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Should I Be Concerned If I Drank Grapefruit Juice And Took Simvastatin Together?
Question: I drank a glass of grapefruit juice one time while taking a simvastatin - I did not realize you cannot do this- should I be concerned and contact my doctor? I am suppose to take the Simvastatin daily- how long should I wait before I take another pill?
Hello.
Thanks for posting your query.
Grapefruit juice has drug interaction with some group of drugs like statins, antiarrythmic drugs, calcium channel blocker, immunosuppressants, etc.
Grapefruit juice blocks the special enzymes in the wall of small intestine. When the action of this enzyme is blocked, more of the drugs get into the body and the blood levels of these medications increase. This can lead to toxic side effects from the medications. However, many of these interactions have not been proven clinically significant, or inconsistent data exist.
The potential for a grapefruit-drug interaction persists for up 24 to 72 hours according to one study.
As statin (Simvastatin) is one among the drugs to interact with grapefruit juice, its increased plasma concentration may cause headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, hepatic inflammation, and myopathies (e.g., rhabdomyolysis).
I would suggest you to to stop Simvastatin for next 72 hours or you can get alternative drugs prescribed for Simvastatin which has no interaction with grapefruit juice like Fluvastatin, Pravastatin, Rosuvastatin after consulting your doctor.
If you observe any adverse effects which I have mentioned above, you can consult your treating doctor immediately.
Hope, this helps to answer your query. Please accept my answer in case you do not have follow up queries.
Regards.
Thanks for posting your query.
Grapefruit juice has drug interaction with some group of drugs like statins, antiarrythmic drugs, calcium channel blocker, immunosuppressants, etc.
Grapefruit juice blocks the special enzymes in the wall of small intestine. When the action of this enzyme is blocked, more of the drugs get into the body and the blood levels of these medications increase. This can lead to toxic side effects from the medications. However, many of these interactions have not been proven clinically significant, or inconsistent data exist.
The potential for a grapefruit-drug interaction persists for up 24 to 72 hours according to one study.
As statin (Simvastatin) is one among the drugs to interact with grapefruit juice, its increased plasma concentration may cause headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, hepatic inflammation, and myopathies (e.g., rhabdomyolysis).
I would suggest you to to stop Simvastatin for next 72 hours or you can get alternative drugs prescribed for Simvastatin which has no interaction with grapefruit juice like Fluvastatin, Pravastatin, Rosuvastatin after consulting your doctor.
If you observe any adverse effects which I have mentioned above, you can consult your treating doctor immediately.
Hope, this helps to answer your query. Please accept my answer in case you do not have follow up queries.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
thanks for your answer- I am not having any side effects. By drinking the grapefruit this one time- would that effect my liver and should I have a blood test done or would the one time not cause that kind of harm?
Hello.
Thanks for writing back.
It is good to hear that you have no complaints/ side effects.
As I said in my previous answer, many of these interactions have not been proven clinically significant, moreover, your history of one time consumption will not have much harm.
For the liver to get affected, it has to be long term drug interaction making the sustained increased level of drug in the blood, which is not there in your case. So, I do not feel any necessity of doing a liver function test at this point of time.
To be on the safer side, avoid taking drug for next 2 days or consider taking alternate drug as advised in previous post after consultation with your doctor.
Hope, I have answered your query to your satisfaction. Please accept my answer in case you do not have follow up queries.
Wish you good health.
Regards.
Thanks for writing back.
It is good to hear that you have no complaints/ side effects.
As I said in my previous answer, many of these interactions have not been proven clinically significant, moreover, your history of one time consumption will not have much harm.
For the liver to get affected, it has to be long term drug interaction making the sustained increased level of drug in the blood, which is not there in your case. So, I do not feel any necessity of doing a liver function test at this point of time.
To be on the safer side, avoid taking drug for next 2 days or consider taking alternate drug as advised in previous post after consultation with your doctor.
Hope, I have answered your query to your satisfaction. Please accept my answer in case you do not have follow up queries.
Wish you good health.
Regards.
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
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