Cannabis Oil as an Adjunctive Therapy for Lyme Disease: Physician's Guide

Cannabis Oil as an Adjunctive Therapy for Lyme Disease: Physician's Guide



Cannabis oil for Lyme disease may offer therapeutic benefits that help manage symptoms like inflammation, pain, and sleep disorders.


Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness responsible for various symptoms. In certain cases, patients may develop severe long-term effects after antibiotic treatment.


It’s important to understand how this disease works. You might benefit from learning how, as an adjunctive therapy, cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptom management may be effective.


Understanding Lyme disease

 

The symptoms of Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease) typically subside within 2–4 weeks after antibiotic treatment1. Some may still experience them after this period. PlantEd suggests learning how cannabis oil could help manage these symptoms as an adjunctive therapy.


You should first understand Lyme disease, its challenges, and its causes. It’ll help you gain a clearer idea of the effectiveness of cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptoms.


What is Lyme disease?

The bite of the Ixodes Scapularis, commonly known as the black-legged tick or deer tick, causes Lyme disease2. It can only infect you if it carries a spirochete, spiral-shaped bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi1 3.


Infected deer ticks must remain attached to you for over 24 hours to pass the infection. Removing it before then can prevent transmission4.


Lyme disease symptoms 

There are three stages of symptoms caused by Lyme disease. Patients may not experience all the symptoms or the same as others with the disease5.


The most common symptoms of these stages are the following:

  • Rash
  • Joint stiffness
  • Muscle aches and pains across the body
  • Inflammation
  • Fatigue
  • Swollen lymph nodes
  • Fever
  • Headache

At stage three, patients may experience other symptoms like large joint arthritis and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. They might also have symptoms from the first two stages5.


Challenges in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease

Diagnosing Lyme disease on symptoms alone can be challenging. Look for exposure to ticks and review all the symptoms and signs together. Order blood tests to discover disease-fighting antibodies to the bacteria6.


Lyme disease symptoms typically cease after antibiotic treatment, but sometimes they persist.


Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome ( PTLDS), or chronic Lyme disease, is the term used for this situation. A study in 2016 showed that around 10–20% of people who contracted Lyme disease developed PTLDS7.


Current treatment options for Lyme disease

Only two proven Lyme disease treatment options are available. They typically involve antibiotics taken as pills or intravenous (IV) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)6 8.


Antibiotic pills are the conventional treatment for Lyme disease. Patients typically use them for 10–14 days6.


In more serious cases, you might prescribe an IV antibiotic. These involve situations where the disease affects the heart or nervous system or causes long-lasting arthritis6.


Limitations

There are some treatment limitations for the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. The most pressing one is that antibiotics for Lyme disease don’t always eliminate its symptoms. This obstacle results in PTLDS.


Antibiotics stop helping with symptoms of Lyme disease after curing it.


There aren’t many reliable complementary therapies available. Most of what’s advertised online is unproven. A study highlighted over 30 unorthodox alternative treatments and some showed potential9.


There are no treatments for PTLDS. After an effective course of antibiotics, the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria isn’t active, however, the symptoms may persist10.


Complementary treatments

There are a few complementary therapies for Lyme disease and its symptoms. They range from natural remedies to oxygen therapies. Here’s a breakdown of the most promising options:


  • Essential oils: Cinnamon bark, oregano, garlic, allspice, myrrh, litsea cubeba, hydacheim, and clove bud effectively eradicated Borrelia burgdorferi without it regrowing. Their active ingredients need human testing to determine their use for Lyme disease11.


  • Cannabis: Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may be effective in treating symptoms of pain, inflammation, and insomnia. CBD may also display antibacterial properties and could show promise for neuroprotection13 14 15.

How cannabis oil works

CBD and THC are two of over 100 cannabis oil compounds known as cannabinoids16.


Cannabis affects your body differently depending on the way you take it. The most common methods are the following:


Edibles

Ingesting CBD edibles partially breaks them down in your liver and digestive tract. It takes up to two hours to activate and you may only absorb around 20–30% of its effects17.


Sublingually

Sublingual administration is one of the fastest methods for activating the effects of CBD. Placing tinctures, like oils under the tongue, causes it to infuse into your blood vessels, entering directly into your circulation18 36.


Inhalation of smoke or vapour

Inhaling CBD smoke or vapour sends it straight into your bloodstream, making the effects kick in quickly. It takes up to 10 minutes to absorb 10–60% of it16. It’s important to note that these methods may not be suitable for people with asthma and other lung diseases19 20.


Cannabis mechanism of action

The body receives and interprets signals from cannabinoids through its endocannabinoid system (ECS). It also produces its own and helps with regulating inflammation, sleep, pain, and immune-system responses21.


THC affects endocannabinoid receptors to cause a “high” feeling. It produces pleasure chemicals like dopamine by triggering your brain’s reward system16.


When CBD enters the body, there aren't any psychedelic effects because it acts on different receptors. Instead, it encourages your body to use the endocannabinoids it produces more effectively20.


How cannabis oil works for Lyme disease

CBD has many properties that make using cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptoms beneficial.


Here are five ways medical cannabis may help manage symptoms associated with Lyme disease:


  • Pain relief21 22
  • Neuroprotective potential15
  • Sleep improvement23
  • Reducing inflammation13
  • Immune system regulation13

Evidence-based research on cannabis oil for Lyme disease

Cannabis doesn’t cure Lyme disease, but it can help manage its symptoms.


THC and CBD may both be effective in reducing and regulating pain, inflammation, and immune system processes. They could also enhance sleep and offer neuroprotective properties13 14 15 21 22.


Shelley White, a patient with Lyme disease, was the subject of a cannabis study in 2015. She used cannabis oil for Lyme disease alongside Buhner's Lyme protocol and was free of symptoms within a few months13.


There aren’t many other evidence-based studies focusing on cannabis to treat Lyme disease. Studies on the three key symptoms, pain, inflammation, and fatigue, exist.


Pain

A piece of research in 2022 looked at patients with arthritis. It showed CBD helped reduce the need for other medications24.


Inflammation

A study in 2020 focused on neuropathic and inflammatory pain, highlighting CBD as a possible treatment25.


Fatigue

One study in 2022 showed how cannabis oil improved sleep duration and quality in adults within two weeks of use. It relied on a mixture of 10mg THC to 15 mg CBD and also heightened mood, quality of life, and midnight melatonin levels26.


Risks and considerations of cannabis oil for Lyme disease for physicians

Cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptoms may interact with antibiotics for it. Research shows mixed results:


  • Cannabis may alter the effects of some medications. There are 57 NTI medications you should closely monitor when used alongside cannabinoids27.
  • Some research shows that certain cannabis strains may help deal with tough infections together with antibiotics28 13.

Don’t use medications with a grapefruit warning with cannabis29.


Grapefruit inhibits cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 enzymes in drugs similarly to CBD. This interaction may have serious side effects from increasing the drug’s blood level30 31.


Side effects of cannabis oil

Cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptoms seldom produces side effects. When they do, adverse reactions are typically mild32.


CBD may produce the following side effects32:


  • Diarrhea
  • Changes in appetite
  • Fatigue
  • Weight changes

THC may cause the following adverse reactions33:


  • Mood shifts
  • Altered senses
  • Impaired physical movement
  • Problem-solving and thinking difficulties

A basic cannabis course will show you how to mitigate common side effects.


Legal and ethical considerations

The Food and Drug Association (FDA) doesn’t allow companies to sell CBD products claiming to diagnose, cure, prevent, or treat any disease. Any that do are violating FDA rules34.


Using cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptom management as an adjunctive therapy may prove effective. Consider its side effects and interactions with other medications when administering it alongside antibiotics.


Your patients must understand the risks of cannabis oil and involve themselves in monitoring its effects.


Guidelines for integrating cannabis oil into Lyme disease treatment

Evaluating suitability is important when integrating cannabis oil into Lyme disease treatments. You must consider these 10 factors before moving forward35:


  • Patient tolerance
  • Different chemovars
  • Patient genetics and metabolism
  • Drug interactions
  • CBD content
  • Mental health history
  • Dosage
  • Use of sedating substances like alcohol
  • Route of administration
  • Comorbidities

Dosages

There are various administration methods for cannabis products. Edibles, topicals, and tinctures are the recommended routes.


Dosage recommendations for cannabis oil for Lyme disease symptoms may vary according to the patient. You may need to exercise some trial and error to determine the ideal potency and quantity.


Various factors, including age, weight, and tolerance, influence CBD dosage guidelines. It’s best to start with lower doses of cannabis oil, increasing slowly as necessary while monitoring your patient32.


Developing personalised treatment plans according to your patient’s needs may prove more effective.


Deepen your understanding of medicinal cannabis with PlantEd

 

The benefits of cannabis oil may help manage some symptoms of Lyme disease, but it isn’t a cure. It may even work better as an adjunctive therapy.


It’s important to learn about cannabis and its potential before you develop individualised patient care plans. Contact us today and deepen your understanding of medicinal cannabis with our expert-crafted courses.


Reference list

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  1. Patnaude, Michael R., and Thomas N. Mather. “Featured Creatures Blacklegged Tick or Deer Tick - Ixodes Scapularis.” Entnemdept.ufl.edu, University of Florida, July 2000, entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/deer_tick.htm.

  1. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Spirochete | Bacteria Family.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2019, www.britannica.com/science/spirochete.

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  1. Abichabki, Nathália, et al. “Potential Cannabidiol (CBD) Repurposing as Antibacterial and Promising Therapy of CBD plus Polymyxin B (PB) against PB-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli.” Scientific Reports, vol. 12, no. 1, 19 Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10393-8.

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