CBD for anxiety, PTSD& mental health

Even before the pandemic, many people experienced anxiety from the pressures of work, family, finances and world events. The pandemic has only worsened this anxiety. You may recognize the common symptoms: excessive worrying, restlessness, di iculty sleeping, trouble concentrating. Today, people are seeking relief with CBD. Here’s why.

CBD (cannabidiol) is an active cannabinoid that’s extracted from cannabis. Unlike the cannabinoid THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), CBD doesn’t cause a euphoric high. It can actually reverse excessive euphoria, paranoia and anxiety associated with ingesting higher-dose THC.

There’s been exciting research into how CBD

can help with stress, anxiety and PTSD. Numerous studies have examined CBD’s anti-anxiety e ects, and it has proven to be e ective in reducing behavioural and physiological signs. CBD has also been shown to help with insomnia and replaying traumatic memories. While CBD in moderate doses (10 mg sublingually or orally) may be e ective for anxiety, CBD combined with low-dose THC is e ective in disrupting REM sleep and dreams, thereby reducing PTSD symptoms, especially nightmares.

CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), which has important roles in controlling anxiety. Through the ECS, our bodies produce endocannabinoids. When they bind to endocannabinoid receptors attached to our cells, they send a message that the ECS needs to act. CBD behaves similarly to endocannabinoids. It may prevent endocannabinoids from breaking down or bind to certain receptors. CBD also decreases blood flow in the brain regions associated with anxiety, seems to alter serotonin signals and may reduce cortisol levels. Evidence suggests that CBD could be a safe alternative for anxiety as it does not cause sedation. Benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam, alprazolam) are addictive, cause drowsiness, can’t be mixed with alcohol, can slow breathing and cause fatal overdose — which are not concerns with CBD. Similarly, CBD doesn’t have the side-e ects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (e.g. fluoxetine, fluvoxamine).

Oral CBD is usually poorly absorbed. Oral CBD tends not to be as e ective as inhaled because only 8-10% of the CBD is absorbed into the bloodstream (vs. 50-60% when inhaled). Absorption can improve to 40-45% when administered with VESIsorb® oral or VersaFilm® sublingual technologies. Furthermore, most oral products contain little or no cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), which has stronger serotonin receptor activity and may play a more important role in managing anxiety in combination with CBD versus CBD alone.

Opticann’s new revolutionary CBD products

have rapid-acting, superior absorption. Opticann’s optimized cannabinoids are based on advanced pharmaceutical drug-delivery technologies. CB4 Control strips are the first CBD- and CBDA-containing filmstrip developed with VersaFilm® for better, faster absorption into the bloodstream (less than 5 minutes) than conventional oils and capsules and can be taken as needed. Each under-the-tongue dissolving strip contains 10 mg CBD (6 mg CBD and 4 mg CBDA) and less than 0.2 mg THC.

For chronic daily relief, Opticann’s softgels provide 25 mg of high-potency CBD made with VESIsorb®, clinically proven to deliver 4.5 times absorption 3 times faster (1 hour vs. 3 hours) than conventional capsules. CB4 Relief contains no THC and is recommended for daytime. CB4 Relief-T contains low-dose THC (0.75 mg), making it suitable for evening use before bed. Talk to your doctor, pharmacist and Opticann’s Patient Care Team about Opticann’s products. They can advise you on dosage, drug interactions, precautions and contraindications. Learn more and register as a patient at opticann.ca

LONG COVID COULD AFFECT AS MANY AS 30% 500,000 OF PATIENTS, OR CANADIANS

in pulmonary medicine and critical care at UHN in Toronto, hope to have 2,000 participants when the trial ends in March 2022, although she has requested a year’s extension. Some patients have been monitored since the study began.

Patterns have already emerged. Men tend to get sicker and are hospitalized with COVID more often than women, but more women suffer from PCC, says Cheung. While women of all ages – and men as well, for that matter – experience long COVID, a great number are in the “40- to 60-something-ish range,” she adds.

“We don’t totally understand how perhaps hormones and hormonal changes may modulate all of this, and we’re trying to look into this as well,” Cheung says. “We do know that COVID sometimes affects menstrual periods.”

STAIKOVA IS STILL not back to normal. The fever, which lasted a month, is gone, but the headaches randomly return. While she didn’t lose her sense of smell, she had a multi-coloured coating on her tongue for two months, and everything tasted sweet or salty. Her hair is falling out, she can’t run anymore because she coughs too much, and she fears she won’t be able to sing in her choir anymore because her voice still isn’t as strong as it was before COVID.

“I’m not as productive as I used to be,” says Staikova. “I used to be able to keep in mind what I needed to do, but that causes mental exertion now.”

Earlier in the post-infection phase, it took Staikova days to reconstruct solutions to a quiz she’d given her students pre-infection. “Basically it was like starting from the beginning.”

The episodic nature of long COVID means that people can relapse into “post-exertional malaise” if they push themselves too hard, too quickly – but the definition of “push themselves” can vary a lot. “Exertion may not be just physical; it can be cognitive or emotional,” Cheung says. “One patient told me she can’t even watch movies that are too emotionally involved because it exhausts her.”

Researchers like Cheung will get a better picture of PCC in Canada now that the World Health Organization has an official definition, and the International Classification of Diseases has given PCC a code, which is used in health care to identify and group diseases, injuries, adverse side-effects and more. With PCC now coded, all cases will hopefully be documented as such, whereas before they might have been lumped in with COVID-19 or by specific symptoms. “Without a code, it’s really difficult to get a handle on how many people are affected and how much health care they use,” Cheung explains. “So that’s an important piece.”

Based on the behaviour of other post-viral conditions – particularly mononucleosis and SARS1 – as well as what Cheung has seen in study participants in the past year and a half, she is confident most people with long COVID will get better. That said, it may take longer for patients released from the ICU, and some people may never fully recover. For the majority, however, “it takes resting and pacing and doing breathing exercises and a few other things,” Cheung says. “It takes time.”