How CBD/THC Impact Sleep | Dr. Matthew Walker



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  1. I have experience with Cannabis as a user, as a caregiver, as a grower and as a producer of oils with deep understanding of the plant.

    What I learned is that using whole plant preparation matters, so when talking about THC, make sure you actually take isolates. Otherwise, you could be taking much more than THC I.e. other cannabinoids, terpenes etc.

    For sleep, certain strains will give you the ultimate sleep experience, some will cause dizziness, some confusion, some Psychedelic dreams or even horrifying nightmares – some have the combination of a blank state of mind and extreme heaviness on the eyes. (Which is ideal for sleep)

    I also found cbd and cbg to be sedating + anti anxiety, anxiety contributes to insomnia.

    It is true that you will pay a price if you reach large doses and stop, so I make sure to micro-dose and focus on having a good sleep schedule.

    When traveling, I will have melatonin as a backup if needed, and I don't feel any rebound or sleep issues when pausing.

    Cannabis should be taken regularly in my opinion to help the body as an amplifier, it protects the body, prevents and aids with multiple conditions – sadly traveling with it is risky, totally ridiculous.

  2. Speaking anecdotally for myself personally, I recently retired and suffer from service related PTSD, specifically hyper-vigilance and the anxiety it causes. For instance if I wake up in the middle of the night because I hear a noise, I go into this mode where i feel the need to make sure the kids are safe and the house is secure then i get stuck in thought loops and can't sleep. Once I retired and was able to use THC containing products, I started using a full spectrum tincture when combined with my CPAP machine offers me the best sleep of my life. Now I sleep very deep and soundly and wake up rested and clear headed. So this works really really well for me, but I am sure individual experiences may vary. I also pretty much only use the tincture at night before bed, but occasionally I will dry vape some flower during the day, but I am trying to keep my tolerance in check. Best of luck to you all.

  3. after heavy use for over 15 years daily, im 6 weeks into being clean, still having nightly incredibly vivid dreams. Struggling to sleep over 3 hours in a row, nightly false awakenings confusion nightmares. Not to get too deep I seem to be processing a number of events in my life in the dream world.

  4. Stopped using six weeks ago never slept anymore than 4/5 hours a night at best whilst using , now down to 3 hours a night crazy dreams waking in the morning feeling totally drained , I work 50 hrs a week . Smoked really strong weed or concentrates for the last 20 years but have used the for 40+ years gave up suddenly no cravings for going back but suffering a lot , tried a 1.5 milligram dose of zopiclone recently and it made the dreaming 10x worse… will carry without any substitutes and see how I get on drink 2x glasses of red wine per night and smoke cigarettes… what are your views on alcohol, eating well…..

  5. CBN is what can really help with sleep! CBN is created when THC degrades either through time, oxygen, or the easiest way is to simply decarb for extra time when making a tincture. It’s awesome to help you sleep!

  6. I don't use alcohol and I don't smoke anything. I use a 10mg THC/CBN gummy at bedtime to fall asleep and stay asleep. I don't have nightmares, so that's good. It doesn't make me "high", but it does make me drowsy. It's better than Ambien and Restoril. But I don't think I should be using it habitually, or I should reduce the dosage to 5mg and use 10mg when I really need it. Big Pharma and my Physician want me using SSRIs every night, but the SSRIs are harsh with bad side effects.

  7. I used to take CBD to stop the chatter you mention, but have since used meditation to get the same- and even better effect- as meditation benefits spill into all areas of life. Also, my sleep architecture is much, much better with meditation as compared to CBD (I use an Oura ring)

  8. So I just want to jump in on the insomnia thing. Hops are also a member of the cannabis family. In my herbal studies I’ve come to find that hops, when consumed, can have a sedating effect. The issue seems to come in though, that hops are high in estrogenic compounds and can thus lead to issues in men when used long term. So I worry about the hormonal impact.

  9. In my experience on THC I have less dreams, or maybe I just remember them less, especially in the beginning of my sleep. The next day without THC I notice more memorable intense dreams. Clearly it disrupts REM sleep but I’d still take that it if I’m desperate to fall asleep quicker, over getting far less sleep naturally.. moderation, always moderation

  10. That rebound effect is insane if you were a stoner before. I love it, it's literally like your dreams are 10x more vivid and you can lucid dream much easier. I remember being so excited to go to sleep just so I can go and live in another world for a bit.

  11. In summary:

    THC has 4 effects:
    1. Sedative benefit: reduction in time to fall asleep
    2. Can develop tolerance to it, requiring dosage increase over time and possibly dependency
    3. Significant withdrawal and rebound effects: stopping THC usage makes the insomnia worse
    4. Decrease REM sleep: overall amount, delays arrival of first arrival, decreases intensity of REM sleep

  12. I hate that this “podcast” keeps being recommended to me. This is so not a natural conversation, it’s painfully untempo’ed .

    It takes 3 minutes to ask a 20 second question, and the response is talking about a source that is out of date where he brings up random factiods. The last 20% of the video is all of the substance.

  13. This is interesting. I've found CBN to be super helpful for me for sleep but i'm so sensitive to THC (makes my mind race) that I take about 1/4 to 1/8th of the recommended dosage. Sometimes I feel like i wake up in the middle of the night with it vs. if i'm super tired without it but it for sure helps me sleep. I try to only take it when I need it vs. to be more confident that I'll sleep. Reading a book helps a lot too 🙂

  14. I am a very light sleeper and it's also fairly difficult for me to go to sleep even if I'm very tired. On top of that, its hard for me to sleep straight through all night without waking up unless I smoke weed, take edibles or take melatonin before going to bed.

  15. I was able to quit for years by taking my usage down to just a couple of vape hits before bed…eventually I was just getting so tired that I forgot to hit the vape or it became more of a struggle to vape it then just go to sleep. I never had notable insomnia however, this was just coming off chronic usagage for years. So anecdotally, getting the usage down to just the part where I felt I needed it and making it as small a task as possible (no rolling up or having to go outside and smoke etc) really helped me almost forget about the stuff.

    Just my anecdote for anyone listening here that might want to stop usage.

  16. I've done some thorough analysis on my sleep regarding this exact subject: THC + Sleep. I take 10mg of Indica in gummy form. There is no doubt it significantly helps me get to sleep and stay asleep. That said, I have noticed that my deep sleep and REM sleep numbers drop by about 25-30% when I take an evening gummy (6 months of sleep data). This was all measured by Apple Watch (I used to use the Oura Ring but the Apple Watch does everything and more…and the plethora of apps it has as well). I still have not figured out if this drop in REM and deep sleep is causing issues or not in my performance. This is the next phase of self investigation I need to conduct.

  17. Oh shit this was intense I’ll have to watch it in full. I’m one of those that developed a crutch to cbd. I justified it until I wanted to be substance free. No alcohol or thc of any kind and even coffee. When I stopped cbd I had night sweats for about 5 nights, appetite aversion and intense mood swings. I was also using it as escapism though and not in a responsible and healthy way at all. I do find that I’m able to fall asleep faster and I stay asleep throughout the night.

    The withdrawals were miserable as well as fascinating to me so I very my appreciate this topic of convo 🙏

  18. Thank you for providing the drawbacks of THC (not CBD). You can replace almost every reference to THC in this video with alcohol and it would still be accurate; sedating, tolerance etc.

    In other words, don't do THC. Not to mention, the profound and disturbing fact that THC stops the occurrence/recall of dreams…

  19. It helps people with PTSD get a good night's sleep. I never remember my dreams. I smoke about a gram a day. I'm retired and enjoy the peace it gives me. I think it should be legal. If doctors can push pills and people can have a job… people can smoke at night and not worry about being fired the next day.
    It actually helps me to stay focused through out the day.
    No studies out there? I believe alcohol is far, far worse than marijuana.

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