Grapefruit

[Michaelaxx]

Before my heart attack and diagnoses of heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy I use to eat grapefruit on a regular bases and I miss it ...

Can I eat it being on these medication ..

Rivoraxaban 20mg _ 1 daily

Valsartan 80mg _ 1 twice a day

Fursomide 40mg _ 2 in the morning

Bisoloprol 2.5mg _ 1 in the morning g

Eplerone 25mg _ 1 in the morning ..

I cant find my meds being on any medication interaction list xx

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

To my knowledge there are no issues with your medications. However, I am not medically qualified and would suggest you run it past your pharmacist. They tend to be better than GPs on side effects and interactions are they are at the "coal face"!

[NorthantsSteve]

Grapefruit can mess about with your enzymes and can alter how some meds are processed. It’s recommended to get your pharmacist et al to run drug interaction check.

[NorthantsSteve in reply to NorthantsSteve]

Should also say that the pharmacist at my cardio rehab at MK hospital said she loved taking calls. They give leaflets to everyone leaving and rarely get a call. She was super friendly and very highly qualified.

[Hidden]

Grapefruit interferes with the metabolism of statins and some other drugs and can cause you to have a much higher effective dose than what was intended.

[Dolphin14]

Grapefruit interferes with a lot of meds. I would opt fir something else to be safe.

[Calliope153]

Every time I pick up my prescription medicines it actually says on the label they stick on the box with your name "Do not take more than one or two small glasses of grapefruit juice per day with this medicine". It is on the statin box. That probably doesn;t help....

[Michaelaxx]

Thanks for the info and replies.. I'm waiting to hear back from my nurse ..xx

[17Nevil]

It can be very dangerous if you are on statins but it doesn't look as if you are

Apparently it blocks them from working and then can release a few days doses all at one go which can be very dangerous

[Lezzers in reply to 17Nevil]

Doesn't it also interfere with BP meds?

[Alison_L in reply to Lezzers]

I've only heard of problems with statins, although even that is changing. Only a year ago my Atorvastatin box virtually said "If you so much as touch a grapefruit you will die!!!", whereas it now says "Do not take more than one or two small glasses of grapefruit juice per day with this medicine."

But always best to check with HF nurse or chemist.

[Lezzers in reply to Alison_L]

Thank you, I always thought it was BP meds!! Gonna check the Atorvsatin box now, never read the patient leaflets unless there's a reason to, it's too easy to talk yourself into side effects!

[Alison_L in reply to Lezzers]

My chemist actually puts it on the label - not sure what the leaflet says

[Lezzers in reply to Alison_L]

Nothing on the label and, in his wisdom! husband has thrown the patient leaflet away, so I Googled it, and the NHS site says:

Atorvastatin interacts with grapefruit juice if you drink large quantities (more than 1.2 litres daily), but an occasional glass is thought to be safe.

Gotta really love grapefruit to drink that much daily!

☺

[Mike424u]

Its on my Astrovastine box, do not eat or drink grapefruit with this medication.

check with your GP if I was you

[Lezzers in reply to Mike424u]

Well how confusing is that!! One pharmacy puts its OK on the box, another puts a no on the box and yet another doesn't put anything on the box!! I could understand that if some are on the same medication but for different medical conditions but a statin is just a statin! And I'm fed up with my auto text changing statin to station, grrr

[seasider18]

I discovered the grapefruit problem before it was put out as a warning . It started appearing as a warning on meds about 2001 just after I was prescribed Verapamil. Then it started to get publicity in the health sections..

[Lezzers in reply to seasider18]

So does that mean it does interact with BP meds as well as statins?

[seasider18 in reply to Lezzers]

More so I imagine as several that I was prescribed over the years had the warning on the pack. Google Grapefruit and medications and some serious side effects come up with a range of medications. This evidently applies to all citrus fruits and pomegranate. One Canadian doctor list 85 medications that are to be avoided.