Sleep is essential to your overall health and well-being, and there are many reasons why your sleep may not be optimal. For many people, sleep difficulty is linked to health issues, such as pain or anxiety, which hinders the body’s ability to rest.
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that causes difficulty in falling asleep, and they could be several reasons that cause it. The condition can be caused or exaggerated by anxiety, stress, emotional worries, jetlag, night shift work schedules, etc. Insomnia can be acute or chronic and is considered chronic when it occurs at least three times per week for more than three months.
The symptoms of insomnia can be any one of the following: feeling tired throughout the day, lying awake for several hours unable to fall asleep, not feeling well-rested after awakening, and waking up in the middle of the night.
For those suffering from insomnia, extracted cannabis oil has been growing in popularity in recent times. The main component CBD is also useful in treating other ailments like anxiety, PTSD, and other stress-related disorders.
CBD is known scientifically as cannabidiol and is one of the over hundred cannabinoids that are found in the marijuana plant as well as the hemp plant. It has been used previously not only as a sleep aid but also to relieve nausea, eczema, psoriasis, seizures, Alzheimer’s, and many others. CBD is a compound that is entirely non-psychoactive, making it a suitable option to provide a range of consumers of all ages.
Though not everything is completely understood about how cannabinoids work, research shows that CBD and cannabinoids interact with cells and proteins in the brain. The endocannabinoid system is a system of cannabinoids, enzymes, and receptors that regulate functions such as mood, pain, appetite, and sleep.
When it comes to insomnia, activating the endocannabinoid system can lead to cannabinoid receptors bringing about a change in the symptoms of insomnia. Research shows that CB1 receptors help with inducing sleep. These receptors are a potential therapeutic target of cannabis and may cause sleepiness, therefore, relieving the symptoms of insomnia.
CBD is known to help relieve a myriad of medical conditions, some of which are connected to insomnia. Since the ECS regulates mood, a lack of endocannabinoids can be supplemented with the CBD, which helps take away anxiety and depression, two of the most common underlying causes of insomnia.
Even though research shows that CBD in lower doses can act as a stimulant exhibiting the same effect as caffeine does, it is shown to have a calming and relaxing effect when consumed in the evenings. This, in turn, aids with insomnia, sleeplessness, and other sleep disorders. This might seem contradictory, but it is a result of the endocannabinoid system‘s role in regulating total body health.
In this way, CBD can bring energy to individuals when they need it and yet calm them down, helping them get into a deep sleep. This is what makes CBD so unique as it isn’t a single purpose therapy but is significant on multiple levels. There are many ways in which CBD can help with insomnia while also treating its supplementing ailments.
As this Daily CBD Mag article notes, CBD has been seen to be very useful in treating anxiety and stress, which are common causes of insomnia. CBD also helps to regulate cortisol, which is a stress hormone that has a significant impact on non-REM sleep cycles. There has been a lot of research that has found that CBD is beneficial for anxiety-related disorders and an increase in sleep quality.
For those struggling with sleeplessness due to acute or chronic pain, CBD is a welcome alternative to the many pharmaceutical pain relievers available on the market. It helps reduce pain-induced sleeplessness as it works on the symptoms themselves rather than giving a sedative effect like many sleep medications.
CBD has also been proven to be effective in relieving different kinds of muscle soreness. It is an excellent supplement to take after workouts or even before them. Relief from muscle soreness helps with better sleep.
Nightmares are another factor that has a negative impact on overall sleep quality for many people, which leads to insomnia. Those who suffer from REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), which gives one restlessness and increases nightmares, can also benefit from CBD. Patients who were treated with CBD have shown to experience fewer side-effects of RBD, with close to no harmful side-effects.
CBD has been shown to regulate the body’s sleep-wake cycles and helps promote wakefulness during the day and relaxation at night time. Daytime sleepiness and insomnia can impact both productivity throughout the day and the ability to fall asleep at night. When CBD is administered during the daytime, it helps promote alertness and leads to a more restful sleep at night.
As this Kyro article notes, the many uses for CBD can sometimes seem endless as it is a multifaceted treatment with components from nature. In addition to helping regulate sleep patterns, there are many other medical test conditions that cannabidiol has been shown to treat. This includes autism, ADHD, addiction to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, asthma, cancer, heart disease, glaucoma, arthritis, diabetes, and migraines, to name a few.
There are a variety of ways to ingest CBD, everything from tinctures and vapes to edibles. Everybody has a different body type, so it is vital to find out which dosage, product, and time of day affect your body chemistry. Products like sprays and tinctures offer immediate effects, while edibles and oils tend to release CBD more slowly, which in turn helps you stay asleep for longer.
If you have been experiencing sleeplessness and restlessness or even full-blown insomnia, then perhaps CBD is a non-pharmaceutical alternative that may be exactly what you need to fall asleep easily at night. Pharmaceuticals can be addictive and typically have a slew of negative effects, while CBD has few to no adverse effects in people with insomnia.
For people that do a lot of traveling too, insomnia is a constant issue. Business travelers or people working in the travel industry need a lot of rest to stay functional and keep healthy.
Before taking any dosage of CBD to treat an illness, you should consult your physician first.
