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Opioids The Grapefruit Juice Myth

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Chubs4You

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Oct 24, 2016
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I am a medical professional and have seen a lot of talk about grapefruit juice on various sites. Please trust me--don't ever drink grapefruit juice with methadone, benzodiazepines, and any other drug it interacts with. There is a myth that grapefruit juice makes the drug more intense, but the opposite is true. It inhibits absorption of these drugs and will give you less of a high. Just an FYI.
 
Wrong. It inhibits the enzymes that metabolize the drug, thus allowing more of it to be absorbed.

I will agree that people shouldn't utilize this practice though, you know hr and all.
 
Wrong. It inhibits the enzymes that metabolize the drug, thus allowing more of it to be absorbed.
This
White grapefruit juice contains a substance called bergamottin, it's a CYP3A4 (and probably a few other isoforms of the cytochrome P450 enzyme) inhibitor.
Of course it'll decrease the effects of pro-drugs that need to be metabolized into an active drug, but if you take a drug that's metabolized into an inactive metabolite by CYP3A4 the drug will last longer, and maybe will be a bit more potent.
 
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My Apologies

This
White grapefruit juice contains a substance called bergamottin, it's a CYP3A4 (and probably a few other isoforms of the cytochrome P450 enzyme) inhibitor.
Of course it'll decrease the effects of pro-drugs that need to be metabolized into an active drug, but if you take a drug that's metabolized into an inactive metabolite by CYP3A4 the drug will last longer, and maybe will be a bit more potent.
There are enough medical papers about it, so don't tell us you're a medical professional...

I really didn't mean to sound snobby when I said I was a medical professional. Maybe it came off as cocky, but I didn't intend to. I didn't want to say exactly what my occupation is, but I just learned about the grapefruit juice contraindications last week as part of my continuing education. My apologies for sounding like an arrogant know-it-all.
 
^Sorry on my part, I was rude, had a rough day


Could you tell us more about what you learned, because from what I know it does potentiate certain drugs to a small extend
 
No Worries--Rough Day For Me Too

^Sorry on my part, I was rude, had a rough day


Could you tell us more about what you learned, because from what I know it does potentiate certain drugs to a small extend

Oh, it's totally OK. I really appreciate it. I am so stressed out this week myself. Lol. I feel like there's so much to do and it is just not possible in the time I have to do it. Anyway, I was told that grapefruit juice lowers the potency of benzodiazepines. However, I made the mistake of assuming that grapefruit juice would have the same effect on other drugs. So, from what I was told, benzos become less potent if taken with grapefruit juice. I'm going to ask one of the pharmacists I know exactly what effects grapefruit has on which drugs.
 
I know you're not supposed to drink grapefruit juice if you're on certain medications, but I don't think any of them are recreational.
 
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