Revealed: The mind-boggling drug interactions you MUST know - and it's not just ... trends now
If you are taking more than one medication, you've probably been warned about dangerous drug interactions you need to avoid.
But you may not be aware that it's not just mixing drugs we need to be careful of... And it's not just grapefruit juice and statins.
Mixing food, drink and some herbal remedies with medications can cause an array of side effects
Statins are a medication commonly prescribed to help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
They help to lower LDL cholesterol, the 'bad' kind.
Elevated levels in the blood can harden and narrow arteries.
People advised to take statins are also often encouraged to make healthy lifestyle changes, such as adding more fruits and vegetables to their diet.
But there is one fruit people taking statins should be wary of – grapefruit.
According to the NHS, a doctor may advise patients taking statins to avoid eating and drinking grapefruit completely. Others may be encouraged to only consume small quantities.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive at the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said: 'Grapefruit juice should be avoided when taking some cholesterol lowering medicines such as statins because it prevents an enzyme that is needed for the statins to be metabolised in the body.
'As such, it can cause these medicines to accumulate and increases the risk of side effects.'
Statin side effects can include headaches, dizziness, muscle pain and feeling tired, according to the NHS.
A glass of grapefruit juice could cause aches and pains and even dizziness if you are taking the cholesterol lowering medication statins
Used to prevent and treat blood clots, warfarin has been commonly prescribed in the UK since the 1950s.
However, while we're all being encouraged to eat more leafy greens, like broccoli and spinach, those on the drug should be careful of these vegetables, experts say.
'Some green vegetables such as kale, broccoli, spinach that are rich in vitamin K can reduce the affects of warfarin,' warned Dr Hannbeck.
'Warfarin blocks an enzyme that uses vitamin K,' explains Dr Dipa Kamdar pharmacist and lecturer at Kingston University in London.
'Green leafy vegetables have got quite a high amount of vitamin K in them. This interacts with the warfarin and speeds up its removal from the body.
'This means that the patients that are taking that are at increased risk of strokes.'
If you do want to change your diet you should tell your prescriber so they can adjust your warfarin dose, experts say.
Eating too many leafy greens, like broccoli and spinach, can prevent warfarin (pictured) from doing it's job
It's not just leafy greens that warfarin patients need to be wary of.
A refreshing glass of cranberry juice and eating cranberries could also land them in trouble.
This interaction has the opposite effect to the vitamin K interaction. Instead of stopping the drug from working, it exacerbates its effects.
As a result, patients can suffer from unexpected or excessive bleeding.
'The reason why pharmacists advise against drinking grape fruit juice if on warfarin is because warfarin thins the blood and grapefruit juice enhances the effect of warfarin leading to increased risk for bleeding,' said Dr Hannbeck.
St John’s Wort and the contraceptive pillSt Johns Wort is a popular herbal remedy sold over the counter as a treatment for people suffering depression, though the NHS doesn't recommended it for this use.
It's often assumed to be harmless simply because it is a herbal remedy, but pharmacists warn this isn't always the case.
St John's Wort is an enzyme inducer, meaning it can speed up the breakdown of other substances.
One of those substances is the contraceptive pill.
Mixing St Johns Wort and the contraceptive pill increases the chances that someone taking the contraceptive pill could get pregnant
Dr Kamdar said: 'A lot of people think St John's Wort is
