5 Ways CBD Can Help Ease Menopause Symptoms

Sleeplessness, mood swings, weight gain, and hot flashes – a woman over 45 is probably familiar with these common yet challenging symptoms of menopause. If you are experiencing menopausal symptoms, finding relief can be a challenge.

Unfortunately, not everyone with menopause is a candidate for pharmaceutical treatment options, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). So, many women consider natural herbs and supplements as an alternative. One such natural choice is cannabidiol or CBD.

Could CBD be a Panacea?

Research shows that CBD might ease some of the menopause symptoms. The therapeutic product is gradually gaining popularity among women to treat symptoms of menopause. The best part is that you can get CBD products from various websites or marijuana dispensaries that offer high-quality products, and the choices are endless.

Let’s look at how CBD impacts the body and mind of menopausal women.

Menopause and CBD

Menopause starts when a woman no longer has a menstrual cycle. It does not occur suddenly. A phase called perimenopause begins a few years before the final menstrual cycle that gives rise to the various unpleasant and occasionally debilitating symptoms.

Menopause has a range of symptoms that include night sweats, difficulty sleeping, hot flashes, and mood changes. Decreased sexual drive and function, joint problems, vaginal dryness, and urine leakage are other symptoms.

A recent study surveyed 1,281 women in Washington, California, Colorado, and Oregon found that sex, menstruation, and menopause are the top three reasons women use cannabis for self-care.

CBD works closely with our endocannabinoid system (EC system) to provide beneficial aspects for menopause. The EC system is a network of cell receptors that helps to regulate all of our body’s systems — reproductive cycles, immune function, appetite, pain, temperature, sleep, and moods. Many of these systems directly tie to menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, fatigue, anxiety, pain, insomnia, irritability, etc.

CBD interacts and supports the endocannabinoid system through two sets of receptors (CB1 and CB2) to ensure the body’s chemical balance whenever body functions become compromised during menopause. It’s no wonder women across the globe are experiencing the benefits of CBD.

How does CBD help menopausal women?

CBD can manage some of the symptoms of menopause. Let’s discuss some of them.

Night Sweats & Hot Flashes

Women going through menopause frequently experience night sweats and hot flashes triggered by altered chemistry in the hypothalamus (our body’s own thermoregulator). During menopause, the thermoregulator gets activated when the body temperature rises by only 1.5 degrees, which is not the case before menopause, wherein the cooling system remains switched off unless the body temperature increases by almost three degrees.

In this case, CBD hemp oil can calm the nervous system by interacting with the body’s serotonin system. Low serotonin levels are known to trigger hot flashes and night sweats. CBD’s effects can provide similar calming effects like any other relaxation techniques, hypnosis, or behavioral therapy.

Anxiety & Depression

Anxiety, depression, and mood swings are common for women experiencing menopause. During menopause, hormones like progesterone and estrogen decrease rapidly and change neurochemistry since they tend to regulate serotonin activity and many other neurotransmitters in your brain. This change directly affects the mood and results in emotional distress.

CBD can facilitate serotonin neurotransmission through its 5-HT1A receptors that make serotonin present for your brain, which, in turn, can regulate the mood. During a panic attack, CBD slows down the neurological activity by improving the ability or binding to one of the neurotransmitters known as GABA that can help us relax.

In the case of depression, CBD offers remarkable benefits by maintaining the serotonin levels in the central nervous system. CBD is also known for its healing effects for Postpartum Depression.

Insomnia

Menopause disrupts sleep drastically, mainly through increased night sweats and anxiety. Insomnia or sleep deprivation can take a severe toll on your health, triggering fatigue, and various other health conditions. In these cases, one should identify the factors that hamper your sleep.

So, you can switch to CBD Oil Canada for a good night’s sleep. In addition to its anxiolytic effects, CBD helps to regulate the sleep-wake cycle when it gets disturbed. It reduces the time you stay in the REM stage, thus resulting in restorative sleep.

Diabetes & Weight Gain

Without hormones like estrogen, our bodies won’t burn calories. The hormonal change during menopause tells the body to sacrifice the mass of lean muscles instead of abdominal fat. This fat storage, eventually, exposes you to insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

CBD is found to have smaller waist circumferences and lower insulin levels than those who refrain from cannabinoids. CBD can even help increase natural endocannabinoids’ production, which tends to mitigate the insulin resistance, during the course of menopause.

Genitourinary Syndrome

Estrogen plays a significant role in the woman’s body. It helps maintain the flow of blood that goes till the pelvic region that carries oxygen to the urinary tract and sexual organs’ tissues. But the moment menopause hits, such functions get compromised and eventually lead to unpleasant conditions like muscle stress, oversensitivity, inflammation, amid intimate regions.

Cannabinoids are vasodilators that funnel a lot of blood to the pelvic region, which moisturizes the vaginal canal. Hence, it is recommended to use CBD topical lubricants. CBD also reduces inflammation, calms the nerves, and relaxes muscles amidst the vagina.

Conclusion

When you begin to experience the first menopause symptoms, make sure to monitor the physical and mental changes happening within your body and life. This will help you understand the cause of the signs and find the best solutions for alleviating them.

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