Does Marijuana Affect Antibiotics?

In this brave new world of readily available cannabis products many questions are sure to arise and unfortunately due to the stigma and scandal cannabis use has been subject to for so many decades there is still a lot of misinformation floating around out there. Now that both recreational and medical cannabis are not only legalized but gaining acceptance with the wider public a lot of common questions are being asked and it can be difficult to cut through the noise to find the real answers.

This has led many people who are seeking traditional medical treatment for other health concerns in their lives to wonder if there might not be any risk of harmful interaction between the cannabis products they are using and the medications they have been prescribed. One frequently prescribed medication many people wonder about often is smoking weed on antibiotics. Does marijuana affect antibiotics in a negative way?

Can I Smoke Weed While On Antibiotics?

The question of can you smoke weed on antibiotics is a very common one and for good reason as more and more people are discovering the benefits of adding cannabis to their daily routines. But in the course of all of our day to day lives it is not uncommon to develop a health concern that leads you to be prescribed some antibiotic medicine by a doctor or a dentist and the medication is always given with stern warnings not to mix it with alcohol.

There are several reasons why antibiotics and alcohol don’t mix; most importantly when you feel sick drinking alcohol will likely only make you feel worse but also of considerable importance is the fact that antibiotics can have some nasty side effects of their own which can be enhanced severely by the consumption of alcohol. But is this also true in the case of antibiotics and weed?

Unfortunately there is still little official research into the matter but generally speaking it is always inadvisable to mix drugs together, especially if you are not fully aware of the potential interactions and effects that could result. Please be aware that nothing in this article should be taken as fact over the word of a trained medical professional with a greater understanding of the topic at hand.

While mixing any substance with antibiotics is not advisable and could potentially lead to harmful enhancements of side effects or interactions what is understood about smoking weed on antibiotics so far suggests that it is likely less harmful as some might imagine it to be. If you decide to mix antibiotics and weed you do so at your own risk, especially if it is against the instructions of your doctor.

Understanding Antibiotics

Almost all of us have been or will be prescribed antibiotics at some point in our lives but what exactly are they made of anyhow? Why do we use them and what do they accomplish for our health and wellness? These are all good questions to explore and understand before you decide to start using cannabis or any other drug while you are on the mend and taking a prescribed medication.

The purpose of antibiotics broadly speaking is to either kill or stop the growth of microorganisms in the human body. These medicines are typically prescribed by doctors and dentists to fight bacterial infections of a single or variety of bacterial strains. They are so widely used and important to modern medicine that there is very real concern that many kinds of bacteria may develop immunities to them and cause them to become useless.

When a bacteria becomes immune to an antibiotic people depend on to fight off infections and disease then humanity is forced to forge new solutions – and hopefully new and more powerful antibiotics – in order to keep people healthy and safe. Unfortunately this is an arms race against mother nature and she might have a slight edge on humanity having had so many years to work on her evolutionary skills.

For the time being however we live in a very privileged era where doctors and researchers are still only concerned about and starting to struggle with the problem of superbug antibiotic resistant bacteria and we can hopefully look to the future with the optimism that human ingenuity will prevail in the end.

Since antibiotics are so effective they are used often but the more they are used the more information nature has to learn to overcome them. It’s a delicate balancing act that we are only just becoming aware of. Because the use of antibiotics is so widespread and the popularity of medical and recreational cannabis only increases with every passing season the question of mixing marijuana and antibiotics is coming to mind for people everywhere more and more often.

Does Weed Affect Antibiotics?

To understand why it is so common for people to wonder “does smoking weed affect antibiotics?” it is important to note that interactions between common substances that we all use and enjoy are extremely common. Consider caffeine for instance; most of us enjoy a good cup of joe now and then especially in the mornings but did you know there are over 82 different potential drug interactions with caffeine and some of them are even moderately severe to extremely serious? We only mention this to illustrate that interactions between common substances we use both medically and recreationally are not a rare occurrence.

This causes many people to wonder what interactions antibiotics and weed may have with one another and if any of the potential interactions are of serious concern. Many doctors will advise you to stay away from alcohol completely no matter what antibiotic is prescribed to you but only metronidazole and tinidazole have interactions with alcohol that could be considered serious or severe. This blanket policy against recreational substances while using antibiotics has led many to wonder if cannabis might also have negative interactions with their prescribed medication.

It’s also important to keep in mind that you should never take any advice you read on a blog or an article online as sacrosanct and certain without first consulting with a trained medical professional about your particular issue or concern.

Something else you will be told to avoid when on antibiotics is the grapefruit which can impact how the body metabolizes the medication and can adversely affect the outcome of taking antibiotic medications. Considering that grapefruit is listed on the contra-indicator list with antibiotics but cannabis is not (the contra-indicator list informs medical professionals of symptoms or conditions that make medical procedures inadvisable) it may be safe to assume that cannabis and antibiotics do not have any harmful or negative interactions to be concerned about.

CBD and Healing

The common understanding about smoking weed on antibiotics is that any interactions that may exist are minimal and unlikely to be noticed. In fact there is even some research into the idea that use of cannabis might actually assist the antibiotics in completing their task. In some studies patients who were using pain medication as well as cannabis to control their symptoms were able to reduce their intake of antibiotics by half with no reduction in their effectiveness!

Furthermore studies are underway on the use and benefits of marijuana and antibiotics, specifically the use of CBD during the healing process alongside antibiotics and other prescription medications. In some cases patients have been able to replace their traditional medications entirely with a CBD focused cannabis product that provides them all of the health and wellness benefits of their prior medications with far less severe and unpredictable side effects!

Not only has CBD been shown to reduce inflammation, help control pain, calm anxiety and guard against general discomforts while increasing overall health and wellness there is new research to suggest it may possess strong antibacterial properties as well! This means that by choosing a high CBD strain of cannabis to combine with your antibiotic medication you may in actual fact be increasing the effectiveness of the medication.

The one caveat to this great news is that not only are the potential benefits of your antibiotics maximized when you mix marijuana and antibiotics so is the potential for uncomfortable or unpleasant side effects. Luckily for cannabis users the effects of a potent CBD and THC hybrid flower would work well to combat any feelings of nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, bloating or indigestion you might experience from the enhanced effect provided by the combination of substances.

There is growing and frankly upsetting concern over the potential for “superbug” antibiotic resistant bacteria that is starting to become better understood by the medical community and the greater public. With each passing year it becomes clear more research into the antibacterial potential of CBD will become a very important cornerstone of medical science moving forward and we at Haute Health look forward to new and exciting breakthroughs in the medical cannabis industry as more about this substance and its potential interactions with common medications becomes better understood.

The Final Word

While there is some real concern that the side effects of your medication might be slightly enhanced so too will the effectiveness of the medication. Counterbalance this with the fact that high THC and CBD strains of cannabis are also ideal for combatting the very side effects and symptoms you are likely to experience making them difficult to notice under the calming and euphoric effects of the cannabis. This seems to suggest that overall using a high CBD and THC strain of cannabis (or supplementing your high THC strain with a CBD edible or capsule) would only increase the effectiveness of your antibiotic medications while also simultaneously enhancing and combatting the unpleasant side effects.

Caution and care are always advised when mixing any medications and you should always follow the advice of a trained medical professional over any information you discover for yourself online but with anything in life if you start slowly and approach things with caution and care you are unlikely to experience any severe negative interactions if you decide to mix cannabis and your antibiotic medications.

Consider that it is extremely unlikely that a doctor would advise a patient already using medical cannabis to stop doing so if they were to be prescribed antibiotics in addition to their cannabis medication. They might actually in fact count on the antibacterial properties of the cannabis flower and CBD to prescribe a lower dose of antibiotics than they would have to someone who was not using cannabis products in the course of their day to day lives already.

If you are looking to buy high quality craft grown Canadian cannabis online then you have found the right place with your friends at Haute Health! We pride ourselves in stocking only the finest craft grown Canadian bud, concentrates, weed edibles and more available in the great white north. Some current exciting features we have available in our online store today include King Tut Live Resin, Thin Mint Cookies Live Resin, THC Blue Raspberry Hard Candies and Holy Grail Live Resin! We also stock a wide variety of high quality AAAA flower, great deals on cheap bud, wholesale flower, a fantastic selection of shatters, waxes and other concentrates and high potency edibles you won’t find anywhere else!