Sleep Disorders

Oh hey, wouldn’t you know, sleep disorders can make you sleepy. This is first on the list because it is pretty obvious. 50-70 million Americans suffer from a type of sleep disorders, all with varying symptoms but the same result—exhaustion. Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you?

Insomnia

• Difficulty falling asleep at night
• Waking up during the night
• Irritability
• Daytime sleepiness
• Not feeling well rested
• Headaches
• Depression

Sleep Apnea

• Waking up with a sore throat
• Loud snoring
• Tired while driving
• Daytime sleepiness
• Forgetfulness
• Mood changes
• Lowered libido

Snoring

• Morning headaches
• Gasping or choking at night
• High blood pressure
• Sore throat in the morning
• Daytime sleepiness

Melatonin Deficiency

• Intestinal pain or sensitivity
• Mood changes
• Waking up often
• Unable to fall asleep
• Restless legs

Sleep Deprivation

• Waking up multiple times in the night
• Having dreamless sleep
• Depression
• Irritability
• Forgetfulness

Night Terrors

• Screaming or thrashing when sleeping
• Elevated blood pressure and heart rate
• Rapid breathing
• Wide eyes with dilated pupils
• Fully or partially waking up from sleep suddenly

Illness and Disease

Sleep disorders aren’t the only thing to take your energy away. Along with dealing with painful or uncomfortable symptoms that come along with illness and disease, many people also suffer from fatigue. Fatigue is feeling more than just tired, but you are unable to think clearly or concentrate. Someone who is fatigued may be forgetful and find themselves irritable. If you have been diagnosed with one of these illnesses, it could be contributing to your exhaustion.

• Anemia
• Underactive thyroid
• Celiac disease
• Diabetes
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Glandular fever
• Depression
• Restless leg
• Anxiety

Psychological Stress

While anxiety and stress may appear similar, they are two different things. Stress is the reaction to something that is happening, while anxiety is the response to the stress. We all experience stress and anxiety in our lives,  but letting too much stress bombard your life can cause serious health consequences, one of them being poor quality of sleep.  

Poor Diet

You are what you eat, ever heard of that before? If you don’t have a balanced diet, your body isn’t going to feel balanced. That means that certain things that your body naturally does, like going to sleep, will be a lot harder to accomplish. There are certain foods that you can eat to help promote sleep such as:

• Milk products
• Fish
• Fruit
• Vegetables

Caffeine Addiction

Be honest, are you one of those people who have to have their coffee in the morning before anyone can even look in their direction? Do you find yourself drinking more soda or tea than you do water? You wouldn’t be the only one with 90% of Americans consuming caffeinated beverages daily. While caffeine may make you feel like you have more energy, what it is really doing is suppressing the feeling of being tired. This mechanic is also why caffeine can make it seem like you are in less pain.

While studies have suggested that using caffeine can help improve productivity and other functions, the withdrawals may be what makes your sleep schedule so miserable. Just like any other stimulant, your body gets used to this chemical, you are putting into your body, begging for more when it goes without, even if it is just for one night’s sleep. This is why if you are dependent on caffeine, you may have a harder time feeling energy throughout the day and waking up feeling rested.

Can CBD Oil Help With Being Tired All of the Time?

While there are plenty of things you can do to boost your energy like eating right and drinking less caffeine, taking CBD oil may be able to help with you being tired all the time. Because CBD oil works with your endocannabinoid system, it has access to various areas in your brain and body that play a role in your energy levels.

What is CBD?

CBD, also known as cannabidiol, is a chemical found in the cannabis or hemp plant. Unlike the famous cannabinoid THC, this chemical doesn’t get you high while still offering therapeutic effects. The reason CBD doesn’t cause the same feelings as THC is because it indirectly interacts with your body by elevating chemicals that are already present in your body, opposed to THC which binds directly to your cannabinoid receptors. When taking CBD, one thing you may notice is a boost in energy.

Energy Boosting

CBD oil has shown to be beneficial in helping you with your energy levels in two big ways. The first being by boosting your metabolism by increasing the level of mitochondria in your body, helping it to burn energy more efficiently. CBD also shows in studies to stimulate the serotonin receptor, which plays a vital role in energy balance.

Stress Reducing

Stress is almost unavoidable, but if you have problems controlling your reactions to stress, CBD oil may be able to help. By elevating the endocannabinoid anandamide, CBD oil has shown in studies to help reduce the activity in the amygdala, which is what causes the fear response to be so intense. CBD has shown to be powerful enough for some of the most extreme anxiety disorders like PTSD.

Get Some Sleep!

When you’re tired all of the time, you have no motivation, and it makes everyday life very difficult. If you think that you may have an illness causing this exhaustion, be sure to talk to your doctor about it, and they can help you get to the bottom of it. And while you’re in the doctor’s office, be sure to mention CBD oil and ask them if they think that it may be a good avenue for you to take to become more energized.

When it comes to medicine, one great way to start getting healthy is by changing the way that you eat. If you go around eating junk all of the time, eventually you will begin to rely on pills instead of what nature has to offer. When it comes to promoting sleep, there are several chemicals found in foods that can help you get a good night’s rest. Adding foods that have these chemicals into your diet will be able to help you finally hit the hay.

Tryptophan

Do you ever wonder why after Thanksgiving everyone is ready for a nap? This is because turkey has the chemical tryptophan. You might also notice that it puts people in a good mood along with the holiday cheer. Tryptophan has shown in studies to help boost your sleep quality and your mood and is made naturally in your body, but if you are having trouble with sleep, adding additional tryptophan may be able to help.

Magnesium

Magnesium is one of those chemical words that sound scary, but its always good to remember that the word chemical itself isn’t scary. After all, we breathe oxygen. Without chemicals, we wouldn’t be able to survive. Magnesium is one of the most important minerals that you can add to your diet, helping to promote bone and heart health, a good mood, and your metabolism. Another superpower of this mineral is that it can help promote better sleep.

Calcium

We all know about calcium and how it helps our bones stay strong, but that’s not the only reason you should be packing this into your diet. Calcium is a natural sleep aid that can help you wind down before bed. Calcium is so good at helping you sleep because it contains the chemical tryptophan. Studies have shown that low levels of calcium are associated with disrupted sleep, so have a glass of milk before bed!

Niacin

Niacin, also known as Vitamin B3, has shown evidence that it can assist in sleeping. Niacin reacts with the chemical tryptophan as well as promoting stress-reducing hormones to help people with insomnia. If you have lack of sleep because of depression or anxiety, this vitamin may be able to help.

Foods That Promote Good Sleep

• Nuts
• Soybeans
• Turkey
• Oats
• Beans
• Dark Chocolate
• Avocados
• Legumes
• Whole Grains
• Seeds
• Dark Leafy Greens
• Rhubarb
• Edamame
• Figs
• Mushrooms
• Green Peas
• Potatoes

Do you have a snack or drink that puts you to sleep? We would love to hear about it in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

If you sleep for only a few hours a day or wake up multiple times in the night, you aren’t getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation and sleep disturbances can both have a significant impact on your physical and mental health. The reason you aren’t sleeping is the key to figuring out how to fix the problem, and the first step is knowing the difference between insomnia and sleep deprivation.

Insomnia Vs. Sleep Deprivation

If you are sleep deprived, medicine like CBD isn’t going to be able to help you. The difference between sleep deprivation and insomnia is that people who have insomnia put in the time to get to sleep while people with sleep deprivation can’t or won’t. This could be having crazy work hours or feeling like you don’t have enough time in the day to get everything done, so you sacrifice sleep, and this can have major consequences to your mind and body. Someone with insomnia lays their head down to fall asleep but they can’t, or when they do it isn’t a restful night’s sleep which can also be dangerous.

Your Body And Sleep

Most of us need about eight hours of good quality sleep to be at our best. Some people need a little bit more, and others need less, but eight hours is the guideline. If you wake up tired all day and crave naps, it’s likely that you aren’t getting enough restful sleep. And I say restful because you can have ten hours of sleep but if you have insomnia, you might be waking up so much that you aren’t experiencing enough time in the REM stage of sleep which is what your body needs to recover from the day.

If you have an occasional night where you don’t get enough sleep, you may feel easily irritated, fatigued, and lack focus but it won’t be harmful to your health. There is such a thing as catching up on sleep, so as long as this pattern doesn’t continue, you should be fine. When you continually don’t get a good night’s sleep, this is when the health problems come in.

Without Enough Sleep, You May Notice

It Becomes Hard To Make Decisions

Research shows that depriving your body of sleep can have a huge impact on your cognitive functioning. Your brain can start to feel foggy, and you just aren’t all the way there in your head. This can cause you to have more accidents at home, at work, and on the road which can be extremely dangerous. This can also make you less capable of doing your job more efficiently and taking care of yourself or your family.

You Become Moody

Researchers have also discovered that one of the ways that sleep deprivation or disturbances affects our brain is by making our mood unstable. This can cause you to start feeling irritable, anxious, and depressed. If you don’t get your sleeping habits under control, it could even turn your moodiness into a full-blown mood disorder.

You Get Sick More Often

Studies show that sleep plays an essential role in the strength of our immune system. Without enough sleep, you are more prone to catching a cold or other very avoidable illnesses. If you are someone who is trying to gain a couple of hours extra in your day by sacrificing sleep, you’ll be losing those hours as you sit in your bed surrounded in tainted tissues stuffing your face in a humidifier.  

Gaining Weight

This particular symptom of lack of sleep actually goes both ways. If you sleep too much or too little, you can start to gain weight. This is because of the levels of leptin and ghrelin changing which increases your appetite.  

You Have Developed Diabetes

This consequence is more for those of you who have insomnia; studies show it has a more significant impact on developing diabetes than a reduced sleep schedule. When you aren’t getting enough restful sleep, your body’s glucose is affected which is how your body uses energy.

You Have Heart Problems

People who don’t get enough sleep have a higher risk of heart disease than those who have healthy sleeping habits. This is another health problem that is more likely to happen when you have insomnia than if you have a shorter sleeping time.

What Can You Do About Your Sleep Problems?

If you aren’t sleeping enough as a choice, making better decisions can help you become healthier. Sometimes recovering from lack of sleep can take up to weeks, but it is worth it in the long run. Some suggest that sleeping ten hours a night at first until you can reach a more regular sleep time is an excellent place to start.

If you have insomnia, there are several ways that you can improve your sleeping habits. Insomnia can happen because you have poor mental or physical health, but it can also be because of decisions that you make throughout the day.

How To Improve Sleeping Habits

Stick To A Sleeping Schedule

You’ve got a little clock in your body known as the circadian rhythm or your sleep-wake cycle that figures out when it is time to rest and when it is time to be awake and alert. You can train this clock by having a regular time that you go to sleep every night. Be consistent.

Relaxing Bedtime Rituals

One issue I used to have that would keep me up for an extra two hours is I would play video games right before bed. Now, not everyone gets hot and heated while playing Overwatch, but I do. By switching to relaxing activities before bed, it can help calm your mind down so you can fall asleep more easily. Maybe taking a relaxing bath, meditating, drinking warm milk, or you can be cool like me and have a wind-down book beside your bed.

Exercise Everyday

Studies have suggested that moderate amounts of aerobic exercise like taking a walk can help with chronic insomnia. Vigorous training like running or lifting weights didn’t improve insomnia, so just a walk through the neighborhood is enough to get you regulated.

Make Your Room Sleep-Friendly

Maximizing your sleep environment can be a huge help in getting to sleep. You can do this by making your room’s only purpose to be for rest or romance, making your brain realize that when you are in this room, there are only two things that are going to happen. Also getting rid of electronics in your room because the light and distraction can have you left awake. Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet can also help to make a better environment for sleep.

Have Comfy Sleeping Supplies

If you have an uncomfortable mattress or pillow, it is going to make falling asleep a lot harder to do. Not everyone has the superhuman ability to fall asleep anywhere like a baby, which is why making sure you have a good quality mattress is on your list of necessary tools to help better your health.  

Taking CBD Hemp Oil

People who have insomnia have a disrupted sleep-wake cycle. They can feel tired throughout the day, when they try to go to sleep it is like the lights have finally turned on. They can experience sleep disturbances which means that they aren’t in the REM stage of their sleep cycle, making their rest virtually useless. But taking CBD oil may be able to help people who have insomnia.

Taking a small amount of CBD usually gives the user an uplifted feeling and energy. It can replace the caffeine that you might so heavily depend on, which is a substance that can make sleeping very difficult. Taking this small amount doesn’t just help you gain natural energy, it also can help regulate your sleep-wake cycle by being a wake-promoting agent.

For those who finally crawl into bed after a long day and can’t fall asleep, using CBD full spectrum hemp oil may be beneficial. Full spectrum hemp oil contains the other cannabinoids in the cannabis or hemp plant, minus the THC. One of those cannabinoids being CBN, which is one of the strongest sedatives of all of the cannabinoids, being as effective as the commonly used valium.

The cannabinoid CBD has shown in studies that it may be able to promote the REM stage of sleeping, which means that when you finally do get to sleep, it is actually doing something for your body. The REM stage is when your body undergoes repair so you can feel well rested when you wake up.

Get Some Sleep!

If you think that sacrificing a few hours of sleep to get more work done is a good idea, think again. Your best work comes from a mind well rested. If you just can’t get to sleep at night, try to make some changes and even taking CBD hemp oil may be able to help!

Do you need an excuse to take a nap? Of course, you might be tired, but is it worth it to take time out of your day sleeping instead of getting things done? Research shows that taking naps is good for your physical and mental health, so science says dim the lights and get under the covers to promote a healthier lifestyle.

Naps Provide More Time In REM

When you are asleep, during the REM state is when your body does its maintenance and repairs. The REM state happens about 90 minutes into when you are sleeping, and it is when your eyes are moving rapidly, thus the name Rapid Eye Movement. A study at Harvard revealed that taking naps has the brain in the REM state for longer, which can help with restoring the body and brain.

Napping Can Boost Your Immune System

Are you sleep deprived? This can cause your immune system to be weaker. Studies have shown that you can in fact “catch up on sleep.” In the study, they had people taking naps who were deprived of sleep. The naps helped relieve stress and helped with the subject’s immune system as well. So if you feel like you are running on fumes, catching some z’s on the side can help bring you back to normal.

Napping Helps With Stamina

A study where healthy males were only given five hours of sleeping time at night followed by a thirty-minute post-lunch nap showed that the napping could help with stamina. After their naps, the subject’s sprint time was improved. They also noted that their alertness and believe that napping can be beneficial to athletes who have a restricted schedule causing them to have less sleep time.

Napping Can Improve Memory

A study had two groups of people take time to learn material followed by either a nap or an equivalent wake period. They found that the ones who took a nap had significant higher memory retention and even did better on a surprise relative memory test. If you have a big test coming up, take a nap after you study to help your memory improve!

Make Time For Naps

Now that you know all of the good a nap can do, you can schedule your day for nap time. Some companies have nap rooms, which you should absolutely utilize. Or you can schedule your nap for when you get home from work so that you have energy for the rest of your day. If you have trouble sleeping, taking a large dose of CBD oil before you lay your head down may be able to help you sleep and even promote the REM state.  

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms when it comes to mental and physical health. Fatigue is more than just feeling tired; it’s your body unable to catch up leaving you weak and like you can’t do even the simplest of tasks that contribute to your everyday living. Since CBD has shown to help people who have low energy, can CBD help with fatigue?

Cannabidiol in large amounts has shown to help with sleep, but what about those who need cannabis to stay awake? Research suggests that CBD is a wake-promoting agent at small doses, and when adding the potential health benefits that might provide treatment for many illnesses, it may also be able to help people with fatigue.

Fatigue or Tiredness?

Are you just drained from your busy life? Or is it actually fatigue that is keeping you down? People who are tired still have energy, experiencing weakness or irritability but having a restful night’s sleep generally solves the problem. People who have fatigue experience an abundance of cognitive problems, inability to gain energy, and have physical symptoms like being sensitive to light. If you think you may be fatigued, talk to your doctor so they can find out the reason for this symptom.

CBD For Energy

If you find that you clutch your coffee cups close because they are the only thing that can give you a fraction of energy, CBD might be a healthy alternative. Cannabidiol elevates an endocannabinoids anandamide which helps boost your mood and can give you a feeling of natural energy.

The energy that CBD has given people is most described to feel like a runner’s high. This may be in part because when you exercise anandamide is released along with other chemicals that give you a boost of energy and desensitize you to pain so you can continue your vigorous workout.

If your fatigue comes from an illness or sickness, treating that can help with your fatigue. Research has noted that people who have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome have had positive results when taking CBD. However, CFS isn’t the only reason people feel fatigued. Here is a list of illness with fatigue being a common symptom that CBD may potentially help with:

• Fibromyalgia
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Heart Disease
• Drug Abuse

Taking CBD

If you are fatigued and want to find a way to get your energy and motivation back, talk to your doctor about using CBD hemp oil. If you are taking any medications, your doctor may need to make some alterations. They can also help you make life changes that may help with your condition.

Have you used CBD oil for your fatigue? We would love to hear about it in the comment section below!

[author name="Sarah Potts" bio = "Sarah Potts has been writing about the wonderful benefits of cannabis for CBD Instead since 2017. Medical cannabis has changed her life and her goal is to show others how it might help them as well." email="pottscontent@gmail.com" twitter= "pottstato"]

CBD has a variety of abilities that all come out at different doses. Last week we learned that the efficiency in CBD is not always by taking more CBD, but there is a sweet spot to reach depending on the reason your taking CBD. If you need it for seizures, you would take a considerable amount more than someone who is trying to help treat their anxiety.

Taking small amounts of CBD is what makes you more alert and can help with daytime sleepiness. Small amounts differ from person to person, and it is also different between the different types of methods you choose to use. A small dose in a tincture would be a few milligrams, while in pill form a small dose would be around 20mgs.

To take CBD for sleeping, you would need to take a bit more than the small dosage before you go to sleep. You will have to test it out over several nights to find the perfect dose, and always remember that more doesn’t always mean better in some situations.

What CBD does is it reduces anxiety that can be keeping you awake by calming down the over-stimulated neurons in your brain. One of the leading causes of insomnia or a night of disrupted sleep is anxiety, which CBD can tackle easily. It also alleviates pain that can cause falling asleep or staying asleep almost impossible.

By pairing small doses to keep yourself awake and alert with the larger doses to help with your sleep, you can strengthen your sleep-wake cycle by helping you achieve consistency. You can check out our shop, we have great options for tinctures and e-cigarettes to get the CBD into your system fast, or you can take the CBD pills or make edibles to get the effect over a more extended period, though sacrificing some potency.

Cannabidiol (CBD) has shown in studies to beneficial for problems like insomnia, but not in the same way that THC which acts as a sedative. While these two cannabinoids are similar in how beneficial they are to your body and mind, they are still remarkably different in how they interact with our bodies. Instead of making you feel drowsy making it easier to fall asleep, CBD has shown in studies to relieve the underlying anxiety that causes insomnia.

CBD vs. THC for Sleep

THC is a unique chemical because it is almost entirely identical to a compound that is made in the brain called anandamide. This chemical anandamide helps regulate your body’s metabolism, mood, pain sensitivity, and sleep cycle. This is why consuming THC can reduce anxiety, makes you feel euphoric, reduces pain, and can cause drowsiness.

THC directly binds to cannabinoid receptors, which is what scientists believe contributes to the intoxicating effects. CBD interacts with the body differently, not directly binding to any cannabinoid receptors. Instead, CBD oil elevates chemicals like anandamide to increase productivity and efficiency in the body. This elevation process is what research has shown to reduce anxiety and promote a healthy sleep cycle.

Studies have also shown that when you take CBD oil, you may have a more restful sleep. You have stages of sleep that you enter, one of them being the REM stage. During this stage, you are in the deepest most restful sleep. Studies have shown that CBD oil helps to promote the REM stage which means you get a more restful and meaningful sleep.

When Pain Keeps You Awake

CBD also helps alleviate pain which can cause someone to wake up several times a night. Lack of sleep can increase pain throughout the day, which can slow down healing. Pain is also a cause of depression, another ailment to magnify pain and disrupt the sleep cycle. Using CBD topicals on targeted areas or taking edibles for internal body pain can help you with the physical and mental healing process.

When Addiction Keeps You Awake

If you have problems with sleep because of addiction and the cravings are keeping you up or causing extreme anxiety, CBD can help. CBD reduces cravings and can help many ailments that the user has that made them need the medicine in the first place. This includes addicts who started by self-medicating. While it is curbing those cravings, it is helping with the anxiety and depression that usually comes along with substance abuse.

If you’re ready to have a good night’s sleep, well that’s what CBD feels like. Come check out our shop and get started on improving the quality of your life. If you have an experience about how CBD has helped you sleep, we would love to hear about it! You can contact us through any of our social media platforms, and we would love to write about your experience!

(GreenmedicineSP for beautiful marijuana photos)