would be the same as taking an overdose of the medicine. In any case, don't stop taking a medicine without asking your doctor first. Check with your doctor to see if that might be possible for you.

Sometimes, another drug that has the same action can be substituted. If you take a drug that interacts with grapefruit - and you really love grapefruit - there may be a work-around. For example, a single glass of grapefruit juice every day for three days caused the blood level of simvastatin (Zocor®) to increase more than 300 percent. For that reason, it doesn't help to stagger the timing of medicines and grapefruit.įor some drugs, a typical amount of grapefruit or juice can cause problems. Because grapefruit permanently prevents the enzyme from breaking down the drugs, the body must manufacture more enzymes. Grapefruit inactivates an enzyme that metabolizes many drugs. These problems can occur with grapefruit, grapefruit juice, even marmalade with grapefruit in it. Other types of drugs that interact with grapefruit include some pain relievers, sedatives, and drugs for prostate enlargement. Some of these cancer drugs are erverolimus, dasatinib, and vemurafenib.

Statins and grapefruit warnings plus#

In these cases, the risk is a dangerous, irregular heart rhythm (Torsade de pointes), plus muscle damage. Hallucinations and seizures can result from combining dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant, with grapefruit.Īt least ten chemotherapy drugs can interact with grapefruit. Nifedipine (Procardia ®), taken for high blood pressure, can interact with grapefruit to cause very low blood pressure. Breakdown products from damaged muscles may damage the kidneys.Įrythromycin, a common antibiotic, can cause a dangerous heart rhythm if taken with grapefruit. The muscle damage results in muscle pain and tenderness. Atorvastatin (Lipitor ®), lovastatin (Mevacor ®) and simvastatin (Zocor ®) are known to interact with grapefruit. These are drugs used to treat high cholesterol. Perhaps the most well-known example is muscle damage caused by some statins. These include dangerous heart rhythms, kidney damage, muscle damage, respiratory depression, and bleeding from the stomach or intestines. More than half of them can cause very serious effects. Eighty-five drugs are known or suspected to interact with grapefruit. We've known for twenty years it's not safe to mix grapefruit and some prescription drugs. The list of medicines known to interact with grapefruit has grown longer. Do you love that morning glass of grapefruit juice? If you take certain medicines, it might not love you back.