You have probably heard about it. CBD oil is suddenly everywhere in the mainstream market and it has left a lot of people (me included) wondering what it is and if it something that can help me. I can’t lie. I was incredibly skeptical. It comes with the territory of having a chronic illness. Everyone thinks that they have the magic cure for your problem and I have heard about a million miracles over the last 10 years of my diagnosis. That was until my best friend told me her parents were using CBD to help some of their issues. I have always thought her dad a skeptic and so seeing him get over some of his hangups regarding CBD made me want to give it a chance. Over the last little while, I have been trying CBD oil for different ailments and now I am ready to share what I have learned over the last month.
A little background on my health conditions. I have a list. I was diagnosed with arthritis at 21. It has mainly affected my hands and feet but in the last 6 months or so, I have started struggling with pain in my knees as well. At 26 I was diagnosed with Hashimotos, a disease that affects the thyroid. It has caused weight gain, pain, exhaustion and a whole laundry list of other problems. With all of that, the thing I have struggled with the most? Sleeping. My youngest has a REM sleep disorder that has caused her to sleep less than an hour a day since birth. I spent the first four years of her life constantly awake with her. Sleeping in 1-2 hour bits when someone else could watch her. Right now she is five and a half and is finally sleeping through the night. The first night she slept through the night I was so exhausted I slept for 12 straight hours. The next night? I couldn’t fall asleep. At all. We discovered over the next couple of months that while she was finally sleeping, I had spent five years of my life training my body to stay away for 36-48 hours at a time and now it was fighting sleep… hard.
We were on the 4th month of my daughter sleeping the best she ever has and I knew I had to change something. I kept waiting for my body to regulate itself. For things to go back to normal, but they just weren’t going to by themselves. That was the first night I took CBD. I needed to sleep. I needed to function.
Taking Harmony Hemp CBD was an interesting experience, I put it under my tongue and waited, almost looking around for fireworks. Nothing happened. I went back to work at my computer and about 20 minutes later found myself yawning. I turned off my computer and went to bed. When I got up in the morning I realized I had gone to bed at midnight. Four or five hours before I had been able to fall asleep before. That in and of itself was a huge testament to me.
As my doctor and I have been dealing with my sleep issues, she has been very supportive of me trying CBD. She let me know that a lot of her anxiety and insomnia patients have found great success with it. I have found on the nights I take it, I fall asleep faster and sleep better during the night. A sleep study I recently did showed that my heart rate spikes a lot during the night. Apparently, for some reason, I get very anxious while I sleep. I like to think it is just because I am being chased by alligators in my nightmares but the study also showed on that nights with CBD those spikes are fewer and farther between, meaning I am resting better. That is definitely worth singing from the housetop.
While I don’t know that CBD will help everyone, I am definitely a believer in trying it. Here are some of the questions I have received from people since I tried it.
What CBD Do I Use?
I have been using Harmony Hemp. I liked that it is available in a lot of stores but what I really liked is that they are so open and transparent about everything they do. They have their testing logs and lab sheets all available online. Their ingredients have been researched and tested and I love that they use a third-party lab so they are held to a high standard.
I love that they have a wide range of CBD products including bath bombs, lotions, soap, and tinctures, so you can use CBD in the way you are most comfortable with.
What is CBD?
Cannabidiol or what is known as CBD is a naturally occurring substance found in cannabis and hemp plants. People have been using it to help promote healthy sleep cycles, promote a sense of calm and reduce everyday stresses for years.
How Can It Be Used?
People use it in tinctures, capsules and well as edibles. I prefer it in tinctures but I have friends that love it in their bath bombs, lotions or roll-ons.
Does CBD get you high?
Nope. It is a non-psychoactive product. Hemp-derived CBD comes from the same species of plant but not the exact same one. It has many of the help medicinal elements of Cannabis but without the THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). CBD is found in both plants but at different levels.
Is CBD Legal?
Hemp-derived CBD is federally legal. Hemp is not apart of the controlled substances act.
Has CBD been scientifically studied?
CBD has been studied in a variety of ways! While there are no definitive studies that prove CBD cures there have been a lot of studies that show a ton of promise! You can find more about some of these studies here.
I find this study, Cannabidiol reduces the anxiety induced by simulated public speaking in treatment-naïve social phobia patients, particularly interesting.
What is the difference between CBD and Hempseed Oil?
Hempseed comes from the seeds of the hemp plant. It does not contain CBD and is used in lotions and cooking.
CBD comes from the stalks or stems of the plant and it contains CBD. You want to make sure your CBD products contain Hemp Extract, not Hempseed Oil.
Would you try CBD?
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