Grapefruit juice and drug interactions

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Grapefruit juice and drug interactions Posted by: "surpriseshan2" surpriseshan2 bestsurprise2002 Tue Nov 7, 2006 4:39 pm (PST) This is good to know; I thought that as long as one took them at least 2 or 3 hours apart, that it was okay.

I do take the anti-seizure medication below and haven't noticed any problems. I would like to understand why if one took them far apart, how it could still effect the drug. After all, it only takes about half to 1 hour for food to go through one's digestive system - at least, that was my understanding. Can anyone explain this? blessings Shan Grapefruit juice and drug interactions http://www.mayoclin ic.com/health/ food-and- nutrition/ AN00413 I thought grapefruit juice was good for me. But now I hear that it might interfere with my medications. Can you explain this? - Albert / Texas Answer Grapefruit juice provides many nutrients such as vitamin C and the antioxidant lycopene. But chemicals in grapefruit interfere with enzymes that break

down certain drugs in your digestive system. This can result in abnormally high blood levels of these drugs and an increased risk of serious side effects. The exact chemical or chemicals in grapefruit juice that cause this interaction aren't known. But they're present in the pulp and peel of grapefruit as well as in the juice. For this reason, any grapefruit product — including dietary supplements that contain grapefruit bioflavonoids — can interact with some medications. You may also want to avoid tangelos, a hybrid grapefruit. They may have a similar effect. Grapefruit and drug interactions The following drugs are known to have potentially serious interactions with grapefruit products Type of drug Names of drugs Anti-seizure medications Carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Tegretol) Antidepressants or psychiatric medications Buspirone (BuSpar),

clomipramine (Anafranil) and sertraline (Zoloft) Benzodiazepines Diazepam (Valium), triazolam (Halcion) Calcium channel blockers Felodipine (Plendil), nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia), nimodipine (Nimotop), nisoldipine (Sular) and possibly verapamil (Isoptin, Verelan) Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors Saquinavir (Fortovase, Invirase) and indinavir (Crixivan) HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors Simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin- ezetimibe (Vytorin) Immunosuppressant drugs Cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), tacrolimus (Prograf) and sirolimus (Rapamune) Anti-arrhythmic drugs Amiodarone (Cordarone) Pain medications Methadone Impotence drug Sildenafil (Viagra) If you take any of these drugs, you should avoid grapefruit products, unless otherwise directed by your doctor.

Waiting to take these medications even up to 24 hours after you drink grapefruit juice will not prevent an interaction.