Researchers are actively looking into cannabidiol (CBD), its overall safety, and the potential health benefits. One of the common questions around CBD oil use is: “can you take CBD oil and Zoloft or other antidepressants?”.
For a number of famed reasons, cannabidiol oil has been a trending compound in the health and wellness industry over the last couple of years. Many benefits have been attributed to the wellness product.
However, we still need to learn a lot about its use, how it works, if and how it interacts with medications.
If you are wondering if you can take CBD oil with Zoloft, you are reading the right article. This is very important for the safety of people who use CBD oil.
We will be providing you with all there is to know.
Why Do People Use Zoloft?
Zoloft is a trademark name for Sertraline. Nearly 40 million people in the US take the pill.
Hence, it is one of the most commonly used medications in the country. This is because up to 20 percent of adults in the US live with one mental condition or the other.
Serotonin is one of the “happy hormones” and a neurotransmitter. Zoloft is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).
Don’t worry; that only means the drug increases the brain’s serotonin level. This is why Zoloft and other SSRIs are used to manage depression.
Doctors also prescribe Zoloft for anxiety disorders, panic attacks, OCD, PTSD, and some other mental health conditions.
What Will Happen If You Take CBD Oil and Zoloft?
Medications like Zoloft interact with food, other drugs, and substances. This is one of the reasons you should pay attention to what the doctor or pharmacist says about your prescribed pill.
These interactions can prevent the drug from working well, over-working, or lead to some pretty bad adverse effects. For instance, taking Zoloft with blood thinners like Coumadin or some NSAIDs can lead to bleeding.
The severity of depressive symptoms varies from person to person. Some people take cannabidiol with their antidepressants. Whether they feel the Zoloft is not working well, enough and CBD would improve their symptoms or for some other reasons.
Want to take CBD Oil and Zoloft? Is this a good idea?
In the real sense of it, there are no enough drug interaction researches to determine if you can take CBD oil and Zoloft. We can, however, make some educated deductions based on what we know about how CBD works and how SSRIs like Zoloft work.
Cannabidiol is known to inhibit the action of some enzymes to an extent. The body needs some of these enzymes to metabolize Zoloft.
If CBD inhibits these enzymes, it is possible the body won’t process and excrete the Zoloft at the usual speed. The drug can remain in the body for longer than expected, and the side effects can be worse.
Zoloft is also metabolized by some other enzymes that medicinal hemp does not affect. These enzymes provide a theoretical alternative to the enzymes inhibited by CBD.
Although some researchers think this interaction is not significant enough, a 2020 study recommends more research on the action of CBD on enzymes.
Also, importantly, the side effects of cannabidiol oil and Zoloft are similar. They both can cause drowsiness, headache, loss of appetite, tiredness, dry mouth, among other side effects.
There is a possibility that using CBD oil with Zoloft may increase the predisposition to such side effects. On the other hand, the adverse effects of combining medicinal hemp and Zoloft have been rarely reported. Or not just enough to generate a lot of concerns.
What Should You Do Then?
As we have said, interactions could pose a lot of threats to your health.
As such, we firmly recommend you should not make decisions about your health alone. Your doctors and pharmacists should know what is best for you and guide you to make the best decision.
Seeing there is no concrete evidence on the safety of taking CBD oil and Zoloft, you should extensively discuss this with your healthcare professional. Your doctors can effectively monitor you and make there is no harm to your body.
They will tell you what to look out for and what to do in case of an adverse effect.
Conclusion
Substance interactions are essential as they could pose a lot of threats to your health.
There is a need for more research into CBD oil interaction with medications, food, and other substances. If you wonder if you can take CBD oil and Zoloft, or other SSRIs, you must consult with your doctor.
Sources
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/781658/sertraline-hydrochloride-prescriptions-number-in-the-us/
- https://www.nami.org/mhstats
- Cerne, K. (2020) ‘Toxicological properties of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol’, Arhiv za Higijenu Rada i Toksikologiju, 71(1), pp. 1–11. doi: 10.2478/aiht-2020-71-3301. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341057348_Toxicological_properties_of_D9-tetrahydrocannabinol_and_cannabidiol