Can you use antibiotics and weed combined? This is a common question patients ask medical professionals. While antibiotics are treated as the typical remedy for infection, they have their effects. Overuse of antibiotics leads to the development of bacteria. And antibiotics usually don’t interact positively with other medications. This is why most marijuana users are puzzled about smoking weed while on antibiotics.
The information on the interaction of cannabis with antibiotics is less. There are no studies that monitor the health effects of mixing them, and at the same time, there are no cases of people suffering due to combining antibiotics and weed.
Certain drugs like ibuprofen, morphine, and sertraline are known to react with cannabis negatively. It is recommended to consult a doctor if you’re cornered to a situation where you need to use them both.
Possible Negative Reactions
The risk of combining antibiotics and weed depends on the drug. Drugs affect the systems and organs in the body, and combining them with weed can influence how the body receives the medication. For example, cannabis induces enzymes in the liver and taking an antibiotic causes vulnerability to your system.
Erythromycin is another antibiotic that may react negatively with marijuana and cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It is a better practice to reduce cannabis usage at least by half until the antibiotic prescription ends. In extreme cases, you might need to stop using marijuana until the bacteria dies.
When Shouldn’t You Use Antibiotics And Weed?
It is better to follow your doctor’s instructions if they advise you against smoking weed while on antibiotics. There are cases where marijuana may worsen the situation and harm your health. Smoking or vaping cannabis while taking antibiotics to cure a lung-related or breathing problem is to be avoided.
This usually stops the antibiotics from healing the organs they are supposed to. In such cases, there are other ways of consuming medical marijuana – through edibles and tinctures. Keep in mind that the dosage must be adequately monitored as these methods have more potential than smoking.
Alternatives for Antibiotic Users
If you are using marijuana for medical uses and are worried about the effects of mixing it with antibiotics, cannabidiol (CBD) is an alternative that you can consider. It is a cannabinoid that is non-psychoactive, and it does not affect your body as much as the plant does. It activates receptors called CB1 and CB2, which help in regulating your body’s functioning naturally.
While being a regular marijuana user, antibiotics shouldn’t cause any adverse reactions while using them parallelly. Cannabis can indeed increase the side effects caused by some antibiotics. So it’s best to consult an expert doctor before taking cannabis in any form if you are on additional medication.
Medication for conditions like depression and anxiety interacts with your neural receptors, and CBD does the same. So it’s vital to ensure that you won’t sustain damages from overdosing by consuming both together.
Final Thoughts
Scaling the usage of cannabis down is a good idea if you notice any symptoms early on. The most important way is to consult a licensed medical marijuana doctor and advise your health conditions.