Artovastatin

[Gladkit]

I have been eating grapefruit daily for circa 1 month and recently noticed I am not supposed to eat grapefruit while on artovastatin. Anyone know why grapefruit is taboo

[KatyB]

Article in today's Daily Mail that points out grapefruit and statins should not be taken together because it can cause liver damage. Also it should be printed on the statin packet and the doctor should inform you when prescribing these drugs.

[Gladkit in reply to KatyB]

Thank you KatyB I will follow up with a trip to my GP,He never mentioned any restrictions but I did notice a warning on my latest tablet box from the chemist. Gladkit

[Andyman]

I have been led to believe that Gratefruit takes away the effectiveness of the Statin.

[Markl60]

Funny isn't it a health giving food like grapefruit cannot be taken with statins but you can eat as much bread as you like. My approach to this was to not take statins but eat a grapefruit with my breakfast every morning. It is part of my Vit C boosting protocol

[sandybrown]

It is the duty of a doctor to offer life style change and risk analysis before offering medication. It is the duty of an individual to read the information on that medication that is offered as we all react differently to different medication and food.!

Human body needs cholesterol. Human body produces 80% of cholesterol on demand 20% is from what goes in to the mouth.

What is your total cholesterol and what is the dosage of statin?

Medication and food reaction:

The following two links give some information:

nhs.uk/common-health-questi...

bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1/...

health.harvard.edu/heart-he...

[karis93inez]

It's not only Drs that have responsibility, we as patients have primary responsibility for our own bodies. The time it takes to post a question, only to be told, I think...or I've heard...or, maybe!! Why or why would you leave your precious life in the hands oh hearsay and conjecture? Read the product information. Call the Dr and ask for more detail. Type your question into a search engine and compare all the research, then make your decision. Never again will I take anything without doing all of the above. Failure to do so in the first place is what has left me with the hideous legacy of statin damage. Also, we can then post the results of our research in links others can follow to make informed decisions that could be really helpful.

[sandybrown]

Please take a look at 7.2 in this document:

accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatf...

It talks about >1.2l per day.!!!

[david112 in reply to sandybrown]

Hi, I was going to say that one shouldn't drink 1.2 litres a day of grapefruit juice even without statins, as there are no benefits from drinking more than 0.2 litres of fruit juice a day anyway!! A friend of mine occasionally misses out a dose of statins so she can have some grapefruit juice that day! I have very occasionally done that too (i'm on a dose of 20mg Simvastatin per day).

[woodsygirl]

Mayo Clinic: "Problems arise because chemicals in the fruit can interfere with the enzymes that break down (metabolize) the medication in your digestive system. As a result, the medication may stay in your body for too short or too long a time. A medication that's broken down too quickly won't have time to work. On the other hand, a medication that stays in the body too long may build up to potentially dangerous levels."

[Emma2017]

Have a look at my old posts. In short I was for a short while on simvastatin and my husband gave me half a grapefruit. I absentmindedly ate it and shortly afterwards I became violently ill. I could not keep anything down, not even water. It was such a nightmare, my husband rang 111 who wanted me to go to A&E but I could not move. I kept on being sick and we were in constant contact with the doctor. It took several days and finally it seemed to clear and I could keep down an anti sickness tablet. They wanted me to go to hospital for an infusion but the thought of travelling there was too much. So that was my experience with statins and grapefruit. Never again. Luckily I was able to come off them anyway.

[david112 in reply to Emma2017]

Hi Emma, i'm not 'liking' your post because I like what happened to you but just 'cos i sympathise and agree it's good to point out the dangers. I've had the very odd small glass of grapefruit juice but I think I missed out a dose of Simvastatin that particular day. But one can't be too careful! Glad you've managed to be off statins now, did your GP agree it was good to quit?

[Emma2017 in reply to david112]

Hi David, no I had a scare while in hospital recovering from a spinal operation. Was whisked to A&E at another hospital and ended up on the heart department for a couple of nights. Great fun as you can imagine. Apparently my cholesterol was just short of 7 so they put me on simvastatin. I was sent home with that plus daily baby aspirin. I was already on pregabalin for nerve pain. As the handheld heartscan I had on the ward was inconclusive I had to go for a 3D heartscan about 5 or 6 weeks later. The grapefruit episode happened then. I had that scan and saw the specialist a week after that who said my scan was absolutely fine and my arteries were 100% clear. He told me to come of the statins and any other meds they had prescribed for my heart, so happy days there. It does show you though that many people are no doubt unnecessarily on Statins.

[david112 in reply to Emma2017]

Hi Emma, sorry to hear about your "fun" in hospital. I think that my cholesterol was either 6.5 or 6.7 about 2 years ago, so have been put on statins. I did reduce my cholesterol to about 4.5 to 4.9 and I think it's around that mark now. But although statins do reduce the cholesterol it doesn't necessarily decrease the risk of heart disease because it depends how much cholesterol is HDL (good lipids) or LDL (bad lipids). So you are right, many people are probably unnecessarily on statins (maybe including me). I might ask a friend of mine, although I'm not in regular touch with him now, whether he thinks I still need to be on simvastatin. Have you been eating any grapefruit since you've been off the statins and is it fine now?

[Emma2017 in reply to david112]

Hi David, yes I have had grapefruits since and have been absolutely fine so it was definitely a reaction to the Simvastatin. The specialist did also think it was when I asked him.

In my opinion you do seem to have quite a good cholesterol level and I would not take any statins anymore if it was me.

Interestingly the level of cholesterol people have been prescribed Statins at has been lowered following manufacturers recommendations! This is obviously a bizarre reason as it is just money orientating but subsequently millions more have been put on Statins that would not have been put on them before. Food for thought there.

[sos007 Ambassador]

Statins

"Statins are medicines that lower your cholesterol. Grapefruit or grapefruit juice affects some statins.

Do not drink grapefruit juice if you're taking simvastatin. Grapefruit juice increases the level of simvastatin in your blood and makes side effects more likely.

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.

Currently, healthcare professionals advise it is safe to drink grapefruit juice and eat grapefruit if you're taking other types of statins."

Source: nhs.uk/common-health-questi...

[Emma2017 in reply to sos007]

I would seriously question that advice. See my experience of half a grapefruit while on simvastatin above.

[sos007 Ambassador in reply to Emma2017]

You will note that my post was a direct quote from the NHS, so you'll have to take up your concerns with them.

My personal view is that people should make permanent dietary and lifestyle changes to address the source of the problem and eliminate the need for statins.

I was on statins for 9 months following open-heart surgery in March 2015, at which point their side-effects motivated me to make permanent dietary and lifestyle changes which then allowed me to wean myself off over the following 10 months, WITHOUT my cardiologist's blessing.

I stopped all medications in October 2016 and my bio-markers are now optimal without ANY medications.

LDL-C is an antiquated benchmark for cardiovascular risk assessment so utilizing statins solely to lower that value is of questionable benefit. Utilizing them for primary prevention relative to secondary prevention is also in question.

Half of all heart attacks and strokes occur to people with normal levels of cholesterol, so lowering cholesterol does not necessarily protect everyone from a cardiovascular event.

The latest research says LDL-P (particle number) is a far more important biomarker. Its proxy, ApoB, can also be utilized. Unfortunately, the medical business around the world is slow to change its practices for many reasons.

In the end, each person is responsible for their own health care and health-care decisions. Doctors are only there for support.

You can read about my own journey if you're interested by searching for my posts.

Good luck.

[Emma2017 in reply to sos007]

I could see that yes and I meant it as questioning their advice not yours 😃.

Totally agree with what you say.

Good to hear you are doing well.