Treating Insomnia with Cannabis

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is medically defined as being dissatisfied with one's quality of sleep, having difficulty falling asleep, also problems maintaining sleep throughout the night, often waking up very early in the morning and then being unable to return to sleep.

Sleep is crucial in maintaining and repairing the body and mind. We require good quality sleep for all mental and physical functions, and insomnia quickly reduces one’s ability to operate efficiently. This can be both distressing and depressing.

It is unfortunately extremely widespread. In the US alone, insomnia is estimated to effect more than 46.2 million people.

The medical profession is currently woefully ill-equipped to deal with the problem. The drugs available are both ineffective and addictive, with few alternatives to choose from.

Can Cannabis help to fight insomnia

It’s not quite as simple as get some cannabis, then smoke it before bedtime and a night of restorative sleep is guaranteed.

The cannabis plant is made up of many different cannabinoids which all play different roles in helping you sleep. Take them apart and isolate them, and they become less effective. When they are in their natural form along with the other cannabinoids, they become truly effective. It is for this reason that a natural form of cannabis, or cannabis extract is going to be the best way to take advantages of the plant’s therapeutic effects. (This is known as the entourage effect.)

Each cannabinoid in the cannabis plant interfaces with the human body using the Endocannabinoid System, a network of receptors which were discovered as recently as 1991.

This system, found in all mammals regulates many of our important physiological functions - such as mood, memory and appetite. Every cannabinoid has its own individual chemical signature which dictates the effect that it has when it interacts with our body’s endocannabinoid receptors.

There have been over 113 cannabinoids identified thus far, perhaps the most familiar being THC.

The use of THC against insomnia

THC contributes to the fight against insomnia in a variety of ways. Studies have revealed that THC was shown to help subjects fall asleep more quickly.

Fortunately, there is a remedy for this situation.

CBD rich medicines do not run this risk, as little or no high is produced from CBD, so there is very little impact on the mind or your usual body functions. This militates the aforementioned side-effects and presents a great advantage to the patient over plain THC, as they can enjoy all the benefits of the rest of cannabinoids and terpenes without having to endure any uncomfortable psychoactive effects.

CBN to treat insomnia

CBN is a cannabinoid that is largely present in aged weed (because of THC’s extended exposure to oxygen.) For this reason CBN is normally only found in very small amounts in your average cannabis purchase. It is crucial to the plant’s efficacy in reducing insomnia.

Want to up the CBN count of your cannabis? Cure it and then leave it stored badly (where it can still access a little oxygen) for a couple of years. The research conducted in this study below illustrates how CBN is created over time. CBN content can also be increased by the decarboxylation of cannabis. This can be easily achieved at home, simply by cooking it at a low temperature,( low enough to activate the cannabis without destroying the cannabinoids.)

CBN is a powerful sedative of its own right, but when used along with THC (natural cannabis) it synergises to create an extremely potent sleep aid that can give you five or six hours of solid sleep. As well as not being particularly psychoactive, very little CBN is required for it to work its magic:

“Of all the cannabinoids, CBN appears to be the most sedative. Not only is it sedative, it takes very little to do the job. The consumption of 2.5mg to 5mg of CBN has the same level of sedation as a mild pharmaceutical sedative, with a relaxed body sensation similar to 5mg to 10mg of diazepam. CBN is synergistic with both CBD and D9THC for inducement of sleeping, and when mixed in the correct ratios, CBN becomes an effective sleep aid of 5-6 hours duration"

What happens when there is THC and CBN present?

In studies where THC and CBN were used separately and together, it was only when the CBN was combined with the THC that the THC became an efficacious sleep assistant.

“It appears that CBN increases the effect of delta9-THC on some aspects of physiological and psychological processes, but that these effects are small and cannot account for the greater potency which has been reported when plant material is used.”

So it would appear that CBN can help to turn THC into a powerful sleep aid when it is present.

CBD can help with sleep when taken over time

A 2014 study, carried out on patients with Parkinson Disease by M H Chagas et al has reached the conclusion that lower doses of CBD daily can eliminate sleep disorders completely in most patients as well as reducing aggressive episodes often experienced with Parkinsons Disease - this was when CBD was taken over a 6 week period.

Mounting studies and anecdotal reference suggest that CBD is a unique and powerful sleep aid when used in the right way. Smaller does can make somebody more alert. Taking it over time can help reverse a serious sleep disorder.  A Miss Stanley, diagnosed as Bipolar One in the UK says nothing else has been able to affect her like CBD:

“I am bipolar one and have been used to never getting a full night’s sleep for around 40 years. This has massively affected my life. Clonezepam didn’t work. Quetiapine got me to sleep but turned me into a total zombie. After taking CBD for a few weeks I started to sleep solidly through the night for the first time in my life and got my brain back! It has been miraculous for me.”

Cannabis edibles or vaporisation for sleep?

When it comes to sleep, cannabis edibles take longer to have an effect, but when they do their effects can last for many hours longer than if you were vaping.  It is for this reason we would recommend making cannabis edibles like cannabutter or cannabis oil to consume your CBD rich medicine.

Caution must be exercised and anybody taking a cannabis edible for the first time should take a very small amount and wait for at least an hour and a half to two hours before considering taking any more as effects can take a long time to reach their full potential. This is the safest way to find your comfortable dose.

Conclusions

CBN, the little known cannabinoid, appears to have a significant effect as a sleep as well as positively affecting bones growth and the immune system.

CBD rich cannabis like our Spicy CBD also are well worth investigation if you are trying to treat an ongoing sleep disorder. Look beyond smoking - cannabis edibles appear to be a more effective way of treating insomnia, and include more additional health benefits than merely smoking the cannabis.

There are still very few studies on the impact of CBN on the human body, much of the work carries out so far has been with rats - it is high time that there were human studies carried out to discover just what all these remarkable cannabinoids can really do for humanity.