Without a doubt, one of nature’s best gifts for humanity is the intrinsic healing power of plants. Cannabis brings with it natural compounds such as CBD, which carry a vast and growing number of potential benefits and medical applications.
Among the medical conditions that CBD can help with, researchers found that this cannabinoid could be very useful in alleviating some withdrawal-related symptoms such as anxiety, pain, and lack of sleep, among others. Although we still need more research and studies to confirm these findings, the results so far are pretty promising.
Withdrawal syndrome is not a game or something to be taken lightly. Some of its symptoms can be quite uncomfortable and, in some cases, even dangerous. Let’s analyze the benefits of CBD for withdrawal and some products you could use to treat this condition.
CBD for Heroin Withdrawal
In recent years, the widespread use of heroin and prescription opioids appears only to be increasing. This has resulted in an epidemic of opioid addiction that is unprecedented. Few treatments are currently available for heroin use disorders, and apparently, CBD could be one of them.
Studies show that some CBD medications can reduce heroin cravings and anxiety. This suggests that CBD could be a viable alternative to replace some traditional heroin withdrawal medications and other opioids such as methadone, suboxone, and buprenorphine, medicines that can generate dependence.
In this study, individuals who received the CBD drug “Epidiolex” reported less craving after being exposed to drug cues than those who received a placebo. Additionally, measurements of salivary cortisol increases, heart rate, and stress responses demonstrated a reduction in individuals after taking the CBD medication.
This data suggests that cannabis could help people recover from opioid use disorder and function as a less risky pain management strategy than pharmaceutical opioids. In addition to this, there is data that suggests that some cannabinoids such as CBD could be of great help to stop consuming other substances.
CBD for Prescription Withdrawal
According to some preclinical investigations, CBD shows enormous potential as a pharmacotherapy agent in the treatment of abstinence from some prescribed drugs. As with heroin, CBD oils and medications demonstrate reducing desire and anxiety, two symptoms commonly associated with abstinence.
The FDA of the United States recently approved Epidiolex, a CBD-derived medication, to treat severe types of epilepsy. Still, it can also work effectively for conditions outside of its label. Researchers have developed a particular interest in Epidiolex and other CBD forms like CBD oils and concentrate due to its properties to treat disorders related to prescribed drug abuse, high safety profile, and low side effects.
Researchers have an eye on CBD as a promising compound to develop other medications that could help treat dependencies to other prescribed drugs. A 2020 study showed that methadone-depending human models significantly improved prescription drug withdrawal symptoms compared to volunteers who received a placebo. We still need more studies to solve some paradigms resulting from this study. Still, many results indicate that we could be on the right path to confirm the use of CBD for withdrawal.
CBD for Giving up Smoking
Smoking cigarettes is one of the major causes of illness and death worldwide. Even though tobacco is a legal drug, the many health problems that chronic cigarette smoking can cause are no secret to anyone. Excessive use of tobacco cigarettes can cause heart disease, lung cancer, seizures, and a host of other deadly health conditions.
Pharmaceuticals worldwide have come with different devices for the cessation of tobacco addiction, such as nicotine gum, nicotine patches, nicotine vaping devices, and other products. However, these so-called “solutions” to this problem can be dangerous and still leave the user addicted to nicotine.
Nicotine is one of the main components of tobacco products. It also occurs naturally in different vegetables. Although it is not the leading cause of smoking-related health problems, it is a highly addictive substance and can cause severe withdrawal symptoms. It’s easy to recognize how addictive the temporary feeling of calm, relaxation, mild buzzing, and brief high tobacco brings. But as soon as this feeling passes, withdrawal symptoms begin to affect.
The most common effects of nicotine withdrawal are craving, headache, sore throat, insomnia, constipation, hunger or lack of it, nausea and abdominal cramps, trouble thinking, and depressive feelings. In addition to these physical symptoms, nicotine withdrawal can also generate psychological symptoms such as irritability, frustration, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, mood swings, stress, and low mood.
Fortunately, cannabis is there to help with this problem. Several studies show the potential that CBD could have for smoking cessation. CBD can be a novel treatment to quit smoking due to its known anxiolytic properties, its ability to reduce the desire to smoke, and the minimal side effects it generates.
In addition to the potential of CBD, CBD oil, and other medications that contain CBD for withdrawal symptoms, hemp may also be a much healthier smokable option that can work as a substitute for people who want to give up tobacco. CBD is the main cannabinoid in the hemp plant. Therefore, smokable hemp flowers can reduce the urge to smoke cigarettes as the CBD present in them can alleviate nicotine withdrawal symptoms. We also recommend using CBD Vape Cartridges, like this Hiatus CBD Vapen Pen with no THC, Nicotine, pesticides, and other harmful compounds.
In addition to this, CBD restores neurotransmitters production and generates the same feeling of calm and sedation without using nicotine. So if you’re looking for some help to quit smoking finally, CBD might be exactly what you need.
CBD for Opiate Withdrawal
In the UK and the rest of the world, the opioid addiction crisis is escalating to unprecedented numbers. Health problems and deaths related to opioid overdoses seem only to be on the rise, and big pharma doesn’t seem to be doing much about it. Socially, people who suffer from some type of addiction are generally mistreated under the premise that if they suffer from an addiction, it is because they are weak or lack morals. But we know that this is not always the case.
Ironically, this great crisis of addiction to opioids is essentially the responsibility of entities who over-prescribe these types of drugs to patients to manage severe pain. But what is the actual cost to pay? The traditional medications used for decades to deal with opioid addictions are usually other opioids that also create dependency. Fighting fire with fire sounds like a very logical thing to do at first. But in this case, we know that the remedy can end up being much worse than the disease itself.
Giving up a dependence on this type of drug is not easy at all, and opioid withdrawal can generate severe, very uncomfortable symptoms that, in some cases, can even threaten your life. The withdrawal syndrome caused by opioids creates a barrier that is quite difficult to overcome for those with a drug abuse disorder. Opioid withdrawal can generate practically the same symptoms as heroin withdrawal: severe headaches, muscle and bone pain, severe nausea, diarrhea, among other symptoms.
To all these problems, CBD seems to present a viable option, much healthier and with minimal side effects, without the dangerous quality of being an addictive agent. Some scientific studies show that CBD could alleviate some behaviors related to opioid addiction and opioid-related cravings triggered by exposure to opioid signals. Craving reduction may be critical for people with opioid use disorders, as craving can lead to relapses or even death from overdose. Therefore, reducing craving can be an effective strategy in treating opioid withdrawal.
CBD demonstrates to reduce levels of the anxiety-related stress hormone cortisol. Anxiety can lead to the craving for consumption. Therefore, cortisol levels reduction can also play a key role in treating opioid withdrawal. Interestingly, CBD effects showed to continue to work up to a week after exposure to this cannabinoid. Although there is still more research to do before officially stating that we can use CBD for opiate withdrawal, some people have already begun to use this compound for that purpose carefully.
CBD for Benzo Withdrawal
Benzodiazepines are potent central nervous system depressants. Doctors generally prescribe them to treat panic disorders, alcohol withdrawal, seizures, and muscle relaxants during medical procedures. The problem with benzodiazepines is that they are highly addictive, and trying to give up on them can also lead to withdrawal.
Benzodiazepines work by interacting with the GABA receptors in our brain, making the nerves less sensitive to external stimuli. The human body uses GABA to control stress levels and brain activity.
Physical dependence can occur with as little as a couple of weeks of use, and as soon as the effects begin to wear off, the user’s brain goes into hyperarousal mode. Benzodiazepine detox can lead to severe withdrawal symptoms such as mood swings, severe anxiety, vomiting and nausea, weight loss, muscle spasms, and seizures. On the contrary, CBD can act as an anxiolytic and help with severe anxiety problems caused by benzo withdrawal.
Moreover, CBD can also act as an anticonvulsant agent and can relieve painful muscle spasms generated as a side effect of benzo detox. It can also work as a pain reliever, attenuating our natural response to pain and reducing inflammation. CBD also produces mildly sedative effects that may help patients regulate sleep patterns and improve insomnia. In addition, it also boosts GABA inhibitors. Therefore, it can work as an anxiolytic without the addiction problems that benzodiazepines generate.
All of these qualities suggest how effective CBD can be for benzo withdrawal. However, although much data highlights the potential therapeutic benefits CBD can bring, we must remember that benzo withdrawal symptoms can be pretty intense and that it is best to have medical assistance.
CBD Calm Effects of Cocaine
Cocaine addiction generates characteristic symptoms such as compulsive use and the repetitive urge to use the drug even after sustained periods of abstinence. Craving stands out as an intermediary for the relapse of cocaine and a distressing symptom of addiction associated with suffering.
Moreover, cocaine-dependent individuals remain vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and other crave-inducing stimuli that can lead to intense psychological responses and other feelings such as sadness and anger. Studies show that craving can predict relapses to cocaine and that improved craving treatment could prevent relapses and reduce patients’ emotional, cognitive, and psychological distress.
Until now, success has been only partial in searching for effective strategies to overcome cocaine addiction. Despite the outstanding efforts of the scientific community, there is still no truly effective drug treatment to prevent cocaine relapses or treat cravings and anxiety generated by withdrawal from cocaine.
Fortunately, CBD shows favorable results to help treat craving and anxiety induced by the cessation of cocaine use because it interacts directly with the brain mechanisms associated with addictive disorders. Therefore, CBD’s broad spectrum therapeutic qualities make it a potential pharmacological contender for reducing cocaine cravings and treating cocaine addiction. Still, it is better to talk to your doctor before using CBD for withdrawal to receive safe assistance.
