Grapefruit a Factor in Adverse Reactions to Many Prescription Drugs

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the scent of grapefruit. I haven’t gotten around to actually eating any grapefruit but my summer body spray smells like grapefruit, my deodorant has extract of grapefruit in it, and I have been using a new face wash which—surprise!—is made with grapefruit to help moisturize. A new study even suggests that a grapefruit’s scent might actually make you feel better and reduce your appetite. I can believe that, but don’t go praising this citrus just yet, emerging research shows that grapefruit may not be all good for you all the time.

Packed with infection-fighting vitamin C and disease-preventing vitamin A, the grapefruit has been revered for years for its great citrus taste and incredible health benefits. The grapefruit is as much a staple of breakfast tables as its cousin orange juice—only usually in whole fruit form sprinkled with sugar instead of in a glass. Experts say if you eat a grapefruit peeled like an orange, you get 50 percent more fiber than if you carve out the sections with a fancy serrated spoon. Many diets are known to include some form of grapefruit in order to jump start your day and reduce insulin to melt pounds faster and help your body sustain energy throughout the day, and “The Grapefruit Diet” was even a well-known fad in the 1980s.

Grapefruit juice can block certain drugs from absorbing into your system causing severe reactions with dangerous results. It seems that chemicals within grapefruit juice reverse the affects of the enzymes used in your body to break up certain medications. More than fifty medications are affected by grapefruit juice including those that treat the following ailments: abnormal heart rhythm, allergies, anxiety, asthma, blood clots, cancer, cough, depression, emphysema, epilepsy, erectile dysfunction, heart attack or heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, HIV, infection, pain, enlarged prostate, and stroke among others.

Most of the dangerous drug interactions have happened due to the combination of grapefruit juice and Lipitor, a common cholesterol medicaiton. Grapefruit segments, juice or supplements, block the process of enzymes that help the liver break down the medication and makes the blood level rise and the medication stay in the body longer at a toxic level. This dangerous side-effect is called Rhabdomyolysis (destruction of muscle tissues), which cause the body to create muscle pains, tiredness and sudden fevers. Rhabdomyolysis could be fatal if not given attention immediately because the spike in the medication within the bloodstream can cause the kidneys to fail.

Published in the American Journal of Nursing, Lucas King’s story shows exactly how things can go wrong when mixing seemingly innocent grapefruit juice with Lipitor. A few years ago at age 59, overweight and unhealthy, King turned to exercise, eating healthy, and Lipitor to lower his “bad” cholesterol. After four months and shedding almost 40 pounds, his health was getting on track and he fled to his winter home in Florida to escape the cold. Finding the grapefruit tree on his patio full of healthy fruit, he began to drink three to four refreshing glasses a day and was soon having rapid fevers and intense pains in his muscles that were unexplainable. King was diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis and his kidneys checked out fine, but he only went to the hospital after reading the drug information the pharmacy had handed out with his Lipitor prescription and it potentially saved his life. A simple dietary change in King’s life was enough to put him at risk for fatal injuries.

Many medications have foods that can cause adverse reactions when eaten with them and patients should research these or take notes when the doctor is warning about these hazards, for good reason. Here is a partial list of prescription medicines that react adversely with grapefruit, courtesy of WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise:

• Anxiety: Xanax, Buspar, Versed, Halcion
• Depression: Luvox, Zoloft
• Allergies: Allegra
• Abnormal heart rhythm: Cordarone, quinidine
• Heart disease/stroke/blood clots: Coumadin
• Epilepsy: Tegretol
• Cancer: Cyclophosphamide, etoposide, ifosfamide, tamoxifen, vinblastine, vincristine
• Cough: Dextromethorphan (found in many over-the-counter cold medicines)
• HIV: Agenerase, Crixivan, Viracept, Norvir, Fortovase
• Prostate enlargement: Proscar
• Heart disease/High blood pressure: Coreg, Cardizem, Plendil, Cardene, Adalat, Procardia, Nimotop, Sular, Covera, Calan, Verelan
• Erectile dysfunction: Viagra, Cialis
• Asthma/Emphysema: Theophylline
• High cholesterol: Lipitor, Lescol, Mevacor, Zocor
• Pain: Alfenta, Duragesic, Actiq, Sufenta
• Infection: Biaxin, Sporanox, erythromycin, troleandomycin