Are CBD Gummies Safe For Seniors? Examining The Concerns

It’s natural for most seniors to think twice about trying anything unfamiliar, especially when it may affect their health and wellness.

Many are already taking multiple prescription medications. And even if it’s only the aches and pains that become more common as people get older, seniors are generally more focused on their health and medical issues than they were when they were younger.

CBD gummies and products aren’t anything like illegal drugs. They aren’t intoxicating, they’re generally safe to use, and they don’t cause side effects in the vast majority of users.

However, CBD does interact negatively with some medications — and many of them are meds that older people are more likely to take. It can also be problematic for some with some types of medical problems more commonly in the elderly.

That makes it understandable, and even smart, for older people to wonder about whether trying CBD gummies would be a smart decision. The best person to answer that question is a doctor or other healthcare professional, but here’s the bottom line (which should not be taken as medical advice).

All forms of CBD are safe for most people, even the elderly. CBD can apparently help with a wide variety of medical conditions, and many of them are problems disproportionately affecting senior citizens. But it’s even more important for seniors with health problems to be sure they’re not going to run into problems — and a doctor can best make that assessment.

Want to learn more? Read on.

Explaining CBD

Some readers unfamiliar with CBD (cannabidiol) may confuse it with psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). The two plant chemicals are quite similar, but understanding how they differ is crucial.

CBD and THC are among 100+ substances called cannabinoids that are found in both the hemp and cannabis plants. Their chemical structures are almost identical, but the slight difference between them allows them to interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) — which controls many important bodily functions — in different ways.

THC binds to ECS receptors in the brain and spine; they regulate functions like thinking and memory, sleep, coordination, and appetite. That’s how THC is able to make users high. By contrast, CBD interacts mostly with different receptors in other parts of the body which manage functions like immunity and inflammation. That’s why CBD doesn’t provide mind-altering effects.

Let’s talk about one more difference. Hemp and cannabis each contain both cannabinoids, but hemp has lots of cannabidiol and very little THC. It’s the opposite story for cannabis: high in THC, low in CBD. For that reason, the cannabidiol used in CBD products is sourced from hemp, not the cannabis plant (which is, of course, where marijuana comes from).

CBD may not deliver psychoactive effects, but it appears to provide many other important ones.

The Apparent Benefits of CBD

Governments and the medical establishment say the evidence of CBD’s medical reported benefits is too preliminary to approve the cannabinoid as a treatment for any disease or disorder. The one exception is the prescription cannabidiol medication Epidiolex, approved for use for a few rare types of childhood epilepsy.

However, published studies show that CBD may be effective against a large number of other medical conditions. As you read through this list, you’ll see that many disproportionately affect the older population.

• Chronic pain, particularly pain caused by anti-immune and inflammatory diseases, is a focus of much CBD research. Topping the list is arthritis, extremely common among seniors, but the pain of many other conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, gout, fibromyalgia, and arthritis also appears to respond well to CBD use.
• Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, notorious for afflicting adults in their later years, seem to ease when CBD is used. Cannabidiol also appears to be a promising treatment for other neurological issues like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases.
• Insomnia and other sleep quality problems, also extremely common among the elderly, appear to ease with the use of CBD.
• Stress, depression, anxiety, and more severe mental health disorders are of particular interest to CBD researchers, who say the cannabinoid seems (in some cases) to work almost as well as common prescription meds that carry serious side effect risks.
• Epilepsy, acne and other skin conditions, and even some forms of cancer also appear to respond well to the use of cannabidiol.

Although CBD products cannot be prescribed for any of these medical issues, they’re readily available in the UK, the US, and most other developed nations — and their apparent benefits have made them extraordinarily popular in just a few short years.

Not everyone should use them, though, and seniors might be high on that list.

CBD: Side Effects and Interactions

We’ll start with the good news. Many experts, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have stated that CBD is well-tolerated by users, doesn’t cause any public health problems, and isn’t addictive.

Possible Side Effects of CBD

There have been no reports of serious side effects linked to the responsible use of cannabidiol. The few severe problems that have been observed, including agitation, sedation, and pneumonia, only occurred among people who took as much as 100 times the most common CBD dose.

Even the “common” side effects of cannabidiol are rarely felt. New users whose bodies haven’t yet developed a tolerance to the cannabinoid, those who take very high doses, and people who take CBD daily might experience dry mouth, tiredness, lower appetite, lightheadedness, or diarrhoea. Most users, though, notice none of those effects.

CBD and Drug Interactions

Here’s the information that may be most important to older readers, who are more likely to be taking quite a few prescription medications.

CBD and many meds are metabolised by the same organ in the body: the liver. In fact, they’re often broken down by the same set of liver enzymes (known as the CYP450 enzymes). That can be problematic for three reasons.

1. Cannabidiol is believed to slow down the work of those enzymes.
2. Some other medications can speed up the enzymes’ work.
3. The enzymes can be “overloaded” with work when having to metabolise several substances at the same time.

Those issues can turn into big problems. Either the CBD, or more likely, the other medications, may not be properly processed by the liver before being released into the bloodstream — meaning patients could wind up with too much or too little of each substance in their systems.

That can result in people not getting enough of the medication they need. It could also mean having too much medication in their system, potentially making any side effects associated with those meds much more severe. Additionally, seniors may be particularly at risk for interactions because they’re more likely to have developed liver or kidney problems over time.

Which prescription meds cause problems users should know about when interacting with CBD? There’s a shortcut that can help: it’s best to avoid using CBD products when taking any medication that comes with a warning to avoid eating grapefruit. Cannabidiol can interfere with the metabolisation of those drugs.

More specifically, here are some of the medication categories where problems can occur, along with some of the commonly-prescribed drugs that could be problematic:

• Blood pressure meds: ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, and diuretics may cause issues, particularly nifedipine
• Cholesterol drugs: Common meds like Lipitor and Zocor
• Antianxiety, depression, and insomnia medications: Some SSRIs and tricyclic antidepressants, including Xanax, Valium, Ativan, citalopram, escitalopram, and BuSpar; benzodiazepines like clobazam, lorazepam, and diazepam
• Antiepileptic drugs: Phenytoin, phenobarbital, carbamazepine, topiramate, rufinamide, and oxcarbazepine, among others, may cause issues
• Antibiotics and antifungals: Some include erythromycin, clarithromycin, ketoconazole, itraconazole
• Reflux meds: Proton pump inhibitors like pantoprazole, omeprazole, and lansoprazole
• Blood thinners: Warfarin is particularly problematic, and others like clopidogrel can also cause risks
• Immunosuppressants: Cyclosporine and tacrolimus are two potential culprits
• Opioids: Many pain relievers in this class interact with CBD
• Supplements and over-the-counter meds: St. John’s wort, Benadryl, Allegra

That’s not a complete list, but it should be enough to convince seniors taking prescription meds to consult with their doctor before using CBD gummies or another product containing cannabidiol. Those with existing medical conditions should also seek advice; glaucoma and liver disease are just two of those conditions that could be a red flag for CBD use.

Are CBD Gummies the Best Choice for Seniors?

There’s no solid argument for or against the choice of CBD gummies by older users. CBD’s effects and interactions appear to be essentially the same no matter what form of cannabidiol a user consumes.

There are two facts about CBD gummies that can play a role in any decision to use them, though.

1. Gummies require time to take effect. Any form of CBD product that must first pass through the gastrointestinal system will not be able to release its cannabidiol to the liver for metabolisation until digestion is complete. For gummies, that process can take an hour or so. Only dropping CBD oil under the tongue, or vaping it, can avoid the delay caused by digestion.
2. They lose effectiveness before the CBD is released. Much of the cannabidiol contained in gummies (or CBD products like foods or beverages) is lost during the digestive process. The alternative administration methods we’ve mentioned, sublingual (under the tongue) drops or vaping, preserve the greatest amount of CBD.

One more note before closing: CBD dosing is more art than science.

Since cannabidiol is not a “prescribed product,” there’s no recommended dose for any user or any medical condition. The UK government says no one should consume more than 10 milligrams per day, many experts say an effective dose for most people is 20 or 25mg, and research has found that only doses much higher appear effective for some conditions.

For all of those reasons, one fact can’t be emphasized enough. CBD is generally safe, but anyone — particularly senior citizens — considering the use of CBD gummies or another product should speak with a medical professional first. Their advice could prevent you from taking too much, taking too little, or experiencing undesirable effects.

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