BP Meds and Weed
April 24, 2023 1:22 PM Subscribe
Blood-pressure-med-taking Mefites! Are you able to take your meds and consume the occasional bit of weed? Details inside.
Just over a month ago, my doc put me on a BP med (Benicar HCT, which includes a diuretic) Things seemed to be going more-or-less okay, until we visited some friends. My friend offered me a hit of weed before we went out to dinner and, of course, I accepted.
About a half-hour later, on our way to dinner, what I initially thought to be an unusually powerful stone from the weed turned into a full-on near-comatose incident. I was near unresponsive. My wife said my lips were turning blue and she was slapping me to get me to respond. Eventually, after about twenty minutes parked at the side of the road, I cleared-up enough to start sipping some water and talking. I cleared-up surprisingly quickly after that, though it all stayed with me over the next few days.
I'm used to the powerful weed we have these days, and I have never had any negative response to weed in my entire life. The only wildcard in this mix was my new BP med. When I got home later that night, I immediately took my BP, and it was crazy-low (for me) 92/57.
Could the weed have had a compounding effect on the BP med, crashing my BP suddenly?
I'm not a regular user of cannabis, but am always happy to join-in when with friends on occasion. Is there a way for cannabis and BP meds to peacefully coexist? Dr.Google gives me all sorts of contradictory info, so I'd like to hear what real people have to say.
Thanks!
Just over a month ago, my doc put me on a BP med (Benicar HCT, which includes a diuretic) Things seemed to be going more-or-less okay, until we visited some friends. My friend offered me a hit of weed before we went out to dinner and, of course, I accepted.
About a half-hour later, on our way to dinner, what I initially thought to be an unusually powerful stone from the weed turned into a full-on near-comatose incident. I was near unresponsive. My wife said my lips were turning blue and she was slapping me to get me to respond. Eventually, after about twenty minutes parked at the side of the road, I cleared-up enough to start sipping some water and talking. I cleared-up surprisingly quickly after that, though it all stayed with me over the next few days.
I'm used to the powerful weed we have these days, and I have never had any negative response to weed in my entire life. The only wildcard in this mix was my new BP med. When I got home later that night, I immediately took my BP, and it was crazy-low (for me) 92/57.
Could the weed have had a compounding effect on the BP med, crashing my BP suddenly?
I'm not a regular user of cannabis, but am always happy to join-in when with friends on occasion. Is there a way for cannabis and BP meds to peacefully coexist? Dr.Google gives me all sorts of contradictory info, so I'd like to hear what real people have to say.
Thanks!
It’s a vasodilator. Puts enormous strain into the system for some people, and it seems you are one of those people. The cardiovascular impacts are often brushed aside, but are very real and can be quite dangerous.
posted by Bottlecap at 1:52 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Bottlecap at 1:52 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Hi, your friendly certified cannabis educator here! THC can cause an increase heart rate within minutes of use (usually 20 to 50 beats per minute) but the heart rate should return to normal after a few hours. Much like getting a head rush if you stand up too quickly, THC can do the same thing to your blood pressure; you can feel pretty dizzy and/or faint. The cardiovascular effects can be more pronounced in new or inexperienced users too. (How often do you smoke? Was this the first time in a while? It could be you're simply out of practice so the hit plus your new meds could have caused this.)
THC and CBD are mild vasorelaxants so dropping blood pressure is something they can do. I have a former client who takes meds for her super high BP so her cannabis routine is more CBD than THC (she works in finance so she's not interested in THC euphoria AT ALL). My recommendation to you is talk to your doctor. You may be reluctant to do so because it's weed and most doctors are not very keen on its use (my doctor included) but you really want to let them know what happened. You didn't mention it but if your meds also come with the grapefruit caveat then likely cannabis is a no go for you.
posted by Kitteh at 1:56 PM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
THC and CBD are mild vasorelaxants so dropping blood pressure is something they can do. I have a former client who takes meds for her super high BP so her cannabis routine is more CBD than THC (she works in finance so she's not interested in THC euphoria AT ALL). My recommendation to you is talk to your doctor. You may be reluctant to do so because it's weed and most doctors are not very keen on its use (my doctor included) but you really want to let them know what happened. You didn't mention it but if your meds also come with the grapefruit caveat then likely cannabis is a no go for you.
posted by Kitteh at 1:56 PM on April 24, 2023 [6 favorites]
Yep THC can drop blood pressure as people are saying. See the review in the first para here:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5809805/
I faint maybe 9/10 times I smoke, has always been the case, so I usually don’t try anymore. (I really tried to make it work in my teens, too. No dice.)
CBD can potentiate medications, so could be either a THC driven blood pressure decrease, CBD driven increase in the strength of your BP meds, or both.
I would not mess around, tbh.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5809805/
I faint maybe 9/10 times I smoke, has always been the case, so I usually don’t try anymore. (I really tried to make it work in my teens, too. No dice.)
CBD can potentiate medications, so could be either a THC driven blood pressure decrease, CBD driven increase in the strength of your BP meds, or both.
I would not mess around, tbh.
posted by cotton dress sock at 9:26 PM on April 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by AlexiaSky at 1:36 PM on April 24, 2023