How to Use CBD Oil for Anxiety?

Approximately 40 million Americans suffer from an anxiety disorder every year. This is around 18.1% of the entire population, and the figures go even higher when looking at statistics from Europe and other parts of the world. In simple terms, Anxiety is a widely spread condition that affects millions of people. It is characterized by the feelings of worry and dread and tends to make its victims feel very uneasy and restless over some future event. While anxiety is an automatic natural adaptation of humans that helps them to prepare for and avoids danger, when it is unmanaged, it becomes a severe problem. Severe anxiety will even prevent you from undertaking your daily routines and could escalate to more severe complications.

CBD oil is one of the alternative medicine that has been used in the treatment of different types of anxiety disorders. This component of marijuana has been subjected to various studies all of which have produced very promising results showing just how useful it can be for this purpose. In 2011 one study was investigating the effects of cannabidiol on social anxiety. This study concluded that at specific dosages, CBD is capable of helping patients overcome social anxiety and it also recorded an improvement on the subject’s ability to do public speaking.

Another small study in 2010 was also looking at how cannabidiol can help in dealing with social anxiety disorder. At the end of the study, the subjects were not just feeling better off, but there was also a change in how their brains responded to anxiety after that.

One study in 2016 went further to look at the effects of CBD on anxiety, anxiety-provoked sleeping disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder on children. The trial showed that CBD managed to reduce the anxiety on the subjects and they also managed to sleep a lot better.

These are just but a few of the studies pointing out the effectiveness of CBD in treating anxiety disorders.

We would also like to recognize and clarify the presence of research studies which show that marijuana can also increase the risk of developing anxiety. Yes, marijuana increases your chances of getting anxiety-related disorders especially if you are a heavy and long-term user. We must, however, clarify that the reason why marijuana is a risk factor for anxiety is that the plant contains different cannabinoids including CBD, THC, CBG and many more. When CBD is extracted and separated from the rest of the cannabinoids it becomes a potent treatment for the condition but if cannabis is rich in THC and CBG is used, the risk of getting anxiety goes higher.

How to Use CBD in treating Anxiety?

The thing with alternative medicine and CBD, in particular, is that no one method works perfectly for everyone. There are different ways of using CBD oils and depending on your body, its response, and tolerance to the compound, your best method of administration can be completely different from someone else’s. With that being said, here are the three best ways that you can use CBD to treat anxiety:

• Vaping

Vaping is one of the fastest means of using CBD to alleviate yourself from the effects of anxiety. This method is widely used especially among patients of acute anxiety. You can vape CBD products, but some people also vape cannabis to treat CBD. Using marijuana to treat anxiety has been useful to patients who are also suffering from pain. Unfortunately, you must ensure that the strains you are using are rich in CBD and low in THC. This ensures that the compounds do not work against each other because if you take too much THC, you can end up with THC-induced anxiety.

Vaping is one of the quickest ways of dealing with the symptoms of anxiety, but sadly, it isn’t very well studied. There are concerns that the coils found inside vape pens, the chemicals contained inside vaping liquids and other factors may result in some adverse reactions that we are not aware of. We need more studies to determine just how safe vaping is for treating anxiety. The good news is that a lot of people are already using the method and they haven’t reported any serious medical complications.

• CBD Tinctures

CBD tinctures are yet another quick way of getting CBD into your system. This method involves using tinctures filled with CBD oils which are then administered sublingually. The patients are asked to hold the oils under their tongues for around two minutes before swallowing it. While holding the oils, the blood capillaries found in the mucous membranes will absorb the oils into the bloodstream.

The fact that this method gets the CBD oils directly into your bloodstream makes it very efficient. It’s also the perfect method of administration for people who can’t take gummies and also ones that don’t want to swallow pills.

The downside of this method is that the patient has to deal with the taste of the oils. CBD oils tend to taste like weed, which some people may not like. Fortunately, there are a couple of CBD oil products that are flavored with peppermint and other ingredients. These help in reducing the unpleasant taste of the oils. You must be careful buying such products to avoid getting oils whose added flavors have interfered with their potency.

• CBD Edibles

There are lots of CBD candies that come in different flavors to help you get your anxiety issues under control. This method is the most accurate when it comes to dozing. With the gummies, you don’t have to worry about whether you’ve taken too much or too little CBD as is common with tinctures. These gummies are usually accurately dozed helping you to keep track of just how much CBD you are consuming.

Using CBD gummies is also very convenient. I mean, no one will give you a weird look if they saw you sliding a candy into your mouth but you can’t say the same if you pulled out a tincture and started putting some drops under your tongue or if you were to pull out a vape pen and started blowing out smoke!

CBD Dosage for Anxiety

The most asked question when it comes to the use of CBD for the treatment of anxiety is; how much CBD should one use?

No one dosage is accurate for everyone. We all have different physiologies, and this determines how many mg of the oils will work best for each one of us. There are also factors such as weight and height which must also be taken into account when deciding the best dose for you. We must also talk about people who are already taking other medications. If you have another medical condition, it’s best that you start by consulting a physician before you begin taking CBD oils.

For new users, you should start by taking small amounts of CBD regardless of how acute your anxiety is. The last thing you want is to end up with other complications before you’ve even treated your anxiety. Start with one drop of CBD oil and give your body some time to get acclimated to the presence of a new compound in your system. If your body reacts well, increase the doses gradually for the next couple of weeks. You should know that CBD takes time to treat anxiety disorders. If you don’t see any improvements after the first day or so don’t double or triple up the dosage immediately thinking it will make any difference. Just be patient, increase the doses gradually while monitoring your progress and you will start witnessing its effects.

After two weeks or so you can break down the dosage into smaller parts that you take throughout the day, this will boost and prolong the presence of CBD oil in your system thus enhancing the outcomes.

According to research studies, the recommended CBD dosage for anxiety is between 40mg and 600mg. The above information should help you find the accurate dosage that will be effective for your specific case.

Side Effects of CBD

Just like any other remedy or medication, there is a possibility of experiencing some side effects after using CBD oils. Multiple studies have, fortunately, shown that CBD is very safe especially if taken correctly. In some rare cases, however, the patient may have a dry mouth, reduced metabolism of hepatic drugs and some enzyme activities in the liver may be interfered with.

Final Thoughts

Anxiety is a widespread mental condition that should never be ignored. CBD oils offer an excellent alternative to pharmaceutical-grade drugs which are associated with some unpleasant side effects. With the right CBD oils, you will finally gain control over the different anxiety disorders that you may be experiencing. It’s important to know that CBD products are hugely uncontrolled and this means that the concentration and purity may vary from one brand to the next. You should be keen to ensure that you get not just the most effective oil but also the safest one.