Simvastatin and the Grapefruit Connection
Simvastatin and the Grapefruit Connection came up today. I was picking up my prescription as usual. But this time the pharmacist’s assistant had me talk to the pharmacist about the prescription drug. This time it was about Simvastatin. They informed me not to eat any grapefruit. But I do love grapefruit. Why can’t I eat grapefruit?
Grapefruit juice and fresh grapefruit can interfere with the action of some prescription drugs, as well as a few non-prescription drugs.
This interaction can be dangerous, says Shiew Mei Huang, acting director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Clinical Pharmacology. With most drugs that interact with grapefruit juice, “the juice increases the absorption of the drug into the bloodstream,” she says. “When there is a higher concentration of a drug, you tend to have more adverse events.”
From: Grapefruit Juice and Medicine May Not Mix, FDA US Food & Drug Administration
It’s all about the Liver Enzymes
This means that my liver metabolizing rate gets kicked into low gear. Levels of statins would build up in my body due to the decreased statin metabolism. The higher the level of statins in the body the more likely it is to have side effects. Wow, I love grapefruit. But not so much that it makes my prescription drug dangerous. So what other things can I not have with this drug?
Not all the statins have the same interaction. The effect is only seen with Lipitor, Zocor, and Mevacor (lovastatin). Lipitor and Zocor are the most widely used statins in the country, so many people associate statins with the restriction, but the ban on grapefruit is actually for those three in particular.
by The GoodRx Pharmacist on May 15, 2013 Why Can’t I Have Grapefruit With My Statin?
What Else?
Seville oranges (often used to make orange marmalade) and tangelos (a cross between tangerines and grapefruit) affect the same enzyme as grapefruit juice, so avoid these fruits as well if your medicine interacts with grapefruit juice.
From: Grapefruit Juice and Medicine May Not Mix, FDA US Food & Drug Administration
So now another thing, a sugar-free marmalade, I found is now off my list. Ok, I got to thinking what about soft drinks. Soft drinks that contain grapefruit juice or grapefruit extract/concentrate. Which soft drinks contain this juice? I found a list of soft drinks on a website for immunosuppressants.
Follow this link to the Tables #2 and #3 to see a list of soft drinks containing grapefruit.
So if you’re taking one of the above statins say goodbye to grapefruit because you’ve run into the Simvastatin and the grapefruit connection.
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(By Citrus_paradisi_(Grapefruit,_pink).jpg: א (Aleph) derivative work: — raeky (Citrus_paradisi_(Grapefruit,_pink).jpg) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons)
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