CBD and Prescription Medication

Disclaimer: Golden Legacy Wellness is not a doctor.  Please consult with your physician before making any changes to your current medications or before taking CBD with certain medications.

CBD and Prescription Medication

Before you consider using a prescription drug for chronic pain, insomnia, stress and anxiety, you may wish to try CBD to treat those conditions. CBD has some distinct advantages over medications manufactured by the pharmaceutical industry. In this post, we will explore those advantages, saving the most important one for last.

Advantage #1: CBD is Natural

CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol, is a naturally-occurring compound found in the hemp plant. It is one of many cannabinoids known to have healthful benefits. Prescription drugs may also contain substances extracted from plants, but many also have a large number of chemicals in them.

Advantage #2: CBD is Easy to Get

CBD is available from a variety of sources and in different kinds of products. You don’t need a prescription from a doctor to get it. For instance, you can easily order a CBD oil tincture in your favorite flavor and desired strength and have it delivered right to your door. Prescription drugs legally require a doctor to prescribe them in order to be dispensed, and someone has to pick them up in person.

Advantage #3: You Know What CBD Will Cost

Have you ever gone to a pharmacy to get a prescription filled and gotten sticker shock? Why do certain drugs cost so much? Are they really that expensive to manufacture? Do they contain precious ingredients? If you’ve been stunned at the high cost of prescription drugs, you are not alone. A survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that millions of Americans don’t take their medications as prescribed because they can’t afford them. Why are medications so expensive?

A big reason is that pharmaceutical companies enjoy monopoly pricing. The federal government allows and even abets this, by protecting patents on drugs. Additionally, the FDA lets companies avoid competition for their brand-name drugs from generics for a period of time, under something known as marketing exclusivity. Another reason is that pharmacies can mark up prices. When one large pharmacy chain increases the price of a particular drug, others realize that they can do the same. Asking your doctor for a generic can be helpful – if there’s one available. Asking your doctor for a lower-priced brand name drug won’t help, because he or she doesn’t know what your pharmacy charges.

While you don’t know what you’re going to be paying for prescription drugs until your transaction is processed, when you buy CBD products, you know exactly what you’re going to pay. CBD is available in different amounts and at different price points. Sorting through all of the products to find what you want takes a little more work than simply handing a piece of paper over to your pharmacist. However, looking over the information means that you have more knowledge about what you are taking into your body. How many of us really read all the warnings in tiny print that come with our prescription drugs?

Advantage #4: With CBD, You Know What You’re Getting

That brings us to another advantage of CBD over prescription drugs.  Any reputable CBD company will have a Certificate of Analysis (COA) for every product.  When you make an online CBD purchase, you can check the COA and ensure your CBD has been tested for mold, pesticides and heavy metals, giving you confidence, the CBD is safe. Legitimate companies have information on where their hemp is grown and processed.

You can also read reviews by the CBD company’s customers, to find out how certain products worked for them, what the company’s customer service is like, etc. There’s a transparency there that doesn’t exist with the process of prescribing and getting pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceutical company websites have plenty of information on them as well. So do ads for brand-name drugs, which are shown on TV and featured in magazines. You’ve probably seen a lot of them. The TV ads include a long list of possible side effects delivered at a rapid speed. In magazines, those lists are in small print. The side effects are not listed because drug companies are highly responsible organizations that are concerned for the welfare of their customers. Drug companies are legally required to include them. However, they don’t have to say how well the drugs actually work, how much they cost, or if the side effects will likely outweigh the benefits of taking them.

Advantage #5: CBD is Not Addictive

This is the most important advantage of all. CBD is not addictive. In a 2017 report, the World Health Organization’s Committee on Drug Dependence concluded that “evidence from well-controlled human experimental research indicates that CBD is not associated with abuse potential.” In fact, CBD may actually help treat drug addiction. It has been effective in reversing toxicity and seizures induced by cocaine. It has also helped reduce people’s desire to use cocaine and amphetamines.

Many prescription drugs can be addictive. This is especially true of opioids. The severity of the opioid epidemic that is devastating communities and tearing families apart is being blamed on pharmaceutical companies, who misled doctors about the dependency potential for these drugs. People got their prescriptions for opioids filled and took the proper doses, never suspecting that following their doctor’s directions would get them hooked on a dangerous substance. Opioids are not the only drugs which carry the risk of addiction.

Here are some conditions for which people use CBD and prescription medications:

Pain, especially chronic pain. This can result from injuries, lifting heavy objects, nerve damage, disease, aging and other factors. Sometimes the cause of pain is unknown.
CBD: Ongoing preclinical studies have shown that CBD reduces pain and inflammation, and that it has few negative side effects. Our Golden Legacy Pain Salve is what we recommend for specific problem spots such as knee or joint pain.
Prescription painkillers: Fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone (OxyContin), Demerol, hydrocodone, Percocet and codeine are among the many prescription drugs used to treat pain. While they all are effective to some degree with relieving certain kinds of pain, they also are potentially addictive. Some of these are also manufactured and sold illegally, as street drugs. When people become addicted to prescription drugs and can no longer get prescriptions for them from their doctors, some are driven to buy the street versions, which can be tainted.
Struggling with sleeplessness night after night can leave you sluggish, fatigued and even depressed during your daytime hours. Insomnia can be caused by a number of things, including anxiety, chronic pain, or an uncomfortable bed.
CBD: While CBD can’t do much about your lumpy mattress, a study conducted in 2019 found that the majority of participants reported better sleep when using CBD. (Reducing pain, as is mentioned above, also helps improve sleep.) Research has also found that CBD can help people feel more awake and less groggy during their daytime hours.
Sleeping pills: These are only prescribed as a short-term solution for insomnia, due to their abuse potential. Nonetheless, a dependency to certain sleep meds can develop in as little as seven days. The effects of sleeping pill addiction include memory problems, an inability to focus, slurred speech, seizures, breathing difficulties and chest pain. People who go through withdrawal may experience “rebound insomnia.” This is when insomnia returns, often worse than before. It can also involve disturbing dreams and anxiety.
We all feel anxious now and then, but when anxiety persists and becomes so severe that it interferes with your daily activities, you want to get relief for it.
CBD: The same study mentioned above says that CBD “may hold benefit for anxiety-related disorders,” although controlled clinical studies are needed. Any side effects caused by CBD are mild, like feeling drowsy or having a dry mouth. Our Golden Legacy CBD Tinctures have helped many people find relief from anxiety without the side effects commonly found in prescriptions meds.
Anti-anxiety medications: The most popular kind of prescription drugs used to treat anxiety are benzodiazepines. These are meant to be taken on a short-term basis, because they are highly addictive. People who become dependent on them may experience weakness, blurred vision, mood changes, drowsiness and risky behavior.

There you have it. CBD is natural and easy to obtain. Unlike prescription drugs, you know exactly what it will cost and exactly what you are getting. Best of all, when you take CBD to help you relieve pain, anxiety or sleepless nights, you’re at no risk for addiction.