
The Pros And Cons Of Taking CBD For Insomnia
Cannabidiol, better known as CBD, is one of the major cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids are substances that have the ability to interact with your endocannabinoid system. This system is responsible for maintaining the homeostasis of your body, namely a stable state of balance.
CBD can also help you improve your sleep. However, there are a few things you should know when taking CBD for your insomnia. Let’s first see what are some possible causes of poor sleep. The main things that can cause insomnia are:
– mental health troubles such as stress, anxiety, and depression
– medical drugs that interfere with your sleep-wake cycle
– various physical conditions such as restless leg syndrome, pains and aches
– caffeine, particularly when you consume it during the afternoon
– environmental factors such as noises or poor quality mattress
Some of these external factors affecting your quality of sleep can be treated with CBD. Pain, for instance, which is one of the major causes of insomnia responds very well to CBD treatments.
CBD interacts with the sleep cycle. It has the ability to alleviate the symptoms of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a medical condition that determines a person act out their dreams. RBD is one of the most common causes of nightmares and sleep troubles. CBD may help improving the symptoms of RBD. It can also treat excessive sleepiness during daytime.
Grogginess, other well-known effect of sleep troubles, might also respond to CBD treatments. Studies on animals and humans show evidence that CBD has the potential to improve wakefulness. However, the authors of these studies noted that they couldn’t determine the exact mechanism of action in all subjects.
How CBD Can Improve Sleep
Even studies that evidenced the link between CBD treatment and sleep improvement weren’t able to provide details on the exact mechanism of action. Most of them stated the need for further research in order to evidence the way CBD has the power to affect our sleep.
CBD helps us sleep better because it addresses the root causes of insomnia in the first place. New research will help us also understand how and why this happens and why CBD makes us sleep better.
THe right CBD dosage and the time to take it depend on a series of factors such as your body weight, your personal body chemistry and your specific sleep problems. What could prove to be effective for some patients may fail in many other cases.
Most of the clinical trials we know so far had their subjects take between 25 mg and 1,500 mg of CBD per day. The best thing to do is to start with a lower dose and increase it until you find the right one for you.
Also, many of these studies on CBD, sleep, stress and anxiety have noted the slow onset of the effects on patients. A 2019 study mentioned that subjects needed about one month to feel a difference. Patience is key to finding out whether CBD does work for you.
Always discuss with your doctor about your intention to take CBD for sleep troubles. You should actually talk to your doctor before taking any new medication for that matter. A medical doctor is the most qualified person to tell you how to take CBD and what to expect in regard to your sleep problems.
[…] drug to become “high” when smoking it and for medicinal purposes. The CBD is used for various medical reasons and does not make a person “high” at […]