Rien, Bob has given you the answer your doc would likely give, so it is the right answer. So remember that as you read the next paragraphs.
But just FYI, there are other recommendations out there. The following link says about Gleevec: "Grapefruit, grapefruit juice, and caffeine-containing products also should be avoided for one hour before and one hour after taking the drug." http://www.ons.org/patientEd/Treatment/PatientMeds/imatinib.shtml Other sites explain that the issue with grapefruit juice is not that it interferes with Gleevec's function, but that it actually might make it more potent by decreasing the rate at which it is removed from the bloodstream. The following link and quote below explain this issue (and by the way, one would wonder, if some people need 800mg instead of 400mg, what would 400mg plus grapefruit juice do? Would it work like 800mg or more? I don't know the answer, but it is an interesting question, and with the high price of Gleevec, it would be nice to know the answer.): http://www.itmonline.org/arts/herbdrug.htm "GRAPEFRUIT JUICE AND DRUGS The discovery that grapefruit juice could alter drug metabolism was the serendipitous result of using the juice as part of a placebo preparation in a drug test conducted in Canada (4). The drug felodipine (vasodilator, diuretic; used for hypertension) was being evaluated for interactions with alcohol. Alcohol did affect the way the drug functioned, resulting in more side effects, mainly postural lightheadedness due to hypotension. The plasma concentrations of the drug in the placebo group that had received grapefruit juice rather than alcohol, were surprisingly high. The same researchers then performed a follow-up study (5) using either grapefruit juice or orange juice; the grapefruit juice increased the bioavailability of nifedipine (similar to felodipine; both are calcium antagonists) by an average of 284% (that is, there was nearly 3 times the amount in the blood of those who consumed grapefruit juice as those who consumed water). Orange juice had no such effect, indicating that it was a particular component of grapefruit juice that was responsible for this marked effect. In the 10 years that followed, numerous drugs were found to respond the same way to grapefruit juice (100 medical journal articles around the world either described new findings of drug interaction or reviewed the growing number of cases). Adverse effects of combining grapefruit juice with drugs have been reported for calcium antagonists (used for lowering blood pressure), the benzodiazepines midazolam and triazolam (for depression), and terfenadine (antihistamine for allergies). The adverse effects are due to the greatly increased amount of drug in the bloodstream due to inhibited drug metabolism. The intentional combination of grapefruit juice and a lowered drug dose might yield a desired result of proper plasma levels of the drug with lower amounts ingested (hence, lower drug costs): this is an area of active research." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
