Come CBD About Me - Not Pot
I suffer from this simple disorder that affects my mind. It's called, “too many tabs open at once.” Seriously, at night I can’t stay asleep and in the morning I can barely wake up. I’ve always had an active mind, one that could care less about my deep desire for 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Six hours of sleep was my max but throughout 2018 I was getting less and less. Many nights I’d average 4.5 hours of sleep. I knew exactly how much light, deep, and REM sleep I was getting (thanks to my trusty Garmin Vivosmart). On top of my lack of quality sleep, because I’ve abused my body with physical activities I have crazy inflammation in my right knee and ankle. Just to keep things interesting I have had migraines for as long as I can remember. I’m talking about my late teens. I’ve been popping a preventative medication daily to reduce the frequency of the fun-snatching migraines. I knew it was time to call an audible because nothing had been working to help me sleep better (melatonin is not the answer, #sorrynotsorry), to reduce my inflammation, or put a hard pause on the migraines.
I’d been seeing CBD shops all over and had read a few interesting articles about the “breakthrough effects of CBD” for sleep. I didn’t have any friends who were using it and if they were they weren’t talking about it. Personally, I wasn’t sold on the hype but something just kept telling me to check into the products. I’d drive by the shops and they’d be calling me, "come CBD about me…." So finally I did. After three months of mixing and drinking CBD tinctures and chewing my new favorite, CBD gummies, I am an advocate. One thousand percent. Just in case I have not made myself clear, this stuff is legit. Stick with me.
The Simple Science
There are several cannabinoid compounds that have been extracted from the cannabis plant and used for their healing effects. I would bet you are familiar with at least two of the cannabinoids, CBD and THC. If you haven’t heard about them in passing allow me to share this important fact. They come from the same plant but give you very different results. This Huff Post article does an amazing job of highlighting why CBD helps with insomnia but does not make you sleepy like THC would. There is some deep and not-so-deep science but THC produces a high - more of a mind-altering effect when it interacts with certain receptors. CBD on the other hand interacts with many different receptors, proteins, and other chemicals in the brain. It has a relaxing effect and works to address the root cause of a number of disorders – stress!
The Experience
When I thought about any number of things that assault my mind into the midnight hours, self-induced stress is attached to those things more often than it is not. Three months of CBD and I’ve gotten some of the best sleep I’ve had in a long time. When my alarm goes off and I wake to realize I didn’t have a two-hour or more stretch of interrupted sleep or a night full of restlessness, I thank God and CBD. Not Pot now has a CBD gummy with 20 mg of hemp-derived CBD and 3 mg of melatonin. It's blueberry-flavored, sustainably-sourced goodness.
The pain in my knee, ankle, and foot is all stress-related. My inflammation is directly related to the stress of repetitive motion - first from ballet, then barre Pilates and now weight training. However, with a consistent CBD regimen, I am no longer icing my knee, wearing a compression band, or taking a prescription anti-inflammatory to temporarily calm the pain and effects of inflammation. CBD has really gone a long way in countering both. However, if I get lazy and go a week without it I can definitely tell the difference. It is a commitment.
I’m going to slide into TMI territory then going to slide right back out. It’s too good not to share though. I can't vouch for them all, but this CBD has helped me get my IBS under control. I didn’t think about gut inflammation and intestinal muscles when I started taking CBD but my IBS presents both of those problems. Inflammation is inflammation and I’ve found that CBD helps control the spasms also (which meant pain).
I have two prescription drugs I’m working to be weaned off of so I can rely on CBD 100%. I’m a convert. I am so glad I heeded the call “come CBD about me” the last time I was driving by a shop. If you've got any questions or want details about my CBD experience, drop a note in the comments or shoot me an email.