Grapefruit juice potentiates fentanyl.

[paranoid_android]

There's not a lot of info on potentiating fentanyl but I think I've solved one mystery.

**I want to preface this by saying that fentanyl is a very potent drug and when taken irresponsibly (i.e. without slow and careful titration) can lead to an extremely intense acute hypoventilation. In other words, it'll make you stop breathing. Respiration (breathing) is a necessary component to most life on Earth, and this includes humans. Nobody should ever take fentanyl recreationally or in ways not adhering to the doctor's orders. These ways may include, for instance, placing sections of a cut-up Mylan patch into the mouth between the gum and cheek without swallowing the saliva that extracts larger than usual amounts of the drug. This post is not about drug abuse but the pharmacokinetics of a synthetic opioid that should always be used as directed.**

Hypothesis: Grapefruit juice potentiates fentanyl.

Proof: In the manual from mylan's company website on their fentanyl patches, it explicitly states: "The concomitant use of fentanyl transdermal system with potent cytochrome P450 3A4 inhibitors ([article lists about 5 or 6 odd antibiotics]) may result in an increase in fentanyl plasma concentrations, which could increase or prolong adverse drug effects and may cause potentially fatal respiratory depression."

This website states that grapefruit juice is a level 3(in 1-4) P450 3A4 inhibitor. It's also common knowledge amongst the opioid researchers we have at drugs-forum.


What do you folks think about it? Old news or an interesting nugget of information?