One of the new trends lately is CBD oil which is a derivative of the cannabis plant that most people associate with marijuana. If you look closely on the shelves of some of your grocery stores or even your favorite coffee shop you will find CBD infused items all over the place. Curiosity got the cat, so I will try.
CBD is traditionally used to help people with certain DSM diagnoses that will relieve anxiety, pain, some movement disorders, and cognition. The stuff that you buy in the store is without THC unless otherwise noted. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that creates the “high” effect. So basically once you tell someone about CBD, you will also have to explain to them that there isn’t THC. Potential side effects were listed, but the only ones that caught my eye was malaise and weakness.
As far as I know I don’t have any psychoactive issues. I’m not trying to treat a self diagnosed version of anxiety or anything like that. Believe it or not I personally have a difficult time falling asleep especially on Sunday night. Whether it is because I stay up too late on Saturday night combined with the sleeping in that I sometimes do on Sunday morning, or if it is because I stay up mind racing with the things I need to get done at work the next day I will lay in bed restless. I have a number of clients who have been taking CBD oil because someone told them that it may be good so I decided I would give it a try.

Day 1
I actually woke up 40 minutes before my alarm went off after 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I felt wide awake and ready to go. I hadn’t fallen asleep and stayed asleep like that for a while so that was refreshing.
Day 2
I fell asleep relatively quick this night, however, I worked late and had a late dinner so there was no waking up earlier than the alarm. I actually resented my alarm going off and felt a little groggy until the afternoon. Sleep quality was still really good.
Day 3
I worked even later on Tuesday night and had a really late dinner. Not ideal, but it is my reality. I woke up around 4 a.m. briefly, but made it back to sleep no problem. I tallied about 6 hours of sleep and was pretty groggy all day Wednesday until the late afternoon.
Day 4
I fell asleep relatively quickly again. I did wake up in the middle of the night again, but that may be a result of drinking too much water later on in the day. My motivation to get things done in the afternoon dropped significantly until about 3 p.m., but remain pretty groggy. Work ended around 6 p.m. and I was able to go home and relax which was welcoming.
Day 5
I had Friday off so I was able to get an extra hour of sleep followed by a relaxing morning. I could take my time getting my morning tea without any pressing deadlines. I was able to sit down and write a little and go out to run some errands and felt much better with the extra rest. I did go to a Celtics game that evening with some work colleagues, but felt normal.

In conclusion, the week trial revealed to me that maybe on Sunday night it is a good idea to get some CBD in for the sleep aid. All-in-all it did feel better than taking melatonin all week, anecdotally. I will most likely continue to use it especially on those Sunday nights.