21 lines
1.3 KiB
Plaintext
21 lines
1.3 KiB
Plaintext
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Interactions can be expected between cannabis and a wide range of drugs.
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Nortriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant. Cannabis interacts
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adversely with tricyclic andidepressants. Cannabis, on its own, produces
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tachycardia as a side-effect. Tricyclics do the same. Combined, there
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is an additive effect, with a bigger increase in heart rate. I have seen
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this with cannabis + doxepin (heart rate >150, as well as BP 99/75,
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dizziness and severe anxiety). In this case, doxepin's hypotensive
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(blood pressure-lowering) effect (another common side-effect of
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tricyclics) was also potentiated. Tricyclic antidepressants have a
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certain effect on the heart. This effect can be described as
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cardiotoxicity. In normal dosage, in individuals with no heart disorder,
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this causes no problems at all. (In overdosage, tricyclics can produce
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serious cardiac arrhythmias.) I suspect that in the interaction with
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cannabis, the cardiotoxic effect of tricyclics is somewhat potentiated.
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(I don't know if this has produced hazardous changes in ECG rhythm.) The
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effects of cannabis + nortriptyline in particular have been documented.
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I remember seeing a couple of references to all of this in Martindale's
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"Extra Pharmacopoeia", 29th edition, under 'Cannabis', but I haven't read
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them.
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