Day: May 1, 2018
How much CBD for Anxiety?
In 2015, the National Institute of Health allotted $21.2 million of its $111 million cannabinoid research budget towards projects exploring the medicinal potential of these compounds. These projects proposed to manipulate the body’s endocannabinoid system, either by modifying endocannabinoids or with phytocannabinoids from the cannabis plant.
While the primary psychoactive phytocannabinoid, delta 9-THC, has acknowledged medicinal value, cannabidiol (CBD) is widely known for its broad range of potential medicinal uses. In recognition of CBD’s vast potential, over $9 million in grants were awarded in 2015 to fund CBD-specific medicinal research.
Much of this research has centered around the treatment of epilepsy, with studies showing that CBD has significant potential for treating the condition in children at high doses. A daily dose over 600 mg reduced seizure frequency by 39%. While this is a far greater amount than you’d find in many of the CBD consumables available at your local dispensary, many retail CBD products with lower levels of the cannabinoid are reported to be effective at treating anxiety, pain, and a host of other disorders, either through self-experimentation or anecdotal reports.
So why not crank up the CBD dose to reduce your anxiety? If a little is good, shouldn’t a lot be better? It turns out that for CBD, the answer is no; CBD’s medicinal efficacy might require a particular dose range. Call it a “Goldilocks Zone,” where there’s not too much CBD but not too little, either.
Intriguingly, this Goldilocks Zone differs for each disorder. For instance, CBD appears to treat anxiety at relatively low doses compared to the high doses used to treat epilepsy.
While it may sound out of the ordinary, this “inverted-U” effect is actually quite common among drugs that affect multiple brain receptors, as CBD does. In fact, 37% of published toxicology articles report some degree of an inverted-U response, indicating that this is not a random event but instead reflects differential drug effects on brain targets.
The wide spectrum of CBD’s medical indications—it is used as a treatment for pain, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions—reflects its diverse set of brain and body targets. Since each of these many medical problems is impacted by CBD acting on specific receptors in the brain and body, differences in sensitivity for these targets may underlie CBD’s inverted U-response and define its Goldilocks Zone.
Renowned cannabinoid pharmacologist Roger Pertwee described CBD actions at low, medium, and high doses in an oft-cited review published in The British Journal of Pharmacology. As expected, low doses of CBD impact fewer neural targets than high doses. At relatively low doses, CBD can block endocannabinoids like anandamide and phytocannabinoids like delta 9-THC from interacting with receptors in the nervous system. This blocking action is thought to explain CBD’s ability to reduce the adverse effects that can accompany delta 9-THC exposure such as anxiety.
CBD’s anti-anxiety effects can also be attributed to its activation and enhancement of specific serotonin receptors. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter involved in mood regulation and stress response; low serotonin levels are thought to contribute to conditions including generalized anxiety disorder and major depression. A common pharmacological treatment for these conditions involves enhancing the amount of serotonin available in an effort to activate the receptors using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.
Rodent studies of CBD in anxiety and stress reveal that CBD similarly enhances serotonin receptor activation. In rats, a low-to-moderate dose of CBD has anti-anxiety effects following a stressful period of restraint (the rat equivalent of being placed in a straitjacket for an hour), but these anti-anxiety effects go away when the serotonin receptor 5-HT1a is blocked ahead of time. This suggests that low doses of CBD near the peak of the rodent’s inverted-U response reduce anxiety by activating 5-HT1a receptors.
Similar CBD doses in humans have been shown to be effective at reducing anxiety in individuals with generalized social anxiety disorder, and low to moderate doses are effective at reducing stress and improving performance in a simulated public speaking event. These positive effects are associated with a restoration of normal brain activity in key regions associated with anxiety and emotional dysregulation.
The positive effects of CBD in treating anxiety are experienced at about 25% of the dose used to treat epilepsy. That higher effective dose level reflects additional CBD brain targets beyond those active in treating anxiety.
While CBD activation of 5-HT1a receptors is insufficient to protect against seizures, a promising target for CBD’s antiepileptic effects is the receptor GPR55, which initiates a cascade of events that can have diverse effects in brain cells. CBD is an antagonist of GPR55, blocking its function and altering brain activity in a way that may protect against seizures. When administered in higher doses, though, the benefits of lower concentrations may be lost. Anti-anxiety effects, for instance, seem to be obstructed while higher concentrations of CBD work to block GPR55 receptors.
Identifying CBD’s many neural targets and their sensitivity is an exciting area of ongoing research. But knowing the optimal CBD dose for treating different conditions is a critical component of successful CBD treatment. The current research suggests that anxiety and depression-related disorders (e.g., obsessive compulsive disorder, autism, acute stress) respond best to low-moderate CBD doses, while epilepsy responds best to higher CBD doses.
Being able to titrate CBD dosing for specific disorders will lead to more efficacious CBD-centric therapies and reveal treatment strategies that may be able to combat multiple ailments at once. CBD’s Goldilocks Zone for treating anxiety illustrates the need for an improved understanding of the compound’s therapeutic mechanisms, while highlighting its vast treatment potential.
FAQ about CBD and where to find real medicine
Vetted Companies by /r/CBD
What is CBD
Cannabidiol—CBD—is a cannabis compound that has significant medical benefits, but does not make people feel “stoned” and can actually counteract the psychoactivity of THC.
The fact that CBD-rich cannabis is non-psychoactive or less psychoactive than THC-dominant strains makes it an appealing option for patients looking for relief from inflammation, pain, anxiety, psychosis, seizures, spasms, and other conditions without disconcerting feelings of lethargy or dysphoria.
Scientific and clinical research—much of it sponsored by the US government—underscores CBD’s potential as a treatment for a wide range of conditions, including arthritis, diabetes, alcoholism, MS, chronic pain, schizophrenia, PTSD, depression, antibiotic-resistant infections, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders. CBD has demonstrable neuroprotective and neurogenic effects, and its anti-cancer properties are currently being investigated at several academic research centers in the United States and elsewhere. Further evidence suggests that CBD is safe even at high doses.
Dosage Threads
To search by dosage threads only
- Anxiety
- Crohn’s / UC / Digestive
- Cancer
- Epilepsy / Seizure
- Arthritis / AS
- PTSD
- Headaches / Migraines
FAQ
How does CBD work with (X) Medication?
- CBD has been shown in large quantities to interact with your CYP450, essentially “deactivating” it. This obviously being not good as it can cause adverse reactions with medications, especially anxiolytics. (Heighten/weaken strength, or activation of side effects like nausea, etc)
Does CBD Oil make you nauseous?
- People sometimes feel this way due to the carrier oil used, make sure you eat before taking it- You may be sensitive to the coconut oil or carrier oil.
What’s Full-spectrum vs Isolate?
- Full spectrum means the product contains THC and other cannabinoids, not just CBD. Isolate means it’s solely CBD, or the listed cannabinoid. (CBN, CBG, etc)
Will CBD make me positive on drug tests?
- See above. If Full-Spectrum it’s fully possible to test positive. If it’s isolate, it shouldn’t.
CBD with Keppra? Depakote? Diazepam? Clobazam? (Insert anticonvulsant here)
- Advise caution when mixing any anticonvulsant with CBD as it can pose risks as mentioned earlier with CYP450- Talk to your Neurologist/Epileptologist before committing. (Or ask Dr. Krishna!)
How does Omega-3 work with CBD?
- Essentially it’s said that Omega-3 deficiencies do have a correlation with low CB1 response, especially being that omega-3 deficiencies are a fairly common occurrence with the American diet. Low Omega-3 can lead to seasonal affect disorder- “Using mice, the study found that a deficiency in Omega-3 caused presynaptic CB1 receptors to uncouple from their effector G proteins, essentially disabling them. This dietary-induced impairment of CB1 function adversely affected emotional behavior.”, So essentially when Omega 3 is inplace its holding the CB receptors, preventing de-coupling. So with Omega-3 usage with CBD you are ensuring the CB receptors are not degraded, or decoupled, thus ensuring maximum potential benefit. There’s a good study about this and MDD here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC533861/
How do I know if CBD is working?
- Typically CBD is shown as ‘working’ per symptomatic relief. It will not cure your ailments, merely treat symptoms- nausea, pain, anxiety, depression, etc. Compare yourself prior to taking it, and after. You should have relief from what you’re looking to address- if not, try a higher dosage.
Am I doing this right? I don’t feel the effect I thought I was going to feel?
- Due to CB1/CB2 cluster sizes, everyone experiences CBD slightly differently. If you’re expecting something like a THC high, or even alcohol inebriation- you’re not thinking about it right. Ideally, you will feel almost perfectly normal, just without the given symptom you’re looking to address. E.g. Pain > No Pain.
“What’s a good starting dose? I see studies using 300+ mg doses. I can’t afford that every day!”
- A starting dose would be 10-20mg daily. It is thought that CBD somewhat builds up in your body over the first week or so you are taking it, so the first few days you may not notice much of an effect. Once established, 30mg is considered a full daily dose for average people. Some with extreme pain or other ailments may up the dose to 50mg or more. If you need much more than 50-70mg daily then CBD may not be the best cost effective option for you. It seems that studies like the one you mention use large doses because, in all honesty, the effects of CBD with a daily dose are difficult to establish and empirically record. They use such large doses so that it exaggerates the effects for the study to actually see them. A commonly expressed view of the effects of CBD is simply that it makes you feel normal, it only really takes away symptoms and pain, instead of causing you to feel something. That is inherently difficult to observe in a scientific method, because it is subjective for each person. Hence why they use such a large dose.
Highest Rated /r/CBD
As most of you have found out by now – CBD is hit or miss depending on where it comes from. Many people have found there are a lot of snake oil sellers out there who are preying on the sick.
The Standard:
Each company reached out to us on their own, and then we presented them with a multi-page questionnaire about their process. These are not all the questions – we asked over 30 questions.
Some examples of questions are:
- Where do you source your CBD?
- What steps are taken to keep the medicine safe from degradation?
- Do you have all the permits required by state and county laws, to be in the cannabis industry? Please provide details.
- Can you provide passing test results for the following: Microbiological, Aerobic count, coliforms, enterobacteria, E coli count, yeast and mold, pseudomonas, salmonella, Pesticides/carbamates, Heavy metals, organophosphates and a cannabinoid potency test.
From their answers – our moderator team looked over each and every one. This gave us a good understanding of how their company works, and let us move on to the legal side of things.
The next steps were reviewing the documents sent over. We looked up each company, made sure they had all permits required by the state in order to operate. If they did, they moved on to the last step.
Each company that made it this far sent in samples of their products. These samples were tested by patients with different ailments. A few were sent to the moderator in Florida where two patients; 1. with Cerebral Palsy. 2. with mental health disorder – tested each product sent.
The other companies sent their product to the moderator team in California, where two patients 1. with M.S 2. Disabled w/ pain management – took the samples as well.
Both teams found the samples from the companies selected to be extremely high-quality products and HAD POSITIVE RESULTS on their ailments.
The following are those companies. (This list is not set in stone, companies can be added, or removed If you’re a company, please send a private message to ‘/r/CBD‘ and the mod team can look at your company.
The following are those companies. (This list is not set in stone, companies can be added, or removed If you’re a company, please send a private message to ‘/r/CBD‘ and the mod team can look at your company.
NuLeaf Naturals [COUPON CODE]: CBD10 10% OFF ENTIRE ORDER
A great company based out of Denver Colorado, their CBD products are top of the line. They are in line with all requirements listed above, but specifically, their product is superb.
BlueBird [COUPON CODE]: redditcbd25 25% OFF ENTIRE ORDER
One of the leaders in the CBD industry – Bluebird is known for quality. They are a huge supplier of CBD and often times supply some of the lower level CBD sellers. This company is always good. They provide testing for each batch, and their prices reflect the quality. They are a wide range of products from isolates to extracts to tinctures.
These are the official bluebird distributors for Europe! If your looking to get European CBD this is the place. Same exact product as bluebird, just for the EU.
Populum Coupon Code 10% OFF – LUVREDDIT10
A great company from texas that offers a product promised to be pure as can be. Their results for testing are nice, their product has great quality, and they uphold high morals. [Tincture](2m8pUS6)
Receptra Naturals Coupon Code 15% OFF – redditCBD
Colorado based company Receptra Naturals offers some of the best CBD products. With above standard testing done on each batch, the product is proven to be a pure as possible. Locally sourced from our family-owned farms in Colorado.
Lazarus Naturals Coupon Code 10% OFF – reddit10 One of the oldest and best CBD producers on the West Coast. They have every type of CBD product and even RSO oil.
Another great Colorado company. Their product speaks for itself and is highly effective. At the moment they have been having issues with credit card processors and can only take payment over the phone. But they still ship and deliver a great product.
One of the highest rated CBD vendors out of denver. Known for their slabs of crystal CBD isolate and great prices.
Vermont based hemp growers.
Palmetto Harmony [COUPON CODE]:redditcbd 10% OFF ENTIRE ORDER
High prices but great feedback from the other mods.
They are an industry leader for B2B CBD sales. Wholesaling and bulk. If you want to start a CBD company, source it from here. They are high quality and provide REAL medicine.
Video Series: Watch these 5 videos to become a CBD expert
Start with these five videos. these 5 videos go from easy to hard. If you finish them all, you’re probably a CBD expert at this point. Enjoy all five, they are all great videos! See how far you make it! If you finish them all, leave a comment sharing the coolest thing you learned.
[yotuwp type=”videos” id=”31SrjjgPbhU,qe6rKG_ca3w,20rGSogHkAk,1K-GMUFtRHs,xtphZejvGhk” ]