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What is the most important information I should know about grapefruit interactions?
Grapefruit and grapefruit juice can change how your body processes some bipolar medications. Always discuss any food or drug interactions with your medication with your physician.
Grapefruit may interfere with the metabolism of certain medications, including bipolar medications. As a result, eating grapes or drinking grape juice while taking these medications can inadvertently increase their concentration to potentially toxic levels.
Bipolar drugs aren’t the only ones affected. Among the list of drugs affected by grapefruit are those used to treat everything from high cholesterol and arrhythmias to allergies and intestinal ailments. Even Viagra can be affected by grapefruit consumption.
Why Grape Juice Affects Drugs
Grapefruit juice can interact with many psychotropic medications, including those for anxiety, depression, and psychosis. This is because grapefruit contains furanocoumarins, compounds that inhibit the CYP3A4 enzyme, which normally helps break down these drugs.
When this enzyme is blocked, drug concentration levels in the blood will be higher than expected. It can make the drug’s intended effect and side effects stronger—even dangerous.
Grapefruit and some related citrus can. Irreversible Inhibits the CYP3A4 enzyme. Therefore, drugs that affect it should not be taken with grapefruit or any related citrus, or alternative drugs should be prescribed.
While other citrus fruits such as pomelo, lime and Seville oranges also contain furanocoumarins, They have not been studied as closely.
Effects of Mixing Grapefruit with Medicines
The extent of grapefruit’s effect on medications varies. For some medications, a small glass of juice can double or triple the dose in your body.
For example, 99% of BuSpar (buspirone) is normally absorbed before the drug enters the bloodstream. As previous research has shown, the concentration can increase by 400% or four times when taken with grape juice.
The effects of grapefruit on drug metabolism can be long-lasting. This fruit can interact with some medications for several hours to three days after eating.
Although it is purely speculative to determine who the most vulnerable patients would likely be, people over the age of 45 are the biggest consumers of grapefruit and receive the most prescriptions for the drug.
Medicines can affect grapefruit.
More than a dozen medications commonly used to treat the symptoms of bipolar disorder are affected to varying degrees by grapefruit, including:
- Anafranil (Clomipramine)
- BuSpar (buspirone)
- Elavil (Amitriptyline)
- Halcion (triazolam)
- Luvox (fluvoxamine)
- Prozac (fluoxetine)
- Seroquel (quetiapine)
- Sarzone (nefazodone)
- Tegretol (carbamazepine)
- Trazodone (Desyrel)
- Valium (diazepam)
- Intermittent (midazolam)
- Zoloft (Sertraline)
Lamictal (lamotrigine) is a bipolar medication that does not interact with grapefruit juice. However, it is always best to consult your prescribing physician or pharmacist to be sure.
Although clinically significant events have been reported due to grapefruit/drug interactions with some medications, more research is needed to better understand the severity and risk associated with such interactions.
Before you mix grapefruit with medicine.
Drugs that interact with grapefruit generally share these characteristics:
- They are taken orally.
- Has low bioavailability.
- Metabolized by CYP3A4 enzyme.
- is a narrow therapeutic index
Always check the drug package insert for interaction details. Usually, it appears around the fifth paragraph with words like, “Talk to your doctor before adding grapefruit or grape juice to your diet while you’re taking this medication.”
Each year, more drugs are identified as potentially interacting with grapefruit. However, you can still enjoy grapefruit or grapefruit juice if you take it as directed by your doctor. Alternatively, you can substitute other citrus fruits or drinks to reap the health benefits.
Talk to your care provider and tell them about any medications, substances, or supplements you are currently taking to avoid any potentially dangerous interactions.
