General Chat

just read a news item that states grapefruit can effect some medicine,causing too much absorbtion ,whether its the fruit or the fruit juice quite serious side effects.so be careful people,i love grapefruit but cant have any coz im on blood pressure pills.
take a look at the article its in the google news page various newspapers have written about it.im useless at copy and paste otherwise would have done so,its just taken me 30 mins to print off a returns label. :-(

wendy(lincs)

Thanks for the info Wendy, I did know already as my OH can't have grapefruit because of his meds. Doesn't bother him as he doesn't like it anyway. :-)

Wendy We did have a thread a couple of months ago about grapefruit and statins (BP pills).

On my Simvastatin tablets it says in big letters "Avoid consumption of grapefruit". I was glad of that thread as I had quite forgotten. Bit like "Smoking Will Kill You". We just ignore these warnings and need reminders from time to time.

ARGUING ON COMMUNITY CHAT CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH. Never go to bed on an argument

I think it's true of several medicines - it's certainly on the pharmacy labels on two sorts of my blood pressure pills and I seem to remember it was on one of the things I was given for hayfever (mercifully grown out of that one). It is worth reading the small print in all those leaflets - though be careful not to imagine yourself into all the side effects listed as possible!

I can't have grapefruit ..on BP pills ,Statins , and allopurinol for gout...and that one says no grapefruit.

what I found really scary about that article was the number of drugs which are now interacting with grapefruit .................

................ from something like 17 drugs in 2008 to 44 today


that's quite incredible .......... especially as the interaction can result in death


It apparently only takes 3 days of drinking grapefruit juice while taking one of the statin drugs (for cholesterol) for the amount of the drug in your bloodstream to increase 330%



It is also important to note that other citrus fruits may also have similar effects ................... including Seville oranges (think marmalade :-( ), lemons, pomelo, etc

John - just perhaps a detail but maybe you should know! it's on my simvastatin too - but it's to control cholesterol (I read small print once again before writing this just in case it was me getting it wrong!)

I can't have grapefruit as I'm on Atorvastatin - only discovered about the dangers by accident

I'm on simvastatin, and every time I get a refill there is a yellow warning sticker on the vial that says to avoid grapefruit

Cranberry juice is another normally healthy drink which is best avoided if you are on certain medication, ie. Warfarin.

Gwyn

Elizabeth

I take a statin and something else. One for BP, one for cholestrol. Can never remember which is which. :-D :-D

Ni ddaw henaint ar ei hun (old Welsh saying). Old age doesn't come by itself.

Now, where have I put those memory tablets :-S :-S

statins are for high cholesterol - mine's in double figures without statins

I take blood pressure medication.

BIG stickers on the boxes - DO NOT EAT GRAPEFRUIT OR DRINK GRAPEFRUIT JUICE WHILE TAKING THIS MEDICATION.

I was told that grapefruit reduces the effect of the medication.

Gwyn - I just noticed your post re Warfirin.

My mother was on Warfirin for some time. She was given no warnings about any foods.

Do you know there's rat poison in Warfirin? :-(

Scozz


.............. that's why one has to be very careful when taking warfarin

Warfarin kills rats by thinning their blood to such an extent that they bleed to death from all orifices

The same thing can happen to people if they overdose.

Sylvia, I know.

I think Warfirin killed my mother. Two massive blood clots in her brain.

She was on it for a couple of years (at least), and loads of other medications.

She sang a song that she made up "The Chemical Song" whenever she took her meds. It was very funny, wish I had a copy!

Scozz, I think Warfarin is designed to prevent blood clots, it thins the blood so that it can flow easily round the body altho it can cause problems if the person cuts themselves and before any operation, the patient has to stop taking the Warfarin some days before hand, as happened to my o.h.'s dad recently when he had his hip replacement done.

My cousin is on Warfarin as she has a pacemaker and other problems, my elderly neighbour was on it as he had had a heart attack and mini stroke and I know several others who take it for similar reasons.

If you google Does Warfarin cause blood clots, you will see the info there.


The Chemical Song would have been interesting to read, shame you couldn't make a copy of it. I think we all take too many chemicals into our bodies in the food we eat and drink too. Aspartame is something I steer clear of altho I think it's too late as I have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, it's been suggested Aspartame, a sweetener in Diet drinks and foods, can cause these health problems and others.

I cannot believe that a well known drinks manufacturer sells squashes aimed at healthy for young children saving their teeth, that has such a chemical in, it's really hard to find Colas and Squashes without the dreaded Aspartame etc. I am sure my health would be better had I not drunk lots of flavoured fizzy waters years back before I knew that the Aspartame in them was banned in some countries.

I knew about Grapefruit and statins but not the other drugs, will have to look at the whole list now as I love Grapefruit and drink a lot of Grapefruit squash, the ones without the Aspartame.

Lizx

You have got me worried now. I take aspirin every day to thin my blood (for 9 years now)

Usually I have had great trouble clotting my blood if I have cut myself. A real nuisance but quite happy as would rather have that inconvenience than blood clots.

But has a nasty accident last Friday (with lots of blood spilling). And blood clotted quite quickly like the old days.

Am seeing nurse this week for what they call "bloods" so will ask with some urgency :-( :-(

My OH is on Statin,MonomaxXL, aspirin and Atenol and is not
allowed grapefruit or grapefruit juice because of the Statin.

Emma

Mum was getting forgetful, she had a sectioned box with her medication sorted out for a month. I think she may have got weeks mixed up and taken a double dose of her meds.

The first stroke was a blood clot (so the specialist at the hospital said). Two days later she had a massive haemorrage (spelling?).

That was the worst week of my life.

The Warfarin reasoning isn't mine, it was the doctors.

John ~ your pharmacist should be able to tell you what doesn't mix well with your medications.

PSparklyD ~ it's scary, the things hidden in food & drinks ~ I can't pronounce half of the words on some labels.

No idea what was in the fizzy stuff we drank as children. A Sunday treat was a shared bottle of fizzy raspberry.... and I had my first Coca Cola when I was 12 (didn't like it, and still don't).