Common prescription drugs that interact with Medical Marijuana/Medical Cannabis

Drug-drug interactions are not uncommon.  Delivering good health care is not so much about avoiding drug-drug interactions as it is about managing them.

Once a person is taking more than 5 pharmaceutical agents consistently on a long term basis, the number of drug-drug interactions is exponential.

In fact, there is a condition known to health professionals as “Poly-pharmacy”. Poly-pharmacy occurs when a patient is on multiple drugs that treat multiple different diseases (some ailments are often psychiatric).  Poly-pharmacy is usually associated with a low quality of life in which the patient does not appear to benefit from the slew of medications that he or she takes. Rather, it appears that the patient would be better off if some drugs were eliminated.  Poly-pharmacy is often associated with multiple and complicated drug-drug interactions, especially in the geriatric population.

Often, Medical Doctors ignore the Alternative Medications (such as Medical Cannabis) that their patients are taking because they do not consider them “real medications” or they scoff at them as lascivious.
Below are a list of medications/types of medications and some of the various diseases that they treat.  In addition, I have listed how these common pharmaceutical agents interact with Medical Cannabis. 

Warfarin (Coumadin)
Condition that this drug treats: Various Clotting Disorders (i.e. Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT), Low Cardiac Output States (i.e. Cardiomyopathy, Congestive Heart Failure), Strokes, Arrhythmias (i.e. Atrial Fibrillation (Afib))

Minor Drug Interaction
Discuss these issues with a trusted health care provider.  Using Medical Marijuana might increase the effects of warfarin (Coumadin).  Smoking Medical Marijuana while taking warfarin (Coumadin) might increase the chance of bruising and bleeding.

Be observant and watch for signs of bleeding like blood in the stool, as well as nasal and gum bleeding.

Sedatives:
Barbiturates
Conditions that these drugs treat: Anxiety/Insomnia

Major Drug Interaction
Medical Marijuana might cause fatigue and lethargy. Medications that cause stupor are known as sedatives. Taking Medical Cannabis along with other sedative medications might cause too much sleepiness.

CNS depressants
Conditions that these drugs treat: Anxiety/Insomnia

Major Drug Interaction: As in Barbiturates section.
Some sedative agents include clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), xanax,  phenobarbital (Donnatal), zolpidem (Ambien), as well as many others.

Theophylline
Condition that this drug treats: Asthma/COPD (Emphysema/Chronic Bronchitis)
Major Drug Interaction.

Taking Medical Marijuana might decrease the effects of theophylline.
As well, theophylline is a very old asthmatic medication that can cause the unwanted side effect of tachycardia (i.e. fast heart rate).

Medical Cannabis can lead to tachycardia as well, thus one may exacerbate the other and lead to a high heart rate.

Do not take this combination.
Disulfiram (Antabuse)

Condition that this drug treats: Alcohol Dependence

Moderate Drug Interaction.
Antabuse is an older drug created to discourage people with Alcohol Dependence from drinking alcohol.  Disulfiram (Antabuse) may interact with Medical Marijuana. Ingesting Medical Marijuana along with Disulfiram might lead to nervousness, insomnia, and irritability.

Fluoxetine (Prozac)
Condition that this drug treats: Depression

Moderate Drug Interaction.
Taking Medical Marijuana with fluoxetine (Prozac) might cause you to feel goaded, nervous, edgy, and energized. The term “hypomania” has been used to describe the aforementioned condition at times.

Reference:

Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database: Consumer Version. Click here.

Medical Marijuana Ailments

Medical Marijuana may provide relief for the following conditions: migraines, anxiety, insomnia, arthritis, depression, nausea, chronic pain, HIV/Aids, glaucoma, anorexia, multiple sclerosis, chemotherapy, and fibromyalgia.

Medical Marijuana Clinic Locations

THCeval is a medical marijuana evaluation clinic based in Los Angeles and Orange County, California.

E-mail: info@thceval.com