Grapefruit Juice FAQ

[the_ketaman]

Is this for benzo's or opiates?

It made a bit of a difference with codeine and xanax combo but im not sure if it was placebo or the dose or something. But scientifically it works, I used ready made juice buy most people suggest go but some grapefruits and make your own.

 

[JediMindTricks]

ah my bad I ment for oxy or hydrocodone

 

[Deep Kick]

it works as a mild potentiator. but really only if you take it prior to dosing, like 30 mins or so. though it can be hard to notice the difference sometimes, and I've had both oxy and vic experiences with grapefruit juice and without. IMO, one of the best potentiators is cannabis, particularly with opiates/opiods. Dose first, than smoke. It's a big boost for me 100 percent of the time. But if that's not your thing, grapefruit juice is worth trying. Drink a quick glass or two, then dose.

oh, and grapefruit juice potentiates benzos too.

 

[Frank Zito]

Hardly if at all IMO and I have been a heavy opiate user for the past 10 years. Don't bother.

 

[puck35]

I've been trying this with diazepam and temazepam, also to take less, and I can't tell if it's making a difference.

 

[Mr Blonde]

As far as I was aware, grapefruit juice or any of the other CYP3A4 inhibitors don't potentiate opioids so much as extend the high by stopping metabolization occurring. To a certain extent.

I used to do this with codeine, I don't bother anymore. It's better to get an OTC CYP3A4 inhibitor; the amount of substance in a grapefruit can vary, a med will not.

 

[the_ketaman]

To my knowledge grapefruit juice inhibits one of the 2 inhibitors that metabolize codeine, if you get tagamet(cimetidine, never tried it myself) it inhibits both of the enzymes and you will get a much better potentiating effect.

Im not 100% with all this but I remember reading this information not too long ago.

 

[nleksan]

I've tried every potentiation technique that's been brought up in this forum pretty much, lol, and yes, grapefruit works. It doesn't work miracles, though. If you're trying to potentiate oxy/hydro (which are the two substances I spent the most time trying to potentiate as well; stronger opiates I just shot up), you'll need to do a combination of things. Here's an example:
-45min take 600-800mg Tagamet (cimetidine)
-30min take 50mg Benadryl (diphenhydramine) with 24oz of pure, 100% white grapefruit juice (NOT pink)
-20min take a benzo if you are used to using them to potentiate opiates; I think Valium (diazepam) works best for this, although it too will be potentiated by the prior things taken, so take 2/3 your normal dose
0:00min take your opiate dose
+2hours you might have to redose opiates, and if you do, it is worth it to take another 25mg benadryl

That's what I usually used, and I would say (without the Valium) there was a 15-20% increase in quality of high (so to speak), and it lasted about 30% longer.

 

[Walks]

It has never worked for me but I only tried it a handful of times it has worked for some of my friends but its really mild in my opinion.

 

[mcwally]

yeh its not really potentiating just slowing the deterioration of the high from opiates, eg inhibit 3A4 breaking down the morphine

benzos like clonazepam and alprazolam (and zolpidem) are already in their active forms but are metabolised by 3A4 also so it makes sense that grapefruit juice or 3A4 inhibitors could be used to maintain their levels. Diazepam however is metabolised by like 3 or 4 diff CYP 450s not only 3a4

problem with cimetidine for opiate potentiating is in a pdf table I have that someone posted here somewhere it says that it is also a 2D6 inhibitor

 

[mcwally]

oh yeah and diphenahydramine is also a 2D6 inhibitor so only use it well after an opiate dose to stop fuckentiating it

another way of potentiating is to just have heaps of drugs that are metabolised by say 3A4 so it is less efficient in breaking down the goodies

 

[trichr0me]

I was reading about this the other day and doing alot of thinking about it also. Yesterday I had a dentist appointment and the doctor gave me a script for 1mg Xanax and I was to take it before my appointment. So I bought some grapefruit juice and drank a cup full 30 minutes prior for popping the xanax and I noticed no increased affect, and I have not taken any benzos for over a year.

In fact it made it so it took 2 hours to feel any effects from the xanax, definitly was worse in my opinion then taking the xanax alone, just my experience, there might be others.

 

[Dancan]

Ok, I have read all the posts here, and klonopin suprisingly doesn't seem to have been mentioned, other than in the initial post.

I use codeine, xanax, klonopin, and will soon be trying oxycontin, so GFJ sounds like it couldn't be much more appropriate for me. Hopefully it will act as a bulwark against me raising my oxy doses...fingers crossed.

Anyway, there needs to be more specific information here about how much fresh white GFJ should be drunk and when for both benzos and opiates. I'm aware that the problem is that it is very difficult to estimate, but guesses could still be a very useful guide.

I'm trying about 600ml of fresh white GFJ for the first time tonight with my usual dose of 2mg klonopin. I drank it as fast as I could squeeze it, but crucially this was 3-10 minutes after ingesting the pill.

Is it important to drink more or all of the juice beforehand? Or when? As I say, even guesswork would be helpful

 

[mcwally]

^I did mention clonazepam (klonopin in US) a post or 2 ago tho

another factor here is how full your gut is, if it has 2litres of grapefruit juice in it then you may have some fantastic academic 3A4 inhibiting but then you are dosing on a full stomach and a fkn acidic one at that

for codeine we know heat like above 60-70 deg C destroys it but I have a suspicion that highly acidic environment breaks it down also? anymore info on that side guys? so maybe having low stomach acidity on dosing is also desirable

 

[Mr Blonde]

To my knowledge grapefruit juice inhibits one of the 2 inhibitors that metabolize codeine, if you get tagamet(cimetidine, never tried it myself) it inhibits both of the enzymes and you will get a much better potentiating effect.

Im not 100% with all this but I remember reading this information not too long ago.

Actually you've reminded me that grapefruit juice is also quite possibly a CYP2D6 inhibitor which isn't good if you're using codeine; that particular enzyme turns codeine into morphine.

A shot of alcohol/a beer an hour before, along with a CYP3A4 inhibitor found OTC would be my suggestion, since alcohol increases CYP2D6 conversion of codeine to morphine if I remember right. Just don't do too much or it messes up the nice opioid high.

 

[Madmike]

Seriously? I've always steered clear of grapefruit juice because I've heard it does the opposite. I take codeine daily, and try to steer clear of anything citric.

I just want clarification. I read the post. I always thought it inhibited CYP 2D6 to a large degree.

And what is Tagament? I hear about it all the time. Is it a vitamin?

Thanks

If you don't know about Tagamet, you shouldn't worry about it. It is RX only in here and probably also in where you live.

I use a lot of grapefruit juice and codeine works. Strongly. After drinking all day long grapefruit juice.

 

[mcwally]

ey Madmike, dose some of your zolpidem with the codeine to throw the little 3A4 critters onto metabolising it instead of the morphine

 

[Dancan]

I've just today aquired some pure 60mg codeine tablets, so tonight I plan to drink about 400ml of fresh white GFJ about 40minutes before ingesting the codeine. Is this about the right time frame? I was also planning to drink about 250ml half an hour into ingestion.

This is a useful thread, but we need people to start listing how much GFJ they drank, and when they did so in relation to when they administered the opiates. Because, it's clearly a point of contention, with no specific time frames, but that shouldn't stop us trying to get some estimates together that are supported by others.

Pure white GFJ isn't that easy to find in the UK in a carton format. I'm just squeezing it out of the grapefruits right now, and planning to supliment that with some fresh cartoned red GFJ, because that's much much easier to find in a carton than white.

 

[Mr Blonde]

^ What's the point of knowing how much grapefruit juice people drink? It's the chemical content that matters and there's no way you can find that out. Like I said, find an OTC substitute.

And if you'd read all the posts, quite a few people are know posting things saying that grapefruit juice will quite probably have a detrimental effect on your codeine experience by inhibiting the metabolization to morphine.

This article mentions that there have been studies showing inhibition of CYP2D6 by grapefruit juice. That was the best I could do in a minute, I'm lazy and I can't be bothered to prove it to you. Do some research.

 

[BeenArrested4Pot]

What about diazepam?

2)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entre...t_uids=9625273


Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. 1998 Jan-Mar;23(1):55-9. Related Articles,Links

Interaction between grapefruit juice and diazepam in humans.

Ozdemir M, Aktan Y, Boydag BS, Cingi MI, Musmul A.

Department of Pharmacology, Medical Faculty, University of Osmangazi, Eskisehir, Turkey.

Grapefruit juice has been reported to markedly improve the bioavailability of triazolam, midazolam, terfenadine, cyclosporine and several dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers including felodipine, nifedipine, nitrendipine and nisoldipine. Because these drugs are metabolized by the hepatic cytochrome P450 isozyme (CYP) 3A4, the inhibitory effect of grapefruit juice is thought to results from inhibition of CYP3A4. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effects of grapefruit juice on plasma concentrations of diazepam. Eight healthy male and female subjects participated in this study. Oral (5 mg) diazepam was administered with either 250 ml water and grapefruit juice. Blood samples were collected for a 24 h period, and whole blood concentrations of diazepam were measured enzyme immunoassay. The mean AUC(0-24) of diazepam was increased 3.2-fold (P < 0.001) and Cmax was increased 1.5-fold (P < 0.05) by the grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice postponed the tmax of diazepam from 1.50 h to 2.06 h (P < 0.01).