By STEPHANIE BEECKEN
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) - Doctors say the number of prescription drugs with potentially deadly interactions with grapefruit juice is growing.
The interaction was discovered more than two decades ago, but now there are nearly 90 known drugs on the list, 43 of which can cause serious problems, including sudden death, when taken with grapefruit.
Leah Schumacher, a registered dietician at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, says the grapefruit juice increases how well the body absorbs certain drugs.
So if the drug is taken with grapefruit or grapefruit juice the body will absorb more than needed, sometimes causing adverse reactions.
Schumacher says there are now more drugs made that interact with grapefruit juice but that your pharmacist will put a label on your medication if it does.
"Being on one of these drugs doesn't mean that you can't ever have grapefruit or grapefruit juice in your diet, it just means you shouldn't take the medication with a meal that includes grapefruit juice. You really need about six hours between taking the medication and eating a grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice," said Schumacher.
If you have concerns about your medication possibly interacting with grapefruit juice ask your pharmacist.
For more information, visit the National Institutes of Health release.
Below is the full list of prescriptions that could interact with grapefruit:
Alfentanil(oral)
Amiodarone
Apixaban
Atorvastatin
Buspirone
Clopidogrel
Crizotinib
Cyclosporine
Darifenacin
Dasatinib
Dextromethorphan
Domperidone
Dronedarone
Eplerenone
Erlotinib
Erythromycin
Everolimus
Felodipine
Fentanyl (oral)
Fesoterodine
Halofantrine
Ketamine(oral)
Latatinib
Lovastatin
Lurasidone
Maraviroc
Nifedipine
Nilotinib
Oxycodone
Pazopanib
Pimozide
Primaquine
Quinine
Quetiapine
Quinidine
Rilpivirine
Rivaroxaban
Silodosiz
Simvastatin
Sirolimus
Solifenacin
Sunitinib
Tacrolimus
Tamsulosin
Ticagrelor
Triazolam
Vandetanib
Venurafenib
Verapamil
Ziprasidone
(Source: ABC News)
