First things first: What is insomnia?
Insomnia is a medical condition diagnosed by your doctor. When you have insomnia, you can’t fall asleep, cannot stay asleep, or you wake up too early and cannot fall back asleep.
An elusive restful sleep can be incredibly disruptive to your mental health and your physical well-being. If you’ve been diagnosed with insomnia, you may experience irritability, fatigue, depression, a lack of focus, or develop anxiety regarding sleep.
Struggling with sleep is a medical condition and a symptom.
Difficulty sleeping can be a medical concern in itself and a symptom or side effect of a medical condition you have. Diagnoses like chronic pain, multiple sclerosis (MS), or anxiety may disrupt your sleep. It’s important to pinpoint why you struggle with sleep so you address your sleeplessness correctly.
Importantly, medical marijuana does not help with all sleep issues, such as narcolepsy or sleep apnea. If medical marijuana isn’t the right solution for you, we encourage you to talk to your doctor to explore other options.
How can I develop the right medical marijuana routine for sleep?
When paired with a healthy bedtime routine, medical marijuana may help you fall asleep and stay asleep. The medical marijuana products you choose are shaped by how sleep disruptions affect you.
Falling asleep
Flower, vapes, and topicals can take effect within 10-15 minutes.
Going back to sleep
Capsules and tinctures take longer, but the effect may last for several hours
Staying asleep
Try combining product types. Consider inhaled products and ingestibles.
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Look beyond indica, sativa, and hybrid designations.
These terms refer to the physical characteristics of the plant and are not always an indicator of experience. It’s best to see what the product contains when making your decision.
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Think about terpenes.
Terpenes are natural components of plants that influence the taste, smell and experience of medical marijuana. Myrcene and Linalool, for example, can have relaxing effects that may ease your body and mind to sleep.
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Study the cannabinoids.
All sorts of cannabinoids – including THC, CBD, the minor cannabinoid CBN, and many more – impact your experience. This is called the entourage effect, and it can play a role in helping you get quality sleep. Understand the breakdown of all the product contains, and don’t rely on just one cannabinoid.
Which medical conditions impact sleep?
Some of the most common conditions that can interrupt quality rest are chronic pain, anxiety, and neuropathy. If you know that one of these conditions adversely affects your sleep, you may want to try a medical marijuana routine with these product types.
Let’s help you feel better, together.
Interested in learning more about how medical marijuana may help your sleep?
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