Get The Most Out Of Your CBD

I can’t imagine anything worse than not being believed by your doctor. Sadly, that’s been the case for millions of patients suffering from fibromyalgia.

Fortunately, mainstream medicine is finally starting to come around and accept that the disease is real.

Symptoms of this devastating condition include:

  • Widespread pain
  • Joint and muscle stiffness
  • Insomnia
  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
    • Memory loss and cognitive issues
    • Irritable bowel syndrome
    • Dizziness
    • Depression, anxiety, and PTSD
    • Trouble breathing

Of course, Big Pharma is right there telling you they have all the answers.

But it just isn’t true.

A large study tracking almost 4,000 patients living with fibromyalgia found that only a tiny minority keep taking the drugs prescribed by their doctor.1

If you know anyone with fibromyalgia or have experienced it yourself, you know this disease can be excruciating. Patients wouldn’t ditch their drugs without good reason.

Turns out Big Pharma’s drugs just don’t work the way they claim to.

And why would they? Mainstream medicine is treating fibromyalgia with antidepressants, epilepsy drugs, muscle relaxants, and opioids.

It’s easy to see why patients are tossing out their pills.

Why would anyone take a drug that isn’t helping?

Especially when they deliver side effects like dizziness, nausea, fatigue, dry mouth, anxiety, racing heart, high blood pressure, difficulty concentrating, swelling, weight gain, and suicidal thoughts.

Despite this, the industry is doing very well for itself. The fibromyalgia treatment market value is expected to make Big Pharma billions of dollars in the next decade.2

That’s a lot of money for people who are failing to deliver on their promises.

While it’s clear that you can’t trust Big Pharma to help, that doesn’t mean you are out of options.

There’s an all-natural remedy showing great promise.

I’m talking about CBD, the non-intoxicating compound found in the cannabis plant.

Researchers from the University

of Michigan studied a group of 878 people with fibromyalgia who reported using CBD to treat their condition. The team found that more than 70% of those people were using CBD as a replacement for opioids or other painkillers.3

Not only was CBD helping these patients with their pain – it was also keeping them away from potentially addictive drugs. Because, unlike prescription drugs, CBD has no side effects.

Anti-cannabis zealots in the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry don’t want to admit this, but your body reacts naturally to the plant’s byproducts. This is because your central nervous system has an abundance of cannabinoid receptors.

In another study, researchers followed 102 fibromyalgia patients who used medical cannabinoids for six months.

At the end of the study, 33% of participants said they experienced “significant improvement” in pain, fatigue, and stiffness. Almost 50% reported improvements in anxiety and depression. Incredibly, 47% of patients were able to stop or greatly reduce their use of Big Pharma painkillers.4

How to get the most out of your CBD

Using CBD oil is new to a lot of my patients. Here’s what I tell them about this natural remedy…

    1. Start low and vary your dosage. I recommend starting with 10 mg to 15 mg daily. If you don’t feel any relief within a few weeks, increase the dose by 5 mg to 10 mg until you feel it’s working. I also suggest you take it before bed since it makes some people sleepy.
    2. Make sure you’re getting the real deal. Avoid CBDs that are made using chemicals like propane, butane, pentane, or hexane, as they can leave behind dangerous contaminants. Also, look for a certificate of analysis (COA). It should be printed on the bottle or label. Every COA verifies that the ingredients have been tested to prove they contain the proper contents in their proper quantities. But COAs also tell you what’s not in the ingredients. They confirm they’ve been tested and found to be free of toxic heavy metals.
    3. Maximize your absorption. When it comes to CBD, we all want to get the greatest benefit. And that means increasing its bioavailability. I’ve found that an oral spray just may be the most effective way of increasing CBD absorption. That’s because it’s a quicker, more direct route to the bloodstream, and it avoids the liver’s “first pass” effect, which lowers CBD bioavailability.
    4. Take it with healthy fats and oils. CBD is a fat-soluble compound, meaning it dissolves in fats and fatty oils. This breaks CBD down into smaller molecules that are more easily absorbed by the body. One way to increase CBD’s bioavailability is to mix it with a healthy high-fat snack or meal. A recent study found that epilepsy patients who took CBD with high-fat foods increased their absorption up to 14 times more than those who took it on an empty stomach.5

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

Al Sears, MD, CNS

 

References:

1. Ben-Ami Shor D, et al. “Adherence and persistence with drug therapy among fibromyalgia patients: data from a large health maintenance organization.” J Rheumatol. 2017 Oct;44(10):1499-1506.
2. PMR. “Fibromyalgia Antidepressants Market is expected to top US$ 1 Bn and increasing at a CAGR of 8.1% by 2031.” May 9, 2022. Accessed on June 16, 2022.
3. Boehnke K, et al. “Substituting cannabidiol for opioids and pain medications among individuals with fibromyalgia: A large online survey.” J Pain. 2021;22(11):1418-1428.
4. Giorgi V, et al. “Adding medical cannabis to standard analgesic treatment for fibromyalgia: a prospective observational study.” Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2020;38 Suppl 123:53-9.
5. Birnbaum AK, et al. “Food effect on pharmacokinetics of cannabidiol oral capsules in adult patients with refractory epilepsy.” Epilepsia. 2019;60(8):1586-1592.