A cannabis advocate, as I’m sure you know what that’s like, is always looking for new ways to utilize the benefits of Mother Nature’s wondrous herb to support better health and the optimal feel-good experience. This goes for when you’re feeling not so good as well.
So when I, card-touting member of the marijuana community, starting coming down with the mother of all sinus infections, I thought “Hey, might as well pair up the over-the-counter meds with my trusted standby 50/50 THC/CBD strain of flower power love.
It wasn’t at all what I expected.
Edibles and Dayquil Together Are Anything But Chill Pills
If you’ve ever had a sinus infection, you know what a glorious sitch that can be. Your head feels like a brick wall. Your face feels like it’s going to explode and, to the touch, you’d swear it was one huge bruise. In fact, you avoid the mirror at all costs because your neck glands are swollen and you now resemble a lineman on your favorite NFL team. Your eyes may continue to run random tears that have nothing to do with emotion. And your nose, well, it looks like Rudolph the reindeer around Christmas, even though it’s the middle of summer. In addition, even if you haven’t told any lies lately, you’re starting to resemble Pinocchio… if ya get my drift!
Anywho…
At this point, I’ll I want to do is to remove the misery that continues to ache and throb above my shoulders. I get home from the drugstore and decide to use my everyday go-to, cannabis. It always puts me in my happy place. I take an edible as I realize that smoke right now probably isn’t the smartest idea.
But my patience has the better of me. As you know, edibles do have that 45-to-90 minute window of time before they start to take effect. In the interim, I feverishly (literally and figuratively) open up the Dayquil and pop a couple of those babies in my mouth.
Being hell bent on feeling better, I grab the Mucinex box from my medicine chest and take the recommended dose of that too. What could be the harm in that?
How Marijuana and Traditional Medicine Play Together
Now that I know what I know (and soon you will too) the word overkill comes to mind. There are many benefits to using cannabis, both in its THC and CBD, in treating a variety of health-related issues. But the science behind its advantages to patients also gives pause for concern.
Just like other prescription drugs that treat anxiety, depression, pain, and other ailments, marijuana brings about many human responses during use. In fact, many traditional drugs that are in popular use by mainstream America are broken down into our systems through filtration in the liver by a chemical called cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Filtering One Drug and Contraindications of Another
It turns out that cannabis contains compounds that actually inhibit the breakdown of these cytochrome P450 enzymes, leaving the person who is trying to feel better in for a world of hurt. By mixing certain drugs with marijuana, the involuntary process of drug chemical breakdown from cytochrome P450 enzymes is thwarted, making the effects of both drugs even stronger than normal.
According to the pharmacytimes.com, “pharmacodynamic interactions should be expected between marijuana and drugs with anticholinergic effects (tachycardia, drowsiness).” Tachycardia is a common side effect of many OTC medications, especially in decongestants that contain phenylephrine, such as Dayquil and Mucinex.
Tachycardia is when the resting heartrate of an adult is more than 100 beats per minute, and can bring about:
- Lightheaded or dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Heart palpitations
There are other reasons why some people shouldn’t even take decongestants, including those with thyroid conditions, anxiety disorders, some heart conditions, and ADHD to name a few.
Apparently, I didn’t just double down on medication, I did a triple-threat of intake. Mucinex and Dayquil also have pain-relief and anti-inflammatory qualities, as well as antihistamines, which will dry out the sinuses, the throat and the mouth. Cotton mouth anyone?
What Cannabis and OTCs Felt Like Once They Kicked In
And then it happened. I was tripping out so bad and went in to severe panic mode. I thought I was having a heart attack (tachycardia) and my tongue was swelling up, blocking my airway. Yeah, it’s a rare side effect of Dayquil but I don’t recall my tongue ever swelling from it before. Could it be because of the cannabis and over-the-counter medication combo? Not sure, but I’m looking at marijuana a little differently than before, and it isn’t a bad thing.
There’s a Reason Why We Call It Medicinal Marijuana
It doesn’t matter if you choose to use cannabis just to get high. Why you use doesn’t change what marijuana is — nature’s medicine. Maybe I took that for granted, but not anymore.
Many other people already know what I just found out. That when it comes to deciding on how to treat the aches and pains of the flu, acute pain, and discomforting symptoms of a cold or sinus infection, marijuana is becoming a preferred method, pushing over-the-counter meds aside.
So move over big pharma, Mary Jane’s got some news for you.
