There are certain medications that some people use, and it can cause severe side effects. One of them is lithium and cannabis. It’s something that you should definitely try not to take together, and here, we’ll go over what happens if you take both of these, and why it’s frowned upon for you to do so. 

What Lithium Is 

Lithium is a medication that you take orally to treat bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and also manic disorders. It also reduces self-harm, aggression, and behaviors that are suicidal. You usually get this in a liquid or a tablet form. 

You must be over 12 to have this and have no kidney and thyroid problems, as it can affect both. Your doctor will get blood samples and sometimes an ECG before you can take lithium. 

The side effects include: 

• Diarrhea 
• Weight gain 
• Dry mouth 
• Thirst 
• Metallic tastes in your mouth 
• Tiredness 
• Tremors 
• Nausea along with vomiting 

You should never suddenly stop taking this though, and always discuss this with a doctor before your stop, as it might be dangerous. 

The mechanism on how this works isn’t definitely known, but it can affect the CNS and the brain when you take this. 

Some of the effects that lithium has include the following: – stopping the growth of specific enzymes that’ll stop the growth of cells 

Increasing the brain cell density for those with bipolar 

Increasing the concentration of the neuronal markers of your brain cells and the health of this 

Protecting the neurons from cell death 

The Risk of this 

There are a lot of risks that you should be mindful of, as they’re much more profound than just the benefits that might be there. First thing is the lithium toxicity. When you mix lithium with cannabis, it causes a lithium overdose. CBD also can interact with this. 

In severe instances, this can be fatal. The kidneys are able to excrete most of the lithium, with the rest of it leaving through feces and sweat.  This is not metabolized, and if your kidneys are struggling to excrete it as it metabolizes, it can accumulate within the blood, increasing the risk. 

This also can cause cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which is where you start to vomit excessively after using cannabis.  This is definitely something that’s majorly increased in the use of lithium and like. 

It also reduces the effectiveness of lithium, due to the way that the cannabinoid receptors can impact the enzymes necessary to break down these chemicals too. 

There are also some really bad side effects, especially if you mix these together. 

The side effects include: 

• Cardiac arrest 
• Dizziness 
• Coma 
• Drowsiness 
• Itching 
• Hives 
• Respiratory depression 
• Palpitations 
• Shortness of breath 
• Seizures 
• Sluggish feelings 

This is something you do not want to mess around with, so if you experience any of the side effects listed above after taking this, it’s vital that you get to the ER before it’s too late. 

If you do wish to mix them, do not do this before talking to your doctor, as they can help with figuring out better and other treatment methods, and also go through the other side effects and the interactions at hand. 

If you mix these, do keep them in mind. If you noticed any of the other factors that are listed above, you should definitely be mindful. 

Finally, keep in mind that lithium toxicity also can happen, which includes all of those symptoms above, but weakness, uncontrollable feelings, and also vomiting.