Before, Xiaobian saw a netizen's sharing when surfing:
The uxamine mentioned here is a short-acting oral contraceptive commonly used on the market.
In the spirit of scientific rigor, Xiaobian found its instructions, and as a result, there was no mention of this taboo.
So, will the contraceptive pill and grapefruit be "compatible" in the end?
Grapefruit – the "natural enemy" of medicine
In the instructions for other short-acting contraceptives, we find the words "grapefruit juice."
▲ A brand of short-acting contraceptives instructions, source: network
Grapefruit, in fact, grapefruit, is clinically regarded as the "natural enemy" of drugs.
Eating together, light will affect the efficacy, heavy will be directly fatal.
For example, antihypertensive drugs.
Before that, Ms. Wang of Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, experienced a moment of horror -
She suffers from high blood pressure and needs to take medication for a long time to control. After eating a grapefruit one day, it caused hypotension shock, and it was rescued before it was out of danger.
Image source: Network
There is also a TV series that also has such a plot -
In order to harm the female protagonist's grandmother with high blood pressure, the male protagonist let her take antihypertensive drugs every day while drinking a cup of grapefruit juice. As a result, the blood pressure of the elderly dropped very low, almost killing the old man.
Why?
Grapefruit contains furancoumarin, which inhibits the activity of a metabolic enzyme in the human body, and as soon as the activity of this enzyme is reduced, drug metabolism will be affected.
First, it will affect the efficacy of the drug; second, it may also enhance adverse reactions.
Image source: One Map Network
Researchers have found that there are as many as eighty kinds of drugs that are "incompatible" with grapefruit, and many of them are still commonly used drugs.
In addition to the antihypertensive drugs just mentioned, there are also some lipid-lowering drugs, antiarrhythmic drugs, anti-allergic drugs, anxiolytic drugs, erythromycin, tranquilizers, and some anti-tumor drugs.
There are also birth control pills.
As early as a decade ago, researchers in Canada found that grapefruit affects the effect of contraceptives:
Women who have taken the pill, if they eat 1 to 2 grapefruit after sex, or directly take the contraceptive pill with a large cup of grapefruit juice, may lead to contraceptive failure, because the grapefruit hinders the absorption of the contraceptive pill by women.
So how long will this effect last?
After eating grapefruit for about 3 days, the effect of furan coumarin on the human body basically disappeared. Therefore, grapefruit should be avoided within 72 hours of taking the medicine.
If you take short-acting contraceptives and then eat grapefruit, you will need to add condoms to have sex during this time.
In addition to grapefruit, these fruits should also be avoided
Don't check, it turns out that there are so many close relatives of grapefruit!
All kinds of grapefruit, grapefruit, as well as oranges, lemons, oranges, etc., actually belong to a large family - citrus fruits.
So, is there only grapefruit and drug "phase gram"?
Not.
As we said earlier, the "culprit" is the furan coumarin in grapefruit. In addition to grapefruit, grapefruit, lime, arrow leaf orange and lime are several kinds, and the content of furan coumarin is quite large.
Especially in grapefruit, the furan coumarin gene of grapefruit is inherited from it.
Source: @Fruit Hunter Yang Xiaoyang
However, why did the contraceptive pill instructions we saw earlier only mention grapefruit (grapefruit)?
Quite simply, these drug studies mainly use foreign data, and foreign grapefruit is more common, so there are more related studies.
In fact, grapefruit is not the only one that needs to be avoided!
Also, for the sake of safety, all kinds of grapefruit products, grapefruit products, Thai tom yin gong soup, as well as lemon tea and milk tea containing lime, it is best not to eat.
How to use contraceptives to be reliable? Look here!
Since it comes to the contraindications of contraceptives, the following will give you some scientific knowledge of the use of contraceptives
Q1: What should I do if I forget to take the contraceptive pill?
A: Take the more common "21+7" scheme on the market as an example.
If the time of missing the dose is within 12 hours, it is only necessary to make up immediately, and the next tablet can be taken at regular time without affecting the contraceptive effect.
If the missed service time exceeds 12 hours, it will be replenished according to the situation:
- If you miss the first week of the month, you should also take 1 tablet immediately, and then take the next tablet at regular time. However, at this time, the contraceptive effect has been affected, and a condom is required for the next 7 days of intercourse.
- Missed in the second week of the month and have been taken continuously for the previous week, just make up immediately. At this time, the contraceptive effect is almost unaffected, and the condom can be not worn when having sex.
- If you miss the third week of this month, you should also take 1 tablet, and then continue to take the medicine until you finish eating. Take the next box immediately after eating, do not stop the drug in the middle. In this case, the contraceptive effect is likewise almost unaffected.
Q2: Do you still have to wear a condom when you first start taking medicine and have sex?
A: As long as the usage is correct and there is no leakage of food, there is no need to supplement other contraceptives.
However, if you have eaten foods or drugs that affect the efficacy of the drug, or if you have missed more than 12 hours in the first week, you must wear a condom.
Q3: During the period of drug discontinuation, do I have to wear a condom for sexual life?
A: Take according to the plan, do not need to wear a condom within 7 days of stopping the drug.
Q4: If I don't want to eat it halfway through, can I switch to other methods of contraception?
A: It is recommended not to change contraceptive methods in the middle of a menstrual cycle (the first day of bleeding is the beginning of a menstrual cycle). It is best to use other contraceptive methods at the end of a menstrual cycle and after repeat menstruation.
Q5: I want to have a baby, how long will it take to stop the drug to get pregnant?
A: Oral contraceptives do not accumulate in the body. The short-acting contraceptives that are widely used at present are low-dose hormones that have no effect on the fetus, and if it is decided to have a child, the drug can be stopped to get pregnant.
Q6: Will long-term use cause fetal malformations?
A: The content of hormones in short-acting contraceptives is very low, and before the drug is available, it is necessary to pass strict carcinogenic, teratogenic, mutagenic and other experiments, without worrying.