In order to figure out if CBD will help you sleep, you also need to figure out the cause of your insomnia. Sleep problems can happen because of drinking excessive caffeine or physical conditions like chronic pain. Environmental factors like an uncomfortable bed, bright lights or loud noises can make falling asleep difficult. Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also lead to insomnia. Unfortunately, the medications you take to treat these conditions can also cause a case of severe insomnia.
CBD can help treat insomnia caused by some of these conditions. It is primarily useful for treating insomnia that is caused by external factors. Since CBD can alleviate ailments like chronic pain and anxiety, it may also be helpful for treating insomnia caused by these conditions.
If your insomnia is caused by external factors or medical conditions, CBD may help by treating the underlying cause of your sleeplessness. In 2019, researchers found that CBD could effectively reduce anxiety levels and improve sleep quality. The study looked at 72 different patients. Out of this number, 47 patients had anxiety. The other 25 patients suffered from poor sleep. Each subject took 25 milligrams of CBD each day. During just the first month of using CBD, 79.2 percent of patients enjoyed having lower levels of anxiety. Another 66.7 percent of patients had a better quality of sleep.
CBD is also useful if chronic pain keeps you awake at night. Previous studies of CBD show that this drug can help to soothe pain. By reducing the amount of pain you experience, CBD can improve the overall quality of your sleep. In 2015, a small trial of patients with Parkinson’s disease also found that CBD alleviated REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). This disorder is when someone acts out their dreams, and it often leads to a poor quality of sleep.
How Can You Use CBD for Insomnia?
Currently, researchers generally think that CBD helps insomnia because it treats the underlying cause. By alleviating conditions like RBD, anxiety or chronic pain, CBD can remove the obstacles that prevent you from sleeping at night. Since more research needs to be done on CBD, researchers still do not know the exact dosage or consumption method people need to take.
People have used cannabis for its health benefits for thousands of years. In fact, cannabis was mentioned in an ancient Hindu text known as the Atharvaveda more than 3,000 years ago. In a Chinese medical text from 800 years ago, Chinese doctors talked about how cannabis could be used for inducing sleep.
Today, nearly 80 percent of Americans have problems sleeping at least once a week. Current treatments like over-the-counter medication and prescription drugs carry side effects and are often ineffective. Because of this, around 10 percent of people who take CBD say that they use it to help them sleep. Among people who have tried CBD for insomnia, the majority of people said that it worked for them.
