There are a lot of diseases that can be cured with CBD oil: anxiety, pain, PTSD, and cancer symptoms, are just some of the best known ones. Similarly, there are a lot of ways to administer CBD oil into your body. One very convenient way is to take CBD capsules.

Patients have also been asking a lot of questions about CBD oil. Questions like:
• “Does CBD help with pain?”
• “Will vaping CBD oil help me fight cancer?”
• “How do CBD capsules interact with other medications?”

While we really cannot answer every question, we will take time today to answer the last one: CBD oil and medication interactions.

CBD can affect the efficacy of common prescription drugs such as Zithromax, Erythrocin, Xanax, Valium, Cialis, Claritin, Clobazam, and Haldol, as well as a wide variety of over-the-counter medication. This is because CBD is thought to affect liver enzymes that are needed to metabolize these drugs.

How CBD capsules interact with Cytochrome P450 enzymes

Cytochrome P450, or CYP enzymes, are liver enzymes that breaks down a majority of prescription drugs that you take. If you take CBD capsules, you should be aware that you should closely monitor any changes to how your body responds to medication. There have been studies that show CBD might deactivate CYP enzymes making it difficult for your body to break down prescription drugs, while there are also studies that showed no effects between CBD and CYP enzymes.

CYP enzymes break down some of the most common prescription medications. Here is a list of these medications and how CBD affects them:

• Blood thinners: CBD might prolong and intensify the effects of blood thinners.
• Medicine for peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal reflux: Ingesting a CBD capsule before these medications can block its effectiveness.
• Antipsychotic medications: High doses of CBD can prolong the activation of these medicines.
• Cholesterol medications: CBD can increase the concentration of serums of some anti-cholesterol medication.
• Blood pressure medications: CBD capsules might enhance the efficacy of blood pressure medications.
• Seizure and epilepsy medications: CBD is deemed safe for epilepsy and seizures.

Aside from CYP enzymes, there are also other enzymes that metabolizes different medications.
CYP3A4 enzymes and CYP2D6 enzymes.

The following medications were found to have their concentrations increased when ingested with CBD:

CYP3A4:
• Macrolides
• Calcium channel blockers
• Benzodiazepines
• Cyclosporine
• Sildenafil
• Antihistamines
• Antiretroviral

CYP2D6:
• Tricyclic antidepressants
• Antipsychotics
• Beta blockers
• Opioid pain medications

What do all these mean?

While CBD and CBD capsules are found to be safe to use and can benefit a lot of diseases, you should be aware that it does interact with other medications. This is not to say that it is necessarily a bad thing. For some of these medications, CBD capsules actually make them work better and last longer.

If you are concerned and you take these medications, you should ask your doctor about how CBD would affect these prescription drugs, and if there are dangers attached to imbibing the two together.

What all of these does prove is that CBD might be able to substitute most prescription drugs, making it unnecessary to pop a lot of pills. Moreover, CBD is also shown to make some medications more effective, reducing your dependence of prescription drugs.