Sleep is essential to our well-being, health, and overall happiness, yet many struggle with it. It can be hard to fall asleep, annoying to wake up frequently during the night, and frustrating to feel tired throughout the day.
But cannabis might be the answer to insomnia problems. According to a recent poll conducted by HelloMD, 70% of people that use cannabis for sleep-related issues do so for insomnia. They are also more likely to report significant improvements in sleep since using marijuana.
Sleep is your brain’s way of giving your body a break. During sleep, you experience rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM), which alternate throughout the night. NREM helps you have a deep sleep so that you can wake up feeling refreshed, while REM consolidates your dreams and memories.
Typical sleep cycles last between 60 and 120 minutes, with an average duration of 90 minutes. There are five stages of sleep ranging from stage one to stage five, each progressively deeper. The cycle will repeat itself until morning when you reach stage five, the deepest level of sleep. This article will explore how you can use cannabis for better sleep.
The Benefits of Cannabis for Sleep
Insomnia is when you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. If you have experienced sleep issues for more than three weeks, you likely have chronic insomnia. Insomnia can lead to irritability and lack of concentration during your waking hours because it affects your mental health.
Studies show that insomnia increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. The physical symptoms of insomnia include headaches and digestive problems, such as acid reflux and an upset stomach. Sleep is a necessary process that helps us recharge our batteries and survive as a species. It’s also critical for maintaining healthy physical and mental states.
Marijuana’s most immediate effect is sedation. Depending on the strain, users can expect to feel relaxed, sleepy, or tired within minutes of using marijuana. As your body processes the drug, you’ll likely begin to feel even more tired while your body begins to relax. For this reason, people who have insomnia often use Indica marijuana strains before bedtime.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is just one of the chemical compounds found in cannabis that can alter a user’s sleeping patterns. Another primary compound is cannabidiol (CBD). CBD can counteract anxiety and high levels of stress by increasing serotonin levels. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter that helps regulate our moods and make us feel less stressed.
The terpene limonene is also responsible for some of the sedative effects experienced when using cannabis. Limonene works by increasing GABA levels in the brain, promoting calm and relaxation feelings.
Marijuana is also associated with more restlessness during sleep than sedative drugs like Valium. It reduces REM sleep, which is when dreaming occurs and slows the brain waves responsible for allowing you to fall asleep or stay asleep peacefully.
Marijuana and Sleep Research
Cannabis has been used as a sleep aid for as long as humans have cultivated it. It all started with the flowering tops of female cannabis plants, also known as weed. And while this non-toxic herb is certainly not a cure-all, there are plenty of studies that suggest weed may help you catch some zzz’s and, in some cases, even improve your sleep quality.
Exhaustive studies on the effects of cannabis on sleep date back to the 1940s. The first modern study was conducted in 1975 by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which administered active and placebo cannabis to healthy young male volunteers. The researchers found that both THC and CBD were effective for inducing sleep.
In addition to improving sleep onset, cannabis has also been found to help people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other trauma-related disorders. For example, many people with PTSD have nightmares that make it difficult to get a good night’s rest. One study found that THC could reduce nightmares and other PTSD symptoms in patients suffering from severe trauma.
THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, “significantly reduces” REM (rapid eye movement) sleep without reducing total sleep time. In other words, THC may decrease dream periods but not overall time spent sleeping.
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The Bottom Line
We’re just scratching the surface when it comes to an understanding of the possible medical applications of cannabis. While sleep disturbance and insomnia are among the most prevalent, considerably more research needs to be done. Hopefully, as both medical marijuana dispensaries open near you and researchers conduct more high-quality studies, we’ll continue to uncover the medicinal efficacy of this remarkable plant, and everyone will reap the benefits.
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