CBD and sleep

How can CBD help with sleep?

There are several reasons why people struggle with their sleep – raised cortisol levels and anxiety/stress being the most common, with hormone imbalance being the second. Luckily CBD is renowned for;

• Calming the nervous system to reduce stress
• Regulating our natural sleep pattern via the Hypothalamus in our brains 
• Balancing out hormone secretion

But it can also have mild sedative effects if taken in high doses. There is a lot more research being done into the effects of CBD on sleep. One recent study found that 160mg of CBD increased sleep duration when testing against lower levels of CBD, a placebo and nitrazapam. That’s a whopping amount for testing purposes, compared to what is effective in real life – usually 24mg to 50mg is plenty for most people to notice the benefits on their sleep. 

Our CBD Tea is a favourite with those wanting a bedtime cuppa that really does help settle you into sleep and keep you there. And our oral CBD oils and CBD Patches are effective alternatives. So is CBD right for you?

Let’s first look at which sleep pattern sounds like you…

1. 1. Fast to sleep but wake often
   2. Steady to sleep but wake at 3 or 4 am 
   3. Cannot get to sleep / insomnia

If you’re number 1 and have a night of interruption, I would recommend any of our Oral CBD products – as soon as you wake in the night, take 1x dose to help get you back off to sleep. At bedtime you have a cup of the Fruit Explosion CBD Tea – it’s naturally caffeine free as it’s made from fruits. Make sure you’re not drinking too close to bedtime to minimise the night time toilet trips. 1 to 2 cups carry enough CBD to help most people deepen their sleep and avoid as many regular wake ups. 

There’s plenty of us in the ‘4am club’. No bother getting off to sleep, but when it turns to this side of dawn… ping!. If we were a bird or if our culture worked alongside the rhythms of nature, this would be fine, but we’re not and we don’t. Here’s what I do… a dose of CBD at bedtime. The 8% Water-soluble or 8% Classic CBD Oil is my go-to at bedtime as I get a high amount of CBD in my system fast. I take 20-40mg depending on how tired I am. This helps me get off to sleep faster and really deepens those crucial first 5 or 6 hours. If the dawn chorus has me awake at 3 or 4, I take another shot to quickly lower the adrenalin that is now pumping about my body and calm the nerves which are triggering my brain to think all sorts of nonsense. Within minutes I’m off again. 

If you relate to the third point and struggle to get to sleep at all, it could be that you have high cortisol levels at night, which can be caused by high stress levels. Having a cup of CBD Tea in the evening can help regulate your cortisol levels and ease you into sleep. You can boost your CBD tea with our Water-soluble CBD on the evenings you need it. But start early in the evening – don’t leave it until bedtime. Have your endocannabinoid system flooded with CBD so everything is balanced before you’re even thinking about going to bed.

But will this be strong enough to keep you there? For some people yes, but for others who have chronic insomnia, you may be best taking one of our high strength oral oils to get a larger milligram dose into your system at bedtime to ensure it lasts the night. We’d recommend a larger dose at bedtime. This study proves higher CBD doses reduces cortisol levels. And take more if you wake. This sounds excessive, but for some people this is what it takes to get out of the disrupted sleep pattern that will have occurred over a long period of insomnia.

We wish you all improved sleep and don’t forget, if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch via our email.