However, the problem can be totally preventable by avoiding grapefruit consumption in every case or prescribing an equivalent drug that is not affected by grapefruit.”Īdditional drugs affected by grapefruit are some AIDS medications, certain birth control pills and estrogen treatments, antihistamines, Viagra, some heart drugs like quinidine, certain antipsychotics and gastrointestinal agents, some immunosuppressant drugs and some blood pressure drugs. “Other than that, it was not possible to predict ahead of time which patient would get into difficulty. “Significant adverse events generally were documented for patients doing well on a stable drug regimen who included grapefruit at a normal or large amount for a few days to a week,” Dr. “The greatest hazards may come from consuming grapefruit repeatedly during the day, which can cause a further increase in blood levels of affected drugs.” Other citrus fruits like Seville oranges, limes and pomelos can also produce a similar effect. “Despite the concern for toxicity, which can be very serious in some cases, just exposure to grapefruit juice will not likely produce an adverse clinical reaction in most patients,” Dr. For example, he said, “if you take simvastatin and drink a single glass of grapefruit juice, it’s like taking three times the dose,” though the impact can be much more or much less, since individual susceptibilities vary widely. ![]() “You don’t have to drink liters and liters of the stuff to have an effect,” Dr. David Bailey, a professor emeritus of clinical pharmacology who first described the interaction and periodically updates a list of affected drugs maintained by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Grapefruit juice may, however, slightly reduce the body’s ability to absorb the drug, so if you often drink grapefruit juice, levothyroxine levels may be lower than normal, impairing treatment.ĭozens of other medications - including commonly used drugs like certain statins, some new non-warfarin oral blood thinners, opioids like oxycodone, oral fentanyl, methadone and some cancer drugs - can be extremely dangerous if you drink grapefruit juice, said Dr. ![]() There are about 100 drugs that can have dangerous and even life-threatening effects if you eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice while taking them, but levothyroxine, a thyroid hormone drug used to treat an underactive thyroid, is not one of them. Does grapefruit juice affect levothyroxine effectiveness?Ī.
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