Diabetic, High Cholesterol, Prescribed Lipanthyl 100. Take Grapefruit Juice Simultaneously?

Posted on Mon, 11 Jul 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 Answered on

Sat, 26 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a diabetic and have now been diagonised with high cholestrol. I have been prescribed LIPANTHYL 100 - can I also have grapefruit juice when I am taking this drug. I read lot of articles which suggests that Grape fruit juice is very good for controlling blood sugar but is XXXXXXX if you have with drugs which has statin in them

Answered by Dr. Kiran Kumar (6 hours later)

Hi,

You are right. Taking grape juice with statins is harmful.

A chemical in grapefruit juice deactivates a liver enzyme that is important in breaking down statins; and this leads to excessively high levels of the drug in the bloodstream, causing statin toxicity symptoms such as, extreme tiredness, muscle aches and even potentially lethal effects on the heart muscle.

However, Lipanthyl is Fenofinrate and is Not a Statin. Its a fibric acid derivative. Lipanthyl has no interaction with grape juice.

So you can continue take the same medications.

Hope this answers your query. Please get back if you need any further information
Thanks and Regards

Dr Kiran

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T