CBD is all the rage right now, but does it actually work? I asked myself that question every day. I couldn’t go on social media without seeing something about cannabidiol. People were using it left, right and center to treat everything from their anxiety disorder to back pain. Others just wanted the relaxing, calm feel they got from smoking marijuana without the mental side-effects.
I was a total skeptic about CBD. I didn’t think that this new supposed miracle substance would be able to treat so many different health problems. I had been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder a year prior, and I had yet to take any prescription medication for it.
Since I started therapy, my anxiety improved, but I still struggled with the occasional anxiety attack. Some days, I just felt totally on edge and unable to focus at work. It wasn’t until my boss told me to write an article about cannabis and its emergence in alternative medicine that my beliefs were challenged.
Learning About Cannabidiol
Three little letters – CBD – stand for cannabidiol, which is the secondary compound in the hemp plant. THC is the first one, which is the psychoactive ingredient that gets people high. I was fascinated to discover that our bodies are naturally designed to respond to cannabidiol. In fact, there’s an entire system for it!
The endocannabinoid system runs throughout the central nervous system and affects everything from the immune system to digestion. I was shocked. I took anatomy and physiology in college. I’d never heard about this system. As a total skeptic about cannabidiol, it didn’t make sense that it could possibly have such a strong effect on the body.
To me, marijuana had always just been a drug people took for fun. Sure, I knew about its medicinal properties, but I didn’t believe any of them. It was all psychological. But after I wrote the article and did more research, I began to look into the use of cannabidiol to treat anxiety.
Trying It Out
When I first tried cannabidiol oil, nothing happened. I felt the same as always, and I even wound up having an anxiety attack a few nights after my first dose. But I kept trying it for a few weeks. My friend, who was a major medical marijuana advocate, told me that my body had to get used to it and to just give it time. So I did, and I couldn’t believe the results.
I realized the effect that the cannabis oil had on me when I was getting ready to give a presentation at work. Normally, I would have spent the night before tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep and fixating on what might go wrong the next morning.
But instead, I just got up, got dressed and went out the door. I reached my desk and got my presentation ready, and it wasn’t until I was outside of the boardroom that it hit me. I wasn’t anxious at all. I didn’t feel worried. I could breathe normally. My heart wasn’t pounding. My palms weren’t sweaty.
Things have only continued to improve. Along with therapy, using cannabis oil has really helped me manage my symptoms. There are still some off days, but my anxiety finally feels under my control now, so call me a believer.
