Drug Interactions: Doctors Are Unaware And CBD Companies Can’t Give Advice

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Dear Mike: My son uses CBD, he has been prescribed Omeprazole and he's been dizzy, tired, sick, pale, and yellow. Nobody can tell us what the problem is. The CBD company said they can't answer and the doctor told us there are no interactions. Can you help?

Unfortunately, federal law prohibits CBD companies from giving medical advice, so even if the salespeople and owners of companies were aware of potential CBD: Drug interactions they would not be able to legally inform a consumer directly – or answer this parent’s question. The first course of action was an explanation as millions of parents are in this position after they buy something online or in a dispensary. They gain a little bit of knowledge from social media and friends – and away they go to treat their child with nature instead of harmful pharmaceuticals. But, there’s a danger that even the smartest of CBD salespeople are literally not allowed to warn you of – the fact that the cannabinoid can both decrease and increase the blood serum level of pharmaceuticals – meaning it changes how they work. This father wasn’t too happy to hear that the U.S. Government has made it illegal for anyone other than a doctor to give him advice on contraindications to CBD. His son has seizures and takes seizure medications – so this was just one of the multiple issues that arose as we spoke. With this particular drug, it increases CBD levels which can cause the drug itself to metabolize in ways that increase liver enzymes – meaning it could cause the pharmaceutical to damage the liver – and although the doctor was fully aware of CBD use there was a 100% failure to give that advice both by the doc and pharmacist that filled the drug.

“I asked him twice if it would interfere with CBD and he told me there was no chance at all, I don’t understand,” his dad went on asking to stay anonymous, “we’re having enough issues in society with pharmaceuticals – why can’t the people that sell the CBD tell us what we can or can’t take. This is crazy. I go to the pet store and get told which mice my snakes will eat, I go to the store and get told which cough syrup works better, I get the best hemorrhoid cream pointed out. But, I go to the doctor and get something that makes my kid’s eyes yellow, are you serious? Why are his eyes f’ing yellow? Why can’t the companies give us advice Mike?” He’s having weird behaviors and is aggressive and can’t even concentrate anymore. What do I do?” This is a serious issue that’s causing the CBD movement to take the heat for errors and travesties of justice completely out of the oh-so-controversial industries’ hands. When a parent has this serious of a situation there’s no time to write an article – instead, I acted immediately and change the protocol on my own – but not completely. It’s not the expert doctors that I call – it’s my local pharmacist who knows all about digestive enzymes. After telling this father that it’s not the companies fault, it’s the doctors, I hopped on the phone to verify what I already knew to be true. Sadly doctors are limited in the time they give patients and these errors occur.

Since the inquiry came in and it should be responded to by a pharmacist I went ahead and contacted one. “Cannabidiol should not be given with Omeprazole, what are the child’s symptoms” Ron from Walgreen’s asked. I went over his symptoms and gained the information that I already knew. We all need to double-check and triple-check as we go through this learning maze with cannabinoid medicine. What Ron states was that CBD can and will interfere with the metabolism of a plethora of medications. Many of us know that but don’t know which ones or to what extent. Many CBD: Drug interactions are rather benign with metabolism issues there but not enough to cause a noticeable problem. With this father’s question, the specific member of the CYP450 family that gets inhibited is the CYP2D6, which is also targeted by Omeprazole and Risperidone. But what does this mean? Let’s go to Drugs.com and take a look at their very simple explanation:

Too many doctors are playing guessing games with our health, and even more concerning – our children’s health.

“Omeprazole may increase the blood levels of cannabidiol. This may increase side effects such as drowsiness, diarrhea, decreased appetite, and liver problems. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns. Your doctor may be able to prescribe alternatives that do not interact, or you may need a dose adjustment or more frequent monitoring to safely use both medications. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.”

When we examined the dosage of CBD it was 50 milligrams taken 3 times a day for a 72 lb boy. So, how do we stop this situation where his skin is yellow, his eyes are yellow, and his health is failing. Should they stop the CBD now? After talking to the parents and the pharmacist together (3-way call) the following statement was made ” Studies have shown that people using omeprazole have higher counts of Strep and other bad bacteria including Staph. If he’s jaundiced or yellow in skin tone it’s likely due to the bad bacteria being fueled by how the combination of CBD and that pharmaceutical combined are working in his system.” Wow, I didn’t even know that information – but what I did know was this was a relatively easy fix – all we needed to do was lower the dose of CBD dramatically and at the same time take a long hard look at why the pharma drug was necessary.

“They just added it 3 months ago,” his father told me. This made the adjustment very simple. When you’ve got a recently added pharmaceutical and you’re not gaining benefit from it and instead of experiencing difficulties it’s likely the problem. Since the child wasn’t benefiting from the pharmaceutical the parents made the decision, upon gaining the right information, to discontinue it.

It’s been 3 weeks since this inquiry was made, in a conversation tonight it was reported that his seizures are in control and his Cannabinoid Medicine was changed to a 1:1 THC: CBD combo. His color is back and he’s doing great. The bottom line of it is we know that there are issues within the Cannabis and CBD industries just like any industry would have the good, bad, and ugly. But, there’s a lot of blame going on right now that nobody in the world of CBD deserves because even if someone had all the answers, it’s illegal to give them to someone you sold a product to or are enticing to sell a product to. It’s illegal to give medical advice of any kind with CBD.

But, it’s not illegal for the pet store owner to tell this dad which mice to buy so his snakes stay healthy. Wake up Washington, D.C. – you’re killing our citizens with corruption.