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Best CBD Oil For Anxiety – Miracle Cure Or Hype?
Today, we talk about practical tools and coping strategies for healing anxiety. The title of this article is CBD Oil for anxiety, a miracle or hype? Before we find out, of course, I have to tell you a story.
I want to tell you about my particular case. In June 2015, I was visiting my brother in New York, who had chronic pain. Are any of you out there dealing with pain? As you know, that’s an awful combination.
In my brother’s case, he was prescribed medical marijuana that is legal in New York. It was prescribed by his physician. He ordered this stuff on the internet, but it had a strawberry flavor he didn’t like. It was a hundred bucks, and I said, “Wow, that’s a lot of money.” So I took it back home to Oregon, and one night, I woke up at 3:00 a.m. feeling anxious, which is not unusual. My heart was beating pretty quickly, and I just laid there, trying to breathe and calm myself down like normal.
But this time, I reached for the dropper and put it under my tongue. I took about two drops and started to notice that my heart rate slowed down. I felt more relaxed, and my muscles were less tense. In about 10 minutes, I went back to sleep.
It really took the edge off of the anxiety and got me back to sleep a lot quicker than I would have if I hadn’t had it. Fortunately, I haven’t had very many of these episodes, but I have the oil by my bedside just in case.
I finally talked to a local pharmacist here in Portland at a medical marijuana dispensary, and he mentioned that he’s been using CBD oil as a substitute for anti-anxiety medications. He says it helps him breathe more easily at night, relax his chest muscles, and breath more deeply so that he can relax more and go to sleep.
He also said that some of his customers had used it to minimize the headaches for coming off on a depressant, as well as using CBD oil to minimize withdrawal symptoms for taking opiates after operations. It obviously has many uses. Try CBD oil for anxiety, and you’ll experience it for yourself.
Let’s get to our topic here, which is anxiety. A while ago, I published an article called, “What Is Worse, Depression or Anxiety?” I mean, they’re both awful, aren’t they?
Still, a lot of you choose anxiety, and I can see why. When you are moderately or severely anxious, over time, you can’t function, stick to your routines, go out with friends, or work, and pretty soon, you’re not accomplishing anything – and that can be very depressing. So anxiety often turns into depression.
For those of you using anxiety medications known as benzodiazepines, you know that these can be habit-forming.
As a result, many psychiatrists are reluctant to prescribe them these days. That is why I became intrigued when some acquaintances told me that they were using something called CBD oil to bring down their anxiety, which I thought
Before I discuss my take on it, I want to give some basic definitions of what it is.
CBD oil is a natural compound found in both marijuana and hemp plants. Because it contains less than 0.3% THC, which is the psychoactive component of marijuana, you can’t get high from it. So unlike pot, you don’t feel anything when you take CBD.
The Interesting Story Behind CBD Oil
This oil burst onto the national scene in 2013. There was a six-year-old girl named Charlotte Figi who lived in Colorado, and she was having multiple seizures – 300 grand mal seizures a week. It was consuming her brain, and her parents were desperate.
Nobody knew what to do. Finally, someone suggested using marijuana. Because medical marijuana was legal in Colorado at the time, they found growers and got a strain that was very high in CBD oil and very low in THC, and they gave it to the girl.
The doctors were quite skeptical, but sure enough, the seizures stopped first for an hour, then for a week, and pretty soon, the girl was healed.
I think she’s 12 now. She only has two or three seizures a week. This strain of CBD she used was called Charlotte’s Web. It’s now famous, and there’s a brotherhood now in Colorado.
Six of them who had developed the foundation where they give this away to people who need it and it’s a wonderful thing they’re doing because you know in a lot of places, people can’t afford it so good for the good of Charlotte and good for humanity that this substance was discovered.
Cannabidiol Reduces Anxiety – Scientific Approach
“Cannabidiol Reduces the Anxiety Induced by Simulated Public Speaking in Treatment-Naïve Social Phobia Patients”
https://www.nature.com/articles/npp20116
While this research suggests that CBD oil can help those with anxiety, the evidence is not conclusive due to the lack of large-scale clinical trials. There have only been a few studies on small groups of people. The majority of CBD testing has been done on lab animals.
It shows that CBD oil may be able to alleviate social anxiety. In this study, 24 subjects who had a social anxiety disorder were given either 600mg of CBD or a placebo 90 minutes before completing a test that simulated public speaking. Twelve additional subjects with a social anxiety disorder were given the same test without CBD or the placebo. The results showed that those who used CBD before the public speaking test were significantly less anxious, cognitively impaired, and uncomfortable.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that “CBD has shown therapeutic efficacy in a range of animal models of anxiety and stress, reducing both behavioral and physiological (e.g., heart rate) measures of stress and anxiety.”
Best CBD Oil Dosages for Anxiety
CBD dosage seems to have a significant impact on how CBD affects those with anxiety disorders. The anti-anxiety effects of CBD follow a bell-curve, a study published in Frontiers in Pharmacology suggests. A 300 mg dose of CBD seems to be the sweet spot, while 100mg and 900mg doses did not seem not to have a substantial effect.
Research is still being done on dosages for those with anxiety disorders. In some quantities, CBD has shown to cause depression as a side effect. Because half of the individuals with anxiety disorders are also diagnosed with depression, it’s important to be careful with dosages so that depression is not worsened. Always consult a doctor before using CBD oil or any other dietary supplement.
How do you take CBD oil?
Well, you can try using CBD oil for anxiety in many ways. It comes in numerous forms. I use a tincture, but you can also find it in pills, chewable gels, vape, cartridges, cream, and foods like chocolate.
That’s also how marijuana is often delivered. The amount of CBD oil in these products can vary greatly.
The next question I want to address is if CBD oil is addictive. Well no, not pure CBD. However, many of these products also have THC in them, per research I’ve done in pharmacies in Oregon and Washington.
These pharmacies say that a ratio of nine parts CBD to one part THC is very helpful because the THC increases the power of CBD oil.
Now, if you’re taking something like that and there’s THC, you might be affected.
So the key is to know what percentage of CBD and THC there is. If you’re not taking pure CBD derived from hemp, there are no addictive properties and no psychoactive properties.
As a fairly new and little-understood product, it’s important to learn as much as you can about CBD oil for anxiety and depression.
The next question that comes up is what conditions CBD oil can treat. If you will recall, it was used to help this girl with Trivette Syndrome epilepsy, and sure enough, it’s been researched for pain, as well. My brother takes it for pain inflammation, believe it or not.
It also supposedly helps people break addictions to cigarettes and drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine because it relaxes the muscles and makes people less anxious. For these reasons, people are looking to CBD oil for a variety of conditions.
I do know people who have taken it for pain, and a nurse I know who was quite involved in the alternative care industry here in Oregon says that a lot of her patients take it for pain.
CBD Oil As Anxiety Medication
We’re finally getting to the main topic in this article, which is CBD oil for anxiety. Now, when I first heard about this connection, I thought that this makes sense because CBD oil is an anti-seizure medication, as we saw in the case of Charlotte.
Anxiety is a mental health disorder characterized by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one’s daily activities.
Examples of anxiety disorders include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Symptoms include stress that’s out of proportion to the impact of an event, the inability to set aside worries, and restlessness. Treatment includes counseling or medications, including antidepressants.
Klonopin, which is a benzo that I used to take, essentially saved my life during one of my episodes. It is also an anti-seizure medication. Klonopin and anti-seizure medication do help with anxiety and anti-seizure.
Here’s a testimonial from one of my acquaintances who first turned me on to it. He said, “I’ve been experiencing quite a lot of anxiety due to stressors in my life. I was having a hard time sleeping. I started to take a dropper full at bedtime and again if needed. When I woke up early the next morning, the CBD oil greatly reduced my rumination, and it had a nice side effect of reducing joint pain, as well. I’ve never felt groggy in the morning after taking it. I highly recommend CBD oil for anxiety.”
How Do You Obtain CBD Oil?
CBD oil is derived from the hemp plant, and it has no THC. As in my acquaintance’s case, you can get it in any state in the U.S. except for Idaho, Nebraska, and South Dakota, as they ban all marijuana.
You can even get products from the hemp plant that are not psychoactive. As such, most of us can get CBD oil over the internet or from other sources.
I mentioned that THC helps make it more effective. However, if a CBD oil has some THC in it, you can only get it in states where medical marijuana is illegal, which is much more limited. Still, CBD oil can be effective, and you’re much more likely to find it.
In conclusion, this article describes my look into CBD oil as a treatment for anxiety and pain, as well.
I have found that many people are using it effectively. I’m advocating you do so. You should check with your doctor to make sure it’s not going to interact with any medications you’ve been taking adversely.
CBD Dosage Comparison Chart
| CBD PRODUCT | RECOMMENDED FOR | HOW LONG TO TAKE EFFECT | HOW LONG IT LASTS | PROS | CONS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ingested CBD (edibles, capsules, drink powders) | Those who want more control over dosage or to be more discreet | 30-60 minutes | 2-4 hours | No harm to lungs, discreet, convenient, more control over dosage | Takes a while to kick in |
| Smokeable CBD (e-cig, flower, vape) | Those with fast-acting as a priority and those that like to smoke | Instant | 45 minutes – 1 hour | Fast-acting, can help quit cigarettes, great for social situations | Non-discreet, can’t be done everywhere, could be damaging to lungs |
| Topicals (lotions, gels, balms, salves) | Those suffering from a specific pain like joint pain or skin problems | Varies widely; factors include hair growth, amount of fatty tissue, etc. | 5 hours or more | Applied directly to the problem area, metabolism isn’t an issue, long-lasting, easy to work into your routine | Can be slow to take effect; depending on the problem, could take prolonged use to achieve the desired results |
| Transdermal Patches | Those who don’t have regular access to consuming other means, those with chronic pain | Varies widely; factors same as above | 1-2 days | Lasts the longest, metabolism isn’t an issue, steady release of CBD into the bloodstream | Could take hours for effects to kick in |
In-depth studies
According to a study conducted on animals with arthritis pain, the topical utilization of CBD oil facilitated lower rates of inflammation and pain. Another animal study discovered the benefits of CBD for neuropathic pain and chronic inflammation.
Resources:
- Epilepsy and cannabidiol: a guide to treatment. Arzimanoglou A, et al. Epileptic Disord. 2020
- Social media surveillance for perceived therapeutic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) products. Tran T, et al. Int J Drug Policy. 2020
- Cannabidiol prescription in clinical practice: an audit on the first 400 patients in New Zealand. Gulbransen G, et al. BJGP Open. 2020
- Potency Assessment of CBD Oils by Their Effects on Cell Signaling Pathways. Urasaki Y, et al. Nutrients. 2020
- Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol Use in an Outpatient Palliative Medicine Population. Highet BH, et al. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2020
- A Case of Vaping TCH Oil Leading to Vaping Associated Pulmonary Injury: Our Approach to Its Diagnosis, Management, and Recommendations. Singh A, et al. Case Rep Pulmonol. 2020
