CBD for Anxiety – A Quick Beginners Guide
Statistics say about 31.1 percent of US adults suffer anxiety.
For relief, pharmaceutical depressants have been the conventional go-to. While these medications are no doubt effective, research and first-hand users’ report say these medications leave several undesirable effects, including:
Loss of memory
Dizziness
Stomach upset
Speech, coordination and balance difficulties
Blurry vision
In the search for a more effective medication for anxiety and related mental health issues, several research all point to CBD.
What is CBD?
Is CBD an effective anxiety treatment?
How can I use CBD for anxiety?
Are there no side effects?
Can I use CBD without the doctor’s prescription?
If you’re asking one or more of these questions, read on to find out.
What is CBD?
CBD means cannabidiol, one of over a hundred compounds (called cannabinoids) found in the age-long controversial cannabis plant. Although mostly abundant in hemp, CBD also exists in marijuana.
CBD has been the subject of many discussions, particularly medical and legal.
Medically…
CBD has been found innocent of the high and paranoid effects often associated with marijuana use.
Instead, medical experts perceive the compound as a potential treatment alternative for a range of medical conditions, both mental and physical, including:
Chronic pain
Alzheimer’s disease
Depression and anxiety
Parkinson’s disease
Cancerous symptoms
Anxiety
On legal fronts…
Legislations across the world are gradually becoming cannabis friendly. Legal stakeholders have suddenly realized that CBD, and other cannabinoids, may actually offer more good than harm (if any) to the society.
While CBD has been legalized federally since 2018, exciting indicators show whole-cannabis may follow suit in no time.
Does CBD help with anxiety?
Several research reports and anecdotal testimonials say it does.
First, remember CBD is a relatively new compound to researchers. Hence, more findings are needed to substantiate existing evidence.
But CBD for anxiety research so far looks real promising.
For instance, a research shows that CBD may boost serotonin levels in the brain to modulate functions including:
Sleep
Mood
Behavior
Digestion
Study reveals that increased serotonin levels may help manage anxiety.
CBD may also help those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and other anxiety forms. It may also help manage insomnia caused by anxiety.
How can I administer CBD for anxiety?
Note – CBD’s effects vary across users. There’s no one-fit-all CBD for anxiety doses.
However, in 2019, researchers found that CBD doses between 300 mg to 600 mg helped curb anxiety in victims of social anxiety disorder.
The rule of thumb however holds that users may begin with low does and work up their way to more suiting amounts.
Concerning dosage routes, CBD comes in different forms, including:
Capsules
Oils and tinctures
Teas
Edibles (gummies, etc.)
CBD concentrates for vaping
Cannabis flowers
Sublingual spray
The administration method widely determines how fast the doses work.
While users of oral administrations (including oils, capsules, and edibles) may begin to feel the effects between 30 minutes to 2 hours after dosing, effects from inhalation (smoking buds or vape concentrates) may set in almost immediately.
Using oral administration is an excellent way to dose CBD for anxiety if you wish to sustain the effect for a long time – say, throughout the day.
For immediate relaxation (perhaps before a presentation or any sudden public appearance), vaping or smoking delivers a more instant effect.
Do I need a doctor’s prescription to use CBD for anxiety? Any risk?
A doctor’s prescription or approval before using CBD products may be irrelevant.
However, consider discussing with your healthcare provider if:
You’re pregnant
A breastfeeding mother
Or if you suffer any health challenge
Also, some studies show possible drug-to-drug interaction when CBD is used with some conventional medications. Here, a medical practitioner’s advice comes in handy.
Any risks?
Besides the few named possible risks, a 2019 review say CBD is well tolerated – even at doses as high as 1,500 mg/daily. For the prestigious World Health Organization, CBD is safe and widely tolerated.
However, a handful of reports show that CBD may cause some negligible reactions, which are commonly traceable to extreme doses. Typical among such effects include:
Diarrhea
Drowsiness
Changes in weight
Decreased appetite
That said; remember CBD for anxiety is widely under-regulated by the FDA. Hence, there are truckloads of fly-by-night products claiming to offer pure top-quality CBD products.
Most of these substandard products do not only deliver low effects [if at all], they also contain harmful ingredients that often leave users sick.
For this, there’s a growing campaign on the need to patronize only reputable brands and dealers.
That leads us to the next question…
How Can I Buy CBD Oil for Anxiety?
CBD products are everywhere. On the wake of the 2018 Farm Bill, which decriminalized hemp use, CBD brands have sprung across all nooks and crannies of the US.
The bad news?
A whooping over 70 percent of products are mis-labelled – says Bonn-Miller, a Penn Medicine researcher and his team of researchers.
To bypass the calculations and strike out the chances of investing in one of the harmful oils parading as natural and safe, consider Thirteenth Sector LLC.
We offer top-quality FDA-complaint CBD products sourced from US-regulated hemp farms.
We not only sell our products, we hold you by the hand and walk you through the safest and most efficient ways to use CBD-enhancing your overall experience.