republicstar.blogg.se - Eating grapefruit and medications

Chemicals in grapefruit, furanocoumarins, wipe out an enzyme which breaks the drugs down. Eating grapefruit while taking antidepressants may not be a good idea until you know the various side effects of your medication. The severity of the interaction can be different depending on the person, the drug and the amount of grapefruit juice you drink.Your risk of serious side effects depends on how much grapefruit juice you drink, your age, and the type and dose of your medications. Grapefruit juice does not affect all the drugs in the categories above. As a result, less of the drug enters the blood and the drug may not work as well.

Why this opposite effect? Instead of changing metabolism, grapefruit juice can affect proteins in the body known as drug transporters, which help move a drug into our cells for absorption. Fexofenadine may also not work as well if taken with orange or apple juice, so the drug label states “do not take with fruit juices.” Fexofenadine (brand name Allegra) is available as both prescription and OTC to relieve symptoms of seasonal allergies. “Grapefruit juice can cause less fexofenadine to enter the blood,” decreasing how well the drug works, Huang said. So grapefruit juice may affect people differently even when they take the same drug.Īlthough scientists have known for several decades that grapefruit juice can cause too much of certain drugs in the body, Huang said more recent studies have found the juice has the opposite effect on a few other drugs. Some people have a lot of enzymes and others just a little. The amount of the CYP3A4 enzyme in the intestine varies from person to person, Huang said. Grapefruit juice can block the action of CYP3A4, so instead of being metabolized, more of the drug enters the blood and stays in the body longer.

Many drugs are broken down with the help of a vital enzyme called CYP3A4 in the small intestine. “When there is too much drug in the blood, you may have more side effects.”įor example, if you drink a lot of grapefruit juice while taking certain statin drugs to lower cholesterol, too much of the drug may stay in your body, increasing your risk for liver and muscle damage that can lead to kidney failure.

With most drugs that interact with grapefruit juice, “the juice lets more of the drug enter the blood,” Huang said.

Some antihistamines, such as Allegra (fexofenadine).

Some drugs that treat abnormal heart rhythms, such as Pacerone and Nexterone (both amiodarone).

Some corticosteroids that treat Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, such as Entocort EC and Uceris (both budesonide).

Some anti-anxiety drugs, such as buspirone.

Some organ-transplant rejection drugs, such as Sandimmune and Neoral (both cyclosporine).

Some drugs that treat high blood pressure, such as Procardia and Adalat CC (both nifedipine).

Some statin drugs to lower cholesterol, such as Zocor (simvastatin) and Lipitor (atorvastatin).

Here are examples of some types of drugs with which grapefruit juice can interact badly:

The FDA has required that some prescription and over-the-counter drugs taken by mouth include warnings against drinking grapefruit juice or eating grapefruit while taking the drug, Huang said. This food and drug interaction can be a concern, said Shiew Mei Huang, of the Food and Drug Administration. Grapefruit has vitamin C and potassium-nutrients your body needs to work properly.īut it isn’t good for you when it affects the way your medicines work, especially if you have high blood pressure or arrhythmia. Grapefruit juice and the actual grapefruit can be part of a healthy diet.