CBD Research on sleep, anxiety & migraines

CBD’s growing popularity is not without benefits. Although there is limited research on the effectiveness, risks and benefits of cannabis by-products, the little studies available gives us insight on how CBD impacts sleep, anxiety and Migraines.

It may take decades before all the countries of the world would eventually legalise its consumption. But while we wait for that to happen, we can learn what to gain from it. In this article, I’ll show you the results of CBD clinical study on sleep, anxiety and patients suffering from migraines.

What Is Insomnia

Are you finding it pretty difficult to sleep? Or do you see yourself waking up only a few hours after you closed your eyes? If yes, then you probably have insomnia.

Insomnia is a disorder that makes it difficult for its sufferers to fall asleep or remain asleep for a long time. Most sufferers often resort to taking sleeping pills before they could sleep.

It’s that bad that patients could get startled from sleep by a sound as low as a peg falling on the floor. Another symptom is fatigue and temporal pain after waking up.

How Does CBD Affect Your Sleep

Research on cannabis may be limited, but a handful of studies have shown a correlation between CBD and sleep improvement. According to a study carried on 490 patients who have insomnia, Medicines journal, CBD has a significant effect on sleep.

The patients rated their insomnia symptoms on a scale of 1 – 10. On average, the participants’ symptoms were 6.6.

They were treated with cannabis flower with maximum CBD concentration of 30%. After the treatment, the average insomnia rating dropped to 2.2, which is over 33% decrease in symptoms.

The result proved that cannabis could improve sleep. But because it was carried out with cannabis which contains several cannabinoids, including THC, CBD, and the rest, it’s wrong to say that CBD alone was what caused the sleep improvement.

Much later, another study was carried out, which involved a 10-year old girl suffering from poor sleep and post-traumatic stress disorder. During her treatment with CBD, she was administered 25mg of a CBD supplement at night.

In the day, another 12 mg of the supplement was administered to her. Within 5 months, her sleep improved tremendously.

What Is Anxiety

Anxiety is your body’s response to fear and stress. It’s a feeling of uncertainty often accompanied by panic. It’s a normal feeling everyone experiences at one point in time or the other.

However, there are extreme cases of anxiety that can last for weeks and months, leading to other health challenges like high blood pressure. When your anxiety gets to this level, it’s known as an anxiety disorder.

It means you’re always fearful of something or someone, leading to panic attacks and violence in rare cases. It can even prevent you from entering an elevator or walking into your room alone for fear of the unknown.

If left untreated, this can degenerate to very severe mental disorders. Anxiety is no respecter of age as it can affect kids, teenagers and adults alike. Common symptoms include increased heart rate, insomnia, restlessness, and rapid breathing.

How Does CBD Affect Anxiety

As in the case of sleep disorders, CBD research is quite limited. Nonetheless, a couple of studies have been carried out to ascertain the relevance of CBD oil for anxiety treatment.

An experiment was published in The Permanente Journal, involving 72 suffering from poor sleep and anxiety. All 72 participants partook in sleep and anxiety assessments at the beginning of the study. They were also assessed after the first month.

Each of them was given 25 my of CBD in capsule form. Those whose cases were predominantly sleeping disorders got theirs at night while those chiefly suffering from anxiety were administered an equal dose of CBD in the day.

After the first month, the sleep disorder improved by 66% while those suffering from anxiety improved by 77%. Although a sample space of 72 is relatively small, the results go a long way to show that you can always count on CBD oil for anxiety treatments. 

What Is Migraine

Migraine is a severe headache that comes with symptoms such as vomiting, nausea and heightened sensitivity to light. It’s so terrible that its excruciating effects can last between 4 hours to 72 hours.

According to the American Migraine Foundation, a whopping 36 million Americans suffer from this headache. It’s, however, three times more common in women than men.

This condition is quite complicated because it’s difficult to tell exactly what triggers it. The cause varies in people. For some persons, it could be caused my emotional imbalance.

Others owe it to their genes, while other possible causes include pre-existing medical conditions and/or excessive noise. However, as it is with anxiety and sleeping disorders, a lot of people have been taking CBD oil for migraines.

Effect Of CBD On Migraine

There seems to be far less research on the effects of CBD oil for migraine than on anxiety and insomnia, but we’ve got a few related studies to this regard.

Pharmacotherapy published a study in 2016 on the effect of medical marijuana as a treatment for migraine. A small sample space of 48 people was used for the study. After the treatment, the participants recorded a 39.7 decrease in migraine attacks.

But the treatment was not without side effects. Most participants complained of drowsiness, while some participants were unsure of the right dose of marijuana to consume per day. 

Also, those who used edible marijuana experienced the side effects the most, as opposed to those who smoked its leaves.

A wider study was later conducted in 2018. This time around, 2,032 participants were sampled. They had either headache, migraine arthritis or chronic pain as their primary illness.

They were treated with hybrid strains of cannabis containing high levels of CBD and THC. At the end of the study, the participants dumped their previous prescription medications and chose cannabis because of the success they recorded.

Although in both experiments, CBD was not the only cannabinoid used, it doesn’t negate the fact that it contributed to the success of the study. It was thus showing the positive effects of CBD oil for migraines.

Conclusion

Despite the insufficient medical explanation of the impact of CBD oil for migraine, sleep, and anxiety, the success enjoyed by most users of this element shows that its importance cannot be overemphasized. However, CBD has some side effects which you need to get familiar with before you consume.