What is CBD?
CBD | Cannabidiol, a chemical extracted from the Cannabis sativa plant is often known to be the second major ingredient found in marijuana. Cannabidiol or commonly referred to as CBD is known to be effective to curb anxiety, pain, and many other conditions. Although the results can be felt, there is still no scientific evidence to hold up to its uses.
Since the arrival of this drug is very recent in the market, it is not yet legal to include CBD in dietary supplements or food items. Cosmetic products are allowed to use this drug if the percentage of inclusion is less than 0.3.
How does it work?
Cannabidiol majorly works by having a direct target on the brain. When taken in the proper dosage, CBD prevents the certain breakdown of chemicals that are responsible for pain, mood, and proper mental well-being. This prevention in the breakdown of those certain chemicals that inflict pain, and increasing the drug’s level in the bloodstream helps in primarily reducing the psychotic symptoms associated with certain medical conditions like Schizophrenia or Hallucinations.
Drug Usability and Health Benefits
Seizure Disorder
Seizure is a disease that includes sudden, electrical disturbances in the brain that are uncontrollable. It disturbs a person’s behavior, mood, and may result in a change in the level of consciousness. In simple terms, it interrupts the connections that the nerve cells have in the brain. A Cannabidiol product is seen to have helped in reducing seizures in an optimum way.
Bipolar Disorder
Although there are insufficient pieces of evidence for the amount of effectiveness the drug has on the patients, yet reports suggest that it might help people improve their maniac episodes.
Insomnia
Some researchers have found that using approximately 160mg of Cannabidiol drug just before going to bed can improve sleep timings for people with insomnia. Using any less quantity of the drug than the prescribed value might not be useful for falling asleep.
Withdrawal from Drugs ( Morphine, Heroin, any opioid drug)
Researches confirm that a daily dosage of CBD three times can fairly reduce the cravings and anxiety attacks for those people who have drug use disorders.
Schizophrenia
The usage helps in primarily reducing the psychotic symptoms associated with certain medical conditions like Schizophrenia or Hallucinations.
Quit Smoking
For those who wish to quit smoking, researches show that inhaling Cannabidiol with the help of an inhaler for one week might help in reducing the usage of cigarettes by 40% as was done before.
Apart from the above-mentioned conditions, the usage of the drug can help in various forms, click for more info.
Figuring out the Right Dosage
A wide range of factors needs to be considered that will decide the amount of CBD that can be used by an individual. These factors include,
- A person’s body weight
- The medical condition that the person is being treated for
- Individual Body chemistry
The percentage of the concentration of CBD that a pill, drop, oil, or capsule contains Various variables are looked upon before deciding the amount of CBD to take. It must also be kept in mind to talk to a doctor first before starting to use the products with the drug. If the doctor writes a prescription, then it must be made sure to stick to those recommendations.
If anyone wishes to start the usage by themselves, they should start with much smaller dosages and then gradually keep increasing it to avoid any risks that might follow. The initial dosages might be around 20 to 40 mg a day. After a week of starting, the dosage can be increased to approximately 50 mg and can be continued until the person feels that the drug is treating their symptoms effectively in the right way.
The whole process of taking CBD should be kept in a record, along with the symptoms at the beginning and the progress that is being made every week.
A review in 2011 was done, that says that CBD can be used continuously and the human body has the capacity to tolerate up to 1500 mg per day. But the review was updated in 2019, saying that the continuous usage of CBD might increase the chances of liver damage. Although nothing is yet confirmed.
Side Effects and Precautions
There are very side effects that may occur by the daily usage of CBD. It includes:
- Diarrhea
- Appetite changes
- Fatigue
- Change in weight
- Dry mouth
- Low Blood pressure
- Lightheadedness and Drowsiness
- Signs of Liver injury
- Precautions and Warnings
Pregnancy
If a woman is either pregnant or is breast-feeding a child, Cannabidiol is unsafe for them to use. The use is often not done because the pills or products might have been adulterated with some other ingredients which might prove to be harmful to the user.
Children
The products are safe for children of one year or above when taken by mouth. The safe dosage for children is up to 25 mg per day.
People who are already suffering from liver diseases should take preferably lower dosages of CBD in comparison to a normal healthy person.
CBD won’t get you “High”
Cannabidiol is not psychoactive, which means that taking CBD in large quantities will not make a person high, and instead, it has benefits which are summed up below:
- Reducing depression and Anxiety
- Improving sleep patterns
- Reducing Seizures
- Decreasing Pain and Inflammation
- Improving Heart health
- Improving in Inflammatory Bowel disease
There exist various myths and misconceptions regarding the dosage, side effects, and benefits of using CBD ( Cannabidiol ). It is important to have the right kind of knowledge from the right source before starting to use any dosage for any health-related problems by anyone to avoid any side effects or negative impacts that might occur due to wrong knowledge of the drug.
Taking the right dosage, after diagnosing the exact problem by visiting a doctor for consultation and taking CBD as prescribed is the key that will bring out the right results for the person taking them.