CBD
CBD (Cannabidiol) has got to be one of the most exciting and impressive supplements that I have used since I started practicing holistic medicine in 1997! It has so many different uses and has been very effective for many of my patients! I am impressed again and again as patients come in with success stories about CBD. My patients actually come in and teach me about new ways to use the CBD that they have found to be beneficial! I have learned so much since starting my research on CBD!
This all started about two years ago when I became a Certified Medical Marijuana Doctor and started recommending Medical Marijuana to my patients. Medical Marijuana (MM) has two main components; THC (the part that gets you high) and CBD (which has relaxation properties.) I was very impressed with the CBD and found that it is available from the hemp plant as an over-the-counter supplement. At the time, I was telling my patients to go get some CBD over-the-counter, but that idea really flopped! As it turns out, there is very little good CBD product on the market! I stopped that and went on a hunt for some good, quality CBD. That was a nightmare! I spent a lot of time and money and went through some very yucky and goopy experiments! Finally, I found some great CBD product that I can comfortably and reasonably recommend to my patients! It took some effort but the payoff was really great! Patients have really appreciated these products and have professed to me their benefits again and again!
Research on CBD has shown many potential health benefits including; arthritis, sugar diabetes, PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety, the pain of muscle spasms, insomnia, epilepsy, depression and much more. The research is in its infancy and there are bound to be many more health benefits to come out in the research in the future. One of the hurdles we as CBD consumers face is that CBD is a naturally occurring compound and is not patentable. So, there is no money to be made off patents and there are no big drug companies to spend money on research! This leaves us as consumers to use a grass roots approach as to what works and what doesn’t work regarding CBD.
This grass roots approach is what is so exciting to me because I have hundreds of patients reporting back to me on the benefits that they have seen with CBD usage. CBD comes in several forms and can be used many different ways depending on the desired effects. Vaping is a way to inhale the CBD vapor (It is important to note that vaping involves the inhalation of the “steam” of the hemp oil and is not smoking!) and this gets the CBD into the blood very fast, within minutes. Vaping is quick in but it doesn’t last very long, maybe an hour or two. Vaping is a “quick in/quick out” route that is very suitable to a fast response! Oral CBD may take one to two hours to get into the blood stream but its effect can last 4 to 8 hours. So, oral CBD is a “slow in/slow out” route of administration. Placing CBD between the cheek and gums is somewhere in between inhalation (“quick in/quick out”) and oral (“slow in/slow out”) and maybe considered as an alternate route for some individuals. Topical may be used for less deep seated issues. Patient have told me that it has worked well for inflammatory skin issues such as rashes and burns, nerve pain in the legs and many other maladies.
The best thing about CBD is that is really has very few side effects and is very, very safe to use! That is a real blessing for me as a doctor!
Overall, the verdict on CBD has been very impressive! My patients have taken to the CBD and it is working for them! The biggest trouble I have had with it is keeping a stock on the shelves! I guess that is a good problem?