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Dangers of Grapefruit

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I remember having it drummed into my head that I shouldn't have any grapefruit when on statins - even though I have been off them for 4 years I still haven't eaten grapefruit - I instinctively avoid buying it!
 
I knew about grapefruit and statins, but not with some types of blood pressure pills. Thanks for posting this.

I think also some of the responsibility lies with us to read the information leaflets that comes with packs of pills from time to time. Things can and do change
 
Early on, I had a medications review with the pharmacist and she went through all the no-nos for my various medications and making sure I understood them. Being the kind of person I am I had already read up on everything, but it was good to go through them with her. I know a lot of people are very cynical about pharmacy reviews but I imagine they are very useful for many people.
 
When I was first on statins there was no warning about grapefruit and I do tend to just throw away the patient advice notes on drugs I have already checked out. It was someone in conversation who casually mentioned that you could not have grapefruit with statins. Didn't say anything at the time but was then a bit shocked to see that warning on the sticky label on the box! Totally ignored it. Luckily, I don't like grapefruit, have never bought it and just don't eat it or drink the juice.

Was sharing a table with someone on holiday a few years ago and she was taking her tablets in the morning, one was simvastatin and she was taking it with grapefruit juice. I said there was a warning and got my head bitten off!! Nobody was going to advise her what she could and could not take her tablets with. Fine, had never seen her before, never seen her since - bovvered!
 
I remember someone once saying on here that you would need to drink gallons of fresh grapefruit juice for it to be a problem - clearly that is NOT the case! 😱
 
There are various 'fruits' that can interact with medication, another one is cranberries which can cause havoc with blood thinning medication!

Sometimes it makes you wonder what on earth goes through peoples brains...

I've seen care staff who are totally aware of the link between Statin's and Grapefruit, pour off the juice of a tin of grapefruit to give to a resident on Statins... And when you've pointed out what they are doing, they say 'Oh I thought it was just grapefruit and the juice was ok' Dooh
 
Ellie Jones said:
There are various 'fruits' that can interact with medication, another one is cranberries which can cause havoc with blood thinning medication!

Sometimes it makes you wonder what on earth goes through peoples brains...

I've seen care staff who are totally aware of the link between Statin's and Grapefruit, pour off the juice of a tin of grapefruit to give to a resident on Statins... And when you've pointed out what they are doing, they say 'Oh I thought it was just grapefruit and the juice was ok' Dooh
Click to expand...

<<headpalm!!>> 😱
 
Pravastatin is supposed to be safe to take with grapefruit.

However I have found that red yeast rice supplement should not be taken as this contains naturally occurring lovastatin.
 
Last year, being newly retired and doing the shopping by myself, I got into eating half a Grapefruit every morning before my Weetabix. This went on for a couple of weeks when suddenly I read the warning sticker on my evening Simvastatin. I had to throw one whole Grapefruit away!
 
I just hope I never end up on these drugs as I would be gutted to have to give up my grapefruit 😡
 
Haven't read the article myself but hubby was saying it's any citrus fruit - ie grapefruit is the worst but don't go washing your statins down with orange juice either?! 😱
 
Twitchy said:
Haven't read the article myself but hubby was saying it's any citrus fruit - ie grapefruit is the worst but don't go washing your statins down with orange juice either?! 😱
Click to expand...

"Other citrus fruits such as Seville oranges, often used in marmalade, and limes have the same effect." 😱

What gets me is that the list has grown from 17 to 44 drugs so quickly - they obviously don't test them properly which is most alarming!
 
But, in 10 years time will they be saying that actually it is quite the reverse!!

Remember eggs being bad for cholesterol?
 
Its all got to do with drugs that are metabolized in a certain manner by the liver. In all cases CYP3A4 is involved. Many, many drugs are metabolized in this way.
Of the various citrus fruit that can cause issues Grapefruit is the most potent. Grapefruit juice is much more potent than grapefruit.
St Johns Wort has the opposite effect
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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