Does CBD Calm the Nervous System?

Your nervous system is rooted in your brain but extends to much of your body, enabling you to receive and interpret information with lightning-fast speed. In turn, when it’s overstimulated, you may feel full-body effects such as increased heart rate, sweating, tense muscles, shaking, and overall discomfort. 

We always recommend talking to a licensed professional to address underlying causes and create a treatment plan. Luckily, there are a number of ways to address an overactive nervous system, some behavioral (like engaging in meditation or exercise) and some medication-based. Additionally, there’s increasing evidence to suggest that CBD can be positively incorporated into your game plan to calm the nervous system. 

How Exactly Does CBD Interact with the Nervous System?

CBD interacts with the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the endocannabinoid system that extends throughout the body to play a role in regulating the digestive, immune, and nervous systems. 

What makes CBD unique in many ways, is that it can access these receptors for multiple uses. When CBD is present in the nervous system, it can inhibit pain receptors, as well as pass messages through neurotransmitters to the brain. This is important to note because eurotransmitters like serotonin have a hand in regulating anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. 

How CBD May Help Calm Your Nervous System

The brain broadcasts signals that can be interpreted incorrectly with the absence of important elements like serotonin and dopamine. Early research shows that CBD can play a role in balancing such elements of your nervous system, helping to reduce apathy, exhaustion, hypervigilance, anxiety, and stress. 

Using CBD to Reduce Anxiety 

We do not suggest using CBD instead of your doctor-prescribed medications when treating certain conditions. Instead, we suggest talkingwith a trusted medical professional about using CBD as part of a multi-faceted approach to alleviating anxiety that comes from an overactive nervous system. Applicable conditions could include: 

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) - This applies to individuals who experience moderate to severe anxiety in a broad range of social situations like meeting and speaking to unknown people, taking part in large social gatherings, and being in public places like the supermarket or a movie theater. 

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - In the past, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder has been most closely associated with soldiers or other people that have been in or survived wartime environments. In truth, PTSD can affect anyone that has experienced traumatic events, leading to the person re-experiencing the trauma, or reacting unfavorably in common circumstances. For 

Using CBD to assist with depression

Though there aren’t many studies involving humans that speak to how CBD can help with depression directly, it is known that when CBD utilizes the endocannabinoid system, it can be a beneficial influence on the production of serotonin. Stopping the degradation of serotonin in the body is the main purpose of antidepressant medications classified as SSRIs- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which suggests that CBD would have a hand in reducing depression.

Make sure to consult with a trusted licensed professional when confronting severe depression. 

Improve sleep and mental recovery

As already mentioned, CBD helps with anxiety and stress, two factors in falling asleep easily, staying asleep, and waking to feel refreshed. Though CBD should not cause drowsiness, it can boost the production of melatonin, a neurotransmitter that lets the brain know when to prepare processes for sleep, when taken as part of a bedtime routine. In turn, you can experience higher quality sleep, leading to better mental functions during the day. 

FAQs on Using CBD for the Nervous System

Does CBD cause drowsiness?

You should be able to safely take CBD without worrying that it will make you drowsy, day or night. However, drowsiness is possible, though incredibly rare. It is a sign that you’ve either taken an excessively large dosage or mixed it with certain other medications. For this reason, we suggest CBD beginners start with a low dose and titrate up if needed, and that you consult with your doctor about possible reactions to your other medications.

Can CBD be used with anti-anxiety or anti-depression medications?

Your doctor or psychiatrist is best placed to answer this question. However, it’s worth noting that there aren’t many studies available that show adverse reactions to taking CBD with most antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications. 

An example of a combination to avoid would be CBD and Tegretol or carbamazepine, both of which are anti-seizure medications sometimes prescribed to treat bipolar. 

How old should you be to take CBD to calm your nervous system?

There are minimal (and rare) side effects known for taking CBD, and it is a non-addictive and non-psychoactive oil that cannot cause an overdose. Therefore it is safe for people of all ages to take. 

Teens especially can benefit from using CBD for various reasons including anxiety, depression, trouble sleeping, athletic recovery, and general wellness. Of course, the person taking CBD should always consult with their doctor, and minors should have parental supervision.

Is it OK to buy CBD online?

Yes. However, regardless of where you purchase your CBD, always do due diligence in finding information about the company or manufacturer. There can be false claims made for different products, or you may not really be buying something that has CBD as an ingredient. 

Has the company done independent lab testing? Where does the CBD come from, and how is it harvested? What is the volume of CBD being promised per bottle? What other ingredients are included with the oil? All this information should be readily available on the brand’s website. 

For more tips on finding a suitable CBD oil to help calm your nervous system, read Understanding What Makes CBD Oil High Quality.

Shop With Botanika Life for CBD Products You Can Trust

Botanika Life takes pride in producing all-natural wellness solutions based on CBD derived from USA-grown hemp free from pesticides and GMOs. Better yet, we back all such claims with third-party lab results you can view at this link.

Elite Elixir: For purists and minimalists alike, this elixir has just two ingredients: 1500mg of full spectrum CBD oil, and an organic hemp seed carrier oil. As they are both derived from the same plant, they combine into a powerhouse product that is easy to use, and incredibly versatile. 

Able to be ingested, you can take the elixir sublingually or add it to a beverage or food to help calm the nervous system. 

CBD Sleep Spray: This sleep spray merges CBD with three other ingredients geared toward helping users maintain healthy sleep patterns: melatonin, GABA, and magnesium. 

Melatonin and GABA are two compounds already naturally made by the body that help combat insomnia and increase proper sleep quality. Magnesium is part of a mineral system that calms, relaxes, and helps balance the immune system. As a result, this all-in-one spray can lessen tossing and turning for a deep night’s sleep.