I have lost track of the number of
emails lately, but I do appreciate them as it tells me that people
are reading some of my blog postings. Plus, I enjoy being able to
help people. The emails covered a variety of topics and were mainly
from the last two months. There were a few topics from 2012 and 2013.
My biggest concern is the response to
this and this blog. Many have concerns about why they or a parent
were not told about grapefruit causing toxic medication problems for
statins and heart medications. One email author said he had been
told not to consume grapefruit or grapefruit juice, but his mother
had not found out about it until his wife needed to take her to the
hospital in serious condition one Saturday morning.
The next morning she asked for a glass
of grapefruit juice and the nurse looked at the medications list and
asked her if she wanted to stay in the hospital or possibly be sicker
to the point of death. His mother said that grapefruit was a natural
fruit and she wanted it. At that point her doctor and her son
arrived and she complained about not being able to have grapefruit
juice with her breakfast. Her doctor told her about the interaction
with her statin, simvastatin, and that was why she was fortunate her
daughter in-law had rushed her to the emergency room.
He explained the dangers and when she
still insisted on the grapefruit juice, he said he would stop her
statin and prescribe something else. He said she could not have
grapefruit for two days because the statin needs to be out of her
body before she had grapefruit or grapefruit juice. He then said he
would bring something for her to read so that she could understand
why she should not mix grapefruit with a statin.
When she insisted on the grapefruit
juice, her doctor explained that if she had the grapefruit juice and
still had the statin medication in her system, it could cause her
death. She laughed and the doctor said this is why she should read
the article he would bring her. He called the nurse station and had
them find the article and bring it to her. When she still insisted,
her son said even he had been told this by his doctor, and that was
the reason he had stopped eating grapefruit.
Her son stated that even after she had
read the article, she still insisted on having the grapefruit juice
and when she could not, called for the nurse to dial the hospital
administrator and she would give him instructions to bring her some
grapefruit juice. When he would not, she told her son to get her out
of the hospital even against doctor's orders.
The son stated that even when he
refused, she tried to get her clothes and leave. It took her son and
three nurses to restrain her. Two doctors arrived then and as she
collapsed, they rushed her to the ICU unit and needed to operate
shortly thereafter because she had a heart attack.
Now he is talking to the heart doctor
about his mother's obsession with grapefruit juice. The doctor said
that he would prescribe a medication that would not interact with the
grapefruit juice.
He thanked me for writing the several
blogs on this problem and polypharmacy and he may have missed this
otherwise, when he was prescribed a statin and in that discussion,
the doctor did make this known and was happy that he would follow the
instructions. He said his mother's doctor was happy that she would
not be able to drink grapefruit juice for several days and the statin
should be out of her body by then.
This has become longer than I thought,
but the author said he appreciated my alerting him and we have
exchange several emails over the last week and he says his mother
should be out of the hospital sometime Monday. He says his mother
still insists on grapefruit juice, but now he does not need to worry
and he or his wife will accompany her to any doctor appointments in
the future. The doctor has also provided him with the current list
of medications that can be adversely affected by grapefruit. He said
it is almost four full pages in length.
He gave me permission to use the
information.
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