Dafen's dietary taboos

Absolutely do not consume large amounts of alcohol or alcoholic beverages, avoid long-term consumption of large amounts of grapefruit/drinking of grapefruit juice, and gout patients should not liberally consume high-purine foods while taking this medication.； Other foods such as spicy, high-fat foods, caffeine drinks, etc. do not require complete fasting and can be adjusted according to your own tolerance. There is no such thing as "absolutely not to touch".

Many people may have searched the Internet before and found a lot of things that cannot be eaten. In fact, many of them are misinformation. Let’s start with the wine that should not be touched. Two years ago, I met a 62-year-old aunt during follow-up in the Rheumatology and Immunology Department. Her gout was so painful that she couldn't walk. The doctor prescribed Daphne to take it for a week. As a result, she felt that the pain was gone after taking the medicine. She continued to drink two ounces of white wine with braised food every noon and night. On the fifth day after eating, she vomited two mouthfuls of coffee-like stuff. The emergency examination showed acute gastric mucosal hemorrhage, which is a problem caused by the mucosal irritation of Daphne and the damage of alcohol. In fact, Daphen is a non-steroidal antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug. It inhibits the synthesis of gastric mucosal protective factors. Alcohol then directly corrodes the gastric wall. Under the double blow, even young people with usually good stomachs are prone to problems. An occasional sip of low-alcohol fruit wine is not a big problem, but drinking high-alcohol wine all the time is really life-threatening.

In addition to wine, there is another "invisible assassin" that many people don't know, which is grapefruit (that is, grapefruit)-related drinks and foods. In fact, not only Daphne, but also most drugs that are metabolized by the liver CYP3A4 enzyme are not recommended to be taken with large amounts of grapefruit. Last month I met a young man in his 20s who was taking Daphne during the acute phase of gout. He also drank two large glasses of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice every day in order to lose weight. On the third day after eating, he felt nauseous and had no energy. His liver function test showed that the transaminase was more than twice the normal level. He stopped taking the medicine and grapefruit juice and recovered within a week. This is not to say that eating a grapefruit will cause poisoning, but the furanocoumarins in grapefruit will inhibit the activity of the enzyme that metabolizes Daphne, making the drug stay in the body longer, which is equivalent to increasing the dosage of the drug. Occasionally eating a few mouthfuls to satisfy a craving is not a big problem, but if you drink grapefruit juice as water every day, the risk will indeed be much higher.

As for high-purine foods, they are not actually in direct conflict with Daphne. Instead, many people take Daphne to relieve the pain of gout. When the pain subsides, they can drink beer casually. Instead, they neglect to control uric acid, which makes repeated gout attacks more troublesome. Some nutrition experts believe that as long as you don’t eat seafood and animal offal and other ultra-high purine foods, it’s perfectly fine to occasionally eat a few bites of medium-purine pork and chicken. You don’t need to deliberately avoid all protein foods just because you eat Dafen, which will be detrimental to your body’s recovery.

Many people also ask if eating Daifen can drink coffee and eat hot pot? There is really no unified answer to this. Most gastroenterologists will advise not to eat it, because caffeine and capsaicin will stimulate gastric acid secretion and aggravate acid reflux and stomach pain that may be caused by Daphne. ； However, some rheumatologists believe that if you usually drink one or two cups of coffee every day, or do not like spicy food, you do not need to completely quit taking Daphne, as long as you do not feel uncomfortable after eating it. If you suddenly change your long-term eating habits just to take medicine, it will affect your mood and be detrimental to recovery. When I had my wisdom teeth removed last year, I took Daphne for three days. I couldn't help but eat a very spicy Chongqing hot pot. My stomach burned that night. I took two tablets of aluminum magnesium carbonate to get better. Then I ate plain porridge for two days. It really depends on the individual's tolerance, so there is no need to force it.

As for the rumors on the Internet that you should not eat eggs, drink milk, or eat soy products when eating Dafen, there is absolutely no scientific basis. As long as you are not allergic to these foods, you are encouraged to eat more. Supplementing high-quality protein can help inflammation subside, and it is much more nutritious than eating white porridge every day.

In fact, to put it bluntly, these so-called taboos are not ironclad laws that cannot be broken. The core point is not to put additional burden on the body that is already metabolizing drugs. After all, you take medicine to relieve pain and feel comfortable. You can't just take it in one bite, which will ruin your stomach or reduce the effectiveness of the medicine, right? If you are really not sure whether you can eat it, it’s okay if you don’t feel uncomfortable after eating it. If you do have acid reflux or nausea, just stop it. Don’t be too anxious.