Whenever you start a treatment, regardless of its kind, you should be interested in the interactions that may occur between your treatment and other drugs you may take or could take in the future.
Some drugs just don’t go well together, canceling each other’s effect or, even worse, triggering unpleasant side-effects and increasing the risks of developing a variety of complications.
Even if we are talking about natural treatments like CBD products, as they are the kind of medicine that has considerably lower risks than many other drugs out there.
So, before starting to take CBD for the health problem you’re dealing with, do read the information below and see if it has any unwanted interaction with anything else you may be taking.
Everybody is facing drug interaction issues
Very many people face drug interactions issues out there. As there is a wide range of drugs and a lot of health problems we are struggling to control.
You don’t even have to be on a particular treatment, as the pain meds or flu meds you may occasionally take, according to the case, may interact with other kinds of drugs, and so on.
If you are suffering from chronic diseases, such as diabetes or arthritis, then the chances of running across a drug interaction are higher. Due to the fact that you are constantly on a treatment.
But, what you need to remember is that not all interactions have negative consequences. Some drugs are more effective when they are used together and this is something worth exploring in the case of CBD as well.
In other words, people will have a better chance at living a better life due to treatments that are doing a much better job.
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Why are drug interactions so important?
As mentioned earlier, these interactions can have both advantages and disadvantages.
Let us take the example of using opioids.
In case the effects of this treatment are enhanced, the opioids will become more effective at managing pain, but the risk of an overdose will also increase.
So, it is important to be aware of these interactions so that the treatments we take are in our benefit and don’t turn into risks to our health, wellbeing, and life.
Of course, it is not an easy task to determine the interactions between various drugs. As they are influenced by an entire set of factors.
Practically, drug interactions are predictions of what may happen from a biological point of view. So they may or may not happen, according to the case.
Thus, in this article, we are not going to venture too far into this complex and complicated matter. As we will stick to taking a look at CBD interactions with pain medicines, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opiates. And drugs used for metabolic disorders, such as insulin, statins, and warfarin.
CBD and pain medication
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work by reducing inflammation and stimulating the activity of the body’s endocannabinoid receptors. This is why it is believed that NSAIDs can interact with CBD, As this substance extracted from cannabis also works in enhancing the activity or our own endocannabinoid system.
Looking at the way NSAIDs are metabolized, specialists believe that the way they are metabolized by the body decreases in the presence of CBD while the drugs’ unwanted side-effect occurrence is increased.
Still, what is happening within the endocannabinoid system is more important in the opinion of the experts. Thus, CBD and NSAIDs are capable of forming a synergic relationship, which means that their analgesic action is significantly improved while their ability to create gastric discomforts is reduced considerably.
Ibuprofen, a drug that is part of this category, will have its action enhanced when it comes to its anti-inflammatory and painkilling effect. Although detailed studies are missing at this point, so it is not sure the precise effects it can trigger.
Opiates, another type of drug that is used for painkilling, are more potent but can lead to addiction issues and can be hard to tolerate. But, in the presence of cannabinoids, opiates improve their therapeutic effect while the unwanted risks associated with the use of opiates are diminished.
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Interactions with drugs prescribed for metabolic issues
When it comes to treatments with insulin, the effects depend on the type of cannabinoid used by the patient.
So, if THC will impair the insulin sensitivity of the body due to its psychoactive effects, CBD will do the opposite and increase insulin sensitivity.
Still, there are other studies, a much smaller number of them, which proved the opposite, so further research is required in this domain.
Confusion is, furthermore, enhanced by the fact that the use of cannabis was associated, in time, with an overall decrease of symptoms connected to metabolic disorders.
Thus, it is believed that the body’s endocannabinoid system acts as a buffering agent when it comes to insulin sensitivity, rather than just blocking it. In the case of patients taking statins, drugs prescribed for conditions such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, the effects of cannabinoids can become less effective.
In the case of warfarin, the most commonly used blood thinner, adding CBD to the mixture can increase the effects of the drug while minimizing risks. It is difficult to find the ideal dose of warfarin for patients right from the start, so most of them visit the ER before reaching an appropriate dose.
Still, prescribing cannabinoids with warfarin should be done with caution and the dose of warfarin should be diminished to avoid any problems.
Cannabinoids can even interact with each other
Known as the “entourage effect”, the wide variety of cannabinoids found within the cannabis plant have the ability to interact with each other. So sometimes the presence of another drug may not be needed to obtain different results.
For example, it is not a secret that CBD and THC can interact, one maximizing the therapeutic effects of the other, and the other way around, while mitigating some of their properties at the same time.
This is why a thorough research must be done before starting a treatment. And, even in the case of CBD, the content and purity of the product is essential if you are to determine any interactions.
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