Marijuana and Afib - Does it Help or Hurt?

I just published my latest episode of the Afib Podcast. In this episode I had a discussion with Steve Ryan of a-fib.com about this topic.

With marijuana legalization sweeping the country this will become a more important topic among afibbers. Like alcohol, the question is: does marijuana hurt or help afib?

Steve had some very interesting information to share in this episode, particularly marijuana's *potential* beneficial affect on heart failure patients.

But at the end of the day we don't know much about the affects of marijuana on afib. What we know right now is mostly anecdotal. Some afibbers that reached out to Steve said it has helped, others not so much. It's a mixed bag (but most saying it has made their afib worse).

At any rate, it's an interesting topic. Here is a link to the episode:
[www.livingwithatrialfibrillation.com]

Travis

I have been curious about the effect of using CBD oil made from hemp (without the THC found in marijuana that causes psychoactive effects) for the treatment of chronic pain, inflammation, and anxiety. Many of us with a-fib are taking one of the newer anticoagulants... Eliquis, Pradaxa, Xarelto, or Savaysa. There are few pain medications that we can take except for Tylenol and it is not effective in many cases of chronic pain. Is there any information about how CBD oil may interact with these anticoagulants? Does CBD oil have a "blood thinning" quality that could be dangerous if taken with the newer anticoagulants? I asked my cardiologist and he did not know. Finding a medication for chronic pain...WITHOUT having to resort to an opioid which can cause addiction and a need for increased dosage over a period of time....would be a tremendous help for those of us who have chronic pain from arthritis or other causes. I hope some studies or research is being done to determine if CBD oil would be a possibility for relief of chronic pain with no adverse effects....or serious interaction with other medicines we are taking for A-Fib. Does anyone in this forum have information about this issue?.

@JustMeToo:

You bring up another great topic as it pertains to marijuana and afib. We didn't cover this in our episode but I can tell you we wouldn't have any information on it. There just isn't a lot known about marijuana and afib (or marijuana and blood thinners for that matter).

But this is why we had the discussion...to start the discussion! We hope this topic gets studied and researched in the coming months and years.

Travis

I hope someone somewhere does get a grant to study the effects of Marijuana on AF.

I suffer chronic pain as well as other conditions. This week after an excruciating 5 days with spinal pain and no drug relief I was offered Panadol Osteo or Oxynorm or Oxycontin. Panadol is useless.

In the past I have resorted to the Opioids but found they can cause me to go into AF, and usually much faster ( in excess of 220 BPM on my Kardia) so I don't take them anymore.

Does anyone know of any natural pain relievers. I've done a bit of research but nothing stands out.

I take all my supplements for AF and I've done all the usual stuff like essential oils, meditation etc. but relief is hard to come by.

I was scheduled for a couple of nerve block injections, one in the neck and one in lower back, but at the last moment they decided not to do them because I am on Eliquis?

As helpful as marijuana and its derivatives have been for a wide range of illnesses, I have never heard anyone say it helped their afib. And there's not a lick of research on the question to my knowledge (thank you, War on Drugs).

It is known to increase heart rate in novice users, so that's not a plus in its favor. But then again, so is caffeine and it's not known to trigger afib and there's evidence it may be helpful.

So the jury remains out on cannabis and afib, but my prediction is that if it's helpful, it won't be helpful in its natural form, but rather one of the many cannabinoids it contains could have potential either in pure form or combined with other elements. Unfortunately, as long as it remains illegal under federal law, most research grants are unavailable and no drug companies are willing to violate federal law.

Look to Canada for leadership in this area as they fully legalize marijuana this year.

I second the notion that there’s just no data out there. I do, however, caution against the seemingly trendy notion that marijuana is somehow good for everything. There are myriad ways the drug is BAD. Imagine your gut reaction upon reading that alcohol or tobacco were good for something.

Sanity check time.

Joy and Me too... I've been researching the Hemp Oil topic as pain reliever for a person with severe back pain from an injury... (non-afibber). The isolated CBD oil which does not have the psychotrophic effect of THC, does have studies showing efficacy for various health problems. Although nothing I've yet read mentions AF specifically, the Hemp Oil/CBD does reduce anxiety which may underlie some afib cases. And CBD does have anti-inflammatory properties as well. Here are study reference titles that you can pursue to learn more. You can be sure that if I find something related to AF, I'll post it.
Jackie


Is the cardiovascular system a therapeutic target for cannabidiol?
Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2013 Feb; 75(2): 313–322.
Published online 2012 Jun 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.2012.04351.x

A single dose of cannabidiol reduces blood pressure in healthy volunteers in a randomized crossover study
JCI Insight. 2017 Jun 15; 2(12): e93760. Published online 2017 Jun 15. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.93760
PMCID: PMC5470879


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Fernández-Ruiz, J., Sagredo, O., Pazos, M. R., García, C., Pertwee, R., Mechoulam, R., & Martínez-Orgado, J. (2013). Cannabidiol for neurodegenerative disorders: important new clinical applications for this phytocannabinoid? British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 75(2), 323–333. [doi.org]

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Iseger, T. A., & Bossong, M. G. (2015). A systematic review of the antipsychotic properties of cannabidiol in humans. Schizophrenia Research, 162(1-3), 153-161. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2015.01.033

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I am very sorry for people who face such problems. Though I am confident that such alternative treatment as marijuana can help. At least I read some good studies' reports on cannasos.com.

Marijuana is mistakenly called as Cannabis and it confuses a lot of people. Marijuana is actually is one of the species of Cannabis Plant. Marijuana is high in Tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC) which means it has a strong psychotic effect on the mind and it is low in Cannabidiol (CBD) which means it's not for pain reliever.