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CBD Oil for Menopause: Details Women Should Know
Menopause is an inevitable part of a woman’s life. Most women warn each other about the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, and understandably, women dread the transition to this next phase of life. However, with the appropriate remedies, menopause doesn’t have to be so frustrating. In fact, women who are thinking about using CBD oil for menopause might find it to be a therapeutic option.
What Is Menopause?
Before diving into treatments and discussing whether women can use CBD oil for menopause, it’s essential to know the basics. Menopause marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years. Once a woman has gone one year without having a period, she is considered to be in menopause.
The menopausal transition, however, is the phase of life that every woman dreads. The years leading up the end in reproduction are known as perimenopause. And this transitional period typically occurs when women are in their mid-forties to mid-fifties.
During this time, women experience changes in their monthly cycle. It may become irregular. Or women might go through other unpleasant symptoms, like night sweats and hot flashes. In addition, women may experience a host of other side effects that decrease their quality of life.
Symptoms of Menopause
- Vaginal dryness
- Chills
- Changes in mood
- Disrupted sleep
- Slowed metabolism and weight gain
- Thinning hair
- Dry skin
- Breasts begin to lose their fullness
Researchers link these frustrating symptoms to unbalanced hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone, which are two critical hormones in women. When an imbalance occurs, the side effects last for about seven years. But sometimes, women can experience the side effects of perimenopause for 14 years.
What’s worse is that certain surgeries can also trigger perimenopause. If a woman has her uterus or ovaries removed, she’ll go through perimenopause, regardless of her age, especially if she doesn’t get a hormone replacement after the surgeons remove her ovaries or uterus.
Common Treatment Options for Menopause
The transition into menopause is usually aided by treatments that help relieve symptoms and manage chronic conditions related to aging. Researchers still need to learn more to determine if CBD is a possible solution for perimenopause, so right now, there are six go-to treatments that physicians like to recommend to manage the symptoms of the condition.
1. Hormone replacement therapy
Treatments that have estrogen are considered the most effective way to relieve menopausal hot flashes. Estrogen also helps prevent bone loss. However, hormone therapy does come with many risks, specifically related to cardiovascular health and breast cancer.
2. Vaginal estrogen
To help ease the vaginal dryness that many women experience during perimenopause, women can administer estrogen directly to the vagina using a cream, tablet, or ring.
3. Low-dose antidepressants
Some antidepressants related to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) might help decrease hot flashes. People typically suggest this remedy to women who are unable to take estrogen.
4. Gabapentin
Gabapentin is usually used to treat seizures, but it can also reduce hot flashes, making it another alternative to estrogen.
5. Clonidine
While Clonidine is generally used to treat high blood pressure, it may be helpful for hot flashes.
6. Osteoporosis medications
For specific individuals, medication to prevent or treat osteoporosis might be necessary. Medications are available to help reduce bone loss as well as the risk of fractures. Doctors might also prescribe Vitamin D to assist with strengthening bones.
Why Common Treatments are Ineffective
While the treatments for menopause are numerous, there are some common concerns. Kat Merryfield, the founder of Kat’s Naturals, got a front-row seat to these concerns when her mom started using hormone replacement therapy. One issue they quickly noticed is that the treatments seemed to suspend a woman’s perimenopause temporarily.
Kat’s mom couldn’t miss a single dose of her treatments, or her symptoms would come roaring back. And when she finally stopped using the treatments altogether, Kat’s mom experienced all of the symptoms of perimenopause even though she had been using hormone replacement therapy for 14 years. Instead of helping her mom through the transition to menopause, the treatments did nothing but mask them for a long period of time.
For these reasons, numerous individuals are choosing to go down a more natural path to relieve their perimenopause symptoms. And because of CBD’s recent popularity, some women are wondering if they can use CBD oil for menopause, despite the need for more research.
Is CBD Oil Helpful for Menopausal Symptoms?
Researchers continue to dive into cannabidiol (CBD), and so far there are many benefits of the cannabinoid. However, when it comes to CBD oil for menopause, no one has dived into the topic extensively, but the remedy may have some benefits for menopausal women.
1. CBD may relieve mood swings
Studies suggest that CBD has a significant impact on people’s moods, including its ability to combat anxiety and depression. In 2018, a study in Elsevier’s Journal of Affective Disorders indicated that cannabis decreased participants’ stress, anxiety, and depression. The study also found that women encountered a greater reduction in anxiety compared to men. And it suggested that high-CBD strains, in particular, led to the best results.
2. CBD may reduce inflammation
But what’s also worth noting is the research that suggests CBD’s anti-inflammatory effects. Women who are experiencing postmenopause notice aches and joint pain, as decreased estrogen levels usually lead to significant levels of inflammation.
However, a 2016 study analyzed whether transdermal CBD could alleviate pain and inflammation in rats. The researchers found that CBD topicals could reduce swelling as well as inflammation and concluded that CBD provided potential therapeutic relief without any apparent side effects.
3. CBD may improve sleep
Research also indicates that CBD helps with sleep and anxiety, which are two significant concerns for women going through perimenopause or menopause. In a study by the National Sleep Foundation, 61% of postmenopausal women reported insomnia symptoms.
In 2019, researchers wanted to know if individuals could use CBD oil to improve their sleep. After giving CBD treatments to 72 adults, the researchers concluded that CBD improved sleep scores in 67% of patients within the first month. This research provides further evidence that there’s potentially merit to using CBD oil for menopause.
However, what’s even more interesting is that investigators from the University of Albany conducted a study specifically on menopausal and postmenopausal women to see if CBD could provide relief. Although more research is vital, the women reported that cannabis eased some of their menopausal symptoms. The sample of participants told the researchers that cannabis reduced their joint and muscle discomfort, sleep disturbance, irritability, and depression.
The Types of CBD Oil for Menopause
The potential for CBD to relieve some symptoms of perimenopause makes it a very appealing option for women who prefer natural solutions. However, there’s so much more to consider with regard to CBD oil for menopause. With so many brands, types, and strengths of CBD on the market, choosing the best remedy can be difficult. But this doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.
An organic full-spectrum CBD product is the best choice for women who need relief because the remedy has more therapeutic properties to offer. With it, women can utilize the various cannabinoids to cover more bases and help alleviate perimenopausal symptoms.
At Kat’s Naturals, our founder learned this by communicating with customers and another member of her family. She discovered that while organic CBD products relieved some symptoms of perimenopause, it did not alleviate most of them like organic full-spectrum CBD remedies seem to do. The more cannabinoids that worked together, the more relief women claimed to feel.
But one symptom that no organic CBD product seems to alleviate is hot flashes. Women who use CBD oil for menopause reportedly still experience this symptom, which is why cannabinoids alone are not enough to relieve the side effects of perimenopause. For women experiencing hot flashes, it might be necessary to combine an organic full-spectrum CBD product with other natural remedies.
Combining CBD with Other Natural Remedies
The founder of Kat’s Naturals has learned a lot of useful information from friends, family, and customers about natural remedies that pair well with CBD. One of Kat’s family members looked for a natural solution that could alleviate her hot flashes and also work well with CBD oil. She tried Estroven, a soy-based estrogen replacement product, that negatively impacted her mood and didn’t work.
Then, she tried Maca, another popular choice for women experiencing perimenopausal symptoms. Maca is an adaptogen, meaning it adapts to what the body needs and helps regulate certain things like hormones. Some women find Maca to be the only addition they need to combat symptoms of perimenopause.
Kat’s family member, for example, said it worked really well at relieving her hot flashes. She also liked that it combined well with her CBD oil for menopause. However, Kat’s family member noticed that she had to keep taking more and more of Maca to get the same result, which eventually led to digestive issues.
This failure led to the next natural solution: a homeopathic remedy called Lachesis Mutus. People commonly dub it Bushmaster’s Venom, because it comes from snake venom. Still, the remedy is safe to use because brands dilute it to the point where there’s no venom left. And according to Kat’s family member, Lachesis Mutus is great at relieving hot flashes.
After taking it three times a day, she noticed an almost immediate reduction in her hot flashes. Then, after three weeks, she started taking it twice a day, then once a day, then once every three days. And eventually, the hot flashes ceased entirely.
What’s even better is that she continued using CBD oil for menopause. By combining Lachesis Mutus with her organic full-spectrum CBD product, Kat’s family member noticed relief in every way.
CBD Oil for Menopause: A Surprisingly Useful Tool
CBD might not be the first thing every woman thinks of when trying to seek relief from perimenopausal symptoms, but that might change over time. Because CBD and other cannabinoids have shown several therapeutic properties, the cannabinoid is a promising and natural option for women. Combined with other natural remedies, an organic full-spectrum CBD product could be just the thing women need if they are looking for a natural alternative to conventional menopause remedies.
