While for most folk CBD seems to have sprung out of nowhere, it has been hovering around for quite some time now. Over the years, CBD, a complex molecule present in the marijuana plant, moved from a near-anonymity compound to a cure-all natural treatment alternative.
Scientists have been studying CBD and THC since the 1970s, which makes them not so new molecules. For the longest time, the medical potential of marijuana has been overlooked for fear of recreational abuse.
According to a critical review by WHO, CBD has shown promise for several medical conditions, provides a good safety profile, is well tolerated and doesn’t put you at risk of dependence, abuse, or other public-health related issues.
There is not enough clinical evidence for people to take CBD for the many reasons they are doing so. Even with the FDA-approved drug, Epidiolex, the manufacturers paid for two decades of clinical trials and research.
Due to the way the medical system is structured, getting the stamp of approval for some of these conditions will only happen after investing in long periods of costly clinical testing. The testing also has to be paid for by companies who can patent the results and also profit from them.
Hence, all we had to work with when it came to CBD is a lot of preliminary scientific evidence from animal models, lab experiments, and case studies. More research and scientific papers are published annually to try to establish the safety and efficacy of CBD for a wide range of health conditions.
Hence, we could be jumping the gun by blindly taking CBD for a specific health issue without clinical evidence. Like medication, a drug interaction will happen when the CBD reacts with other drugs or supplements. You can also have a drug interaction from the medication you are taking to treat a particular medical condition.
CBD has the potential to interact with other medications. Drug interactions occurrences mostly have to do with how your body will metabolize certain substances. Hence, we recommend talking to your doctor first before taking CBD for any health condition.
It would be best to let the doctor know about all the supplements, vitamins, the over-the-counter, or prescription medication you could be taking. In the first weeks of consuming CBD, you could experience side effects like:
- Decreased appetite
- Tiredness
- Altered liver enzymes
- Gastrointestinal problems
You can see 17 cases of side effects of CBD, CBD Oil Drug Interaction, Special Precautions & Warnings at this source.
CBD Oil Drug Interaction
When you take medication or other substances, the body must metabolize and break it down. This makes drug metabolism happen all over the body, like in the gut, but the liver tends to do most of the work.
Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzymes convert foreign substances and make them easy to eliminate from the body. However, some medications or substances can either slow or speed up drug metabolism, depending on how CYP450 is affected.
Change in the metabolism rate then alters how the body processes medications or supplements you take, causing a drug interaction. Research shows that this family of enzymes is also responsible for metabolizing cannabinoids.
An essential enzyme with the CYP450 family, CYP3A4, metabolizes about 60% of the most clinically prescribed medications. However, when CBD interferes with CYP3A4, the enzyme fails to break down the drugs in your system effectively.
Hence, if you take CBD while on medications that inhibit CYP3A4, your body will not have the ability to process CBD effectively.
When the body metabolizes medication too slowly, you also risk having more medicines in your system, which could exaggerate the effects of the medication, including harmful or unwanted side effects.
Some substances also speed up the work of CYP450. When the body is metabolizing medication fast because another substance is inducing the enzymes, you could fail to have enough medication to treat the underlying health issue. Some of the potential drug-drug interactions with CBD include:
- Anticonvulsants like Trileptal and Tegretol
- Antipsychotic meds like Orap
- Immune-suppressive meds like Sandimmune
- Antifungal drugs like Vfend and Nizoral
- Anti-arrhythmia drugs like quinidine
- Benzodiazepine sedatives like Halcion and Klonopin
- Migraine medications like Ergomar
- Macrolide antibiotics like telithromycin and clarithromycin
- Rifampin-based meds used to treat TB
- Opioid painkillers like alfentanil and Duragesic
Though some of these interactions are mild and don’t need any treatment adjustments, some could require a drug substitution. You could also separate the doses by several hours and spot any differences.
We recommend that you always let your doctor about the drugs you are taking to avoid interactions. This is especially crucial whether the medicines are over-the-counter, prescription, recreational, or herbal. Visit the Health Canal to learn more about CBD oil.
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