Can CBD Help Ease Menopause Symptoms?

• For many people, menopause can present with symptoms like sleep disruption, changes to sex drive, mood swings, and more.
• While CBD may not be a magic bullet for menopause symptoms, it can certainly help patients achieve an improved quality of life and tackle some of the symptoms of menopause head-on.
• CBD can improve sleep, regulate mood, relieve pain, support libido, and contribute to mental health treatments.

If you’ve begun the transition into menopause, you might be considering consulting with CBD doctors online to find relief—and this could be a game-changer.

Many patients living with menopause symptoms treat them with medical cannabis: THC, CBD, or both. Medical marijuana boasts a bevy of healing properties, so it makes sense that menopausal people leverage cannabis to improve their quality of life.

But what does that actually look like for real medical cannabis patients? In this guide, we’re breaking down everything you need to know. We’ll cover the basics of menopause, common menopause symptoms that CBD can treat, and how to get access to CBD for menopause.

Common Menopause Symptoms

Twelve months after your final menstrual period, you’ll enter the menopausal phase—but before that time, perimenopause (the transition to menopause that can last for years) can alter your hormonal chemistry, your menstrual periods, and your everyday life.

Perimenopause typically begins between the ages of 45 and 55. However, it can begin earlier or later in some patients. To determine whether or not you’ve actually started the menopausal transition, your healthcare provider may monitor your symptoms, your menstrual cycle, and your follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol levels.

During both perimenopause and menopause, people may experience symptoms like:

• Hot flashes
• Trouble sleeping
• Aches and pains
• Changed sex drive
• Mood swings
• Body composition changes

These symptoms all make sense—after all, your body’s hormone regulation significantly changes as you approach and begin menopause.

But you don’t have to tackle these symptoms without support.

CBD for Menopause Symptoms: Common Uses

Enter medical cannabis—more specifically CBD, one cannabinoid found in the Cannabis sativa plant. Many patients leverage the healing properties of CBD to tackle a variety of menopause symptoms and support their overall quality of life during this major transition.

Let’s touch on some common CBD applications that apply to people entering menopause.

Sleep Support

Many patients use CBD for sleep support, whether they’ve entered perimenopause or not.

However, if you’ve started the menopausal transition, you might be experiencing one or both of the following common sleep disturbances:

• Hot flashes and sleep interruption – During menopause and perimenopause, you may experience hot flashes. When these occur in the middle of the night, you could wake up and find difficulty falling asleep again.
• Changes in energy – As your body’s hormonal processes change during perimenopause, you may find that your “internal clock” is off-kilter—so, it might be hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get restful sleep.

Luckily, various strains of CBD have helped patients doze off quickly, sleep through the night, and wake up refreshed. If you’re using CBD for sleep, timing is everything. You may have to experiment to build a perfect, consistent dosing schedule.

Mood Regulation

There are many reasons why you might experience mood swings and overall disposition changes during the menopausal transition. These are just the tip of the iceberg:

• It’s a season of change – Menopause typically occurs later in life; perhaps your children are moving away from home, you’re transitioning into retirement, or you’re caring for aging relatives. These are major changes, and you’re likely to emotionally respond to them.
• Your hormonal regulation is different – The hormonal changes of perimenopause often occur just as you feel you’re getting accustomed to your hormonal cycles—this can be incredibly frustrating.
• Physical changes often evoke emotional responses – Who wouldn’t be grumpy about waking up in the middle of the night, facing new aches and pains, and feeling out of place in their own body?

CBD is a long-acknowledged tool for mood support, and it can help you round out the sharp edges of the menopausal transition. If you’re feeling irritable, weepy, enraged, or just blah, CBD’s serotonin-modulating properties could help you unlock a sense of calm and peace.

Pain Relief

If you’re experiencing new aches and pains during perimenopause or menopause, CBD could revolutionize your approach to pain management. Why?

• When it’s introduced to your body, CBD interacts with your endocannabinoid system (ECS), your body’s built-in cannabinoid processing network.
• The two ECS receptors—CB1 and CB2—modulate a variety of bodily functions. These include nerve pain and inflammation.
• Early research shows that both THC and CBD can interact with the ECS to decrease pain and inflammation.

While clinical data on CBD’s effectiveness is limited, anecdotal evidence has been piling up for generations. When it comes to pain management, CBD works—just ask the thousands of current medical cannabis patients using cannabis for chronic pain treatment.

Libido Support

Since your reproductive hormones are in flux during the menopausal transition, your sex drive may be, too. In addition, many of the symptoms of menopause have the potential to interfere with your sex life, like:

• Vaginal dryness
• Chronic pain
• Low energy
• Fluctuating mood
• Excessive sweating associated with hot flashes

We’ve already covered how CBD can reduce pain and regulate mood; relief from these symptoms alone may help you maintain your normal libido. However, CBD can also:

• Relieve performance anxiety – Even if you’ve been with your partner for years, you might feel insecure or fear rejection as your body changes. Since CBD can calm anxiety, it can help you relax and set the mood.
• Impact overall energy and stamina – If you’re not sleeping well or you’re feeling sluggish, you’re unlikely to want to expend energy in the bedroom. By leveraging CBD for general energy support, you might find that you have more motivation to initiate sexual activity.
• Improve lubrication in some forms – On today’s market, you can even find CBD infused in lube products—if you’re on the fence about ingesting CBD, this is an excellent way to ease into CBD treatment while enjoying improved sexual experiences.

Getting CBD for Menopause in Louisiana

Does Louisiana have medical marijuana? Yes, and here are two important things to know about getting medical marijuana for menopause:

1. Any provider can recommend medical cannabis in Louisiana – Per Louisiana state law, any licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or medical psychologist can recommend medical cannabis. They can also recommend it for any medical condition that it could help treat, including menopause.
2. You can access CBD products without a recommendation – Per the 2018 Farm Bill, anyone in the US over the age of 18 can purchase, possess, and use CBD derived from hemp—a low-THC variety of the cannabis plant. Consulting with a cannabis-informed provider will give you a chance to review your symptoms, get professional advice (about dosing and products to try, for instance), and achieve access to dispensaries-grade products.

If you’re not sure where to start on your journey with CBD, turn to TeleLeaf: Louisiana is our home state, and we’re making it easier than ever for people to access medical cannabis.

Getting CBD for Menopause in Other States

If you live outside of Louisiana and your state has legalized medical marijuana, it’s still relatively easy to get access to dispensaries-grade, legal cannabis:

• Find a provider – In some states, only some healthcare providers are authorized to recommend medical marijuana. The agency administering your state’s program (the Department of Health, for instance) may maintain a list of providers in your area.
• Seek a recommendation – Once you find a cannabis-informed provider, talk through your medical concerns. Depending on your state’s laws and your provider’s assessment, you may be a good fit for medical marijuana treatment. If this is the case, your provider will recommend cannabis.
• Complete an application – In most states, you’ll need to complete an application for a medical marijuana card. Your provider can help you with this process.
• Take your card to a dispensaries and start your treatment – Once you have a medical card in hand, you can head to a nearby cannabis dispensaries or pharmacy, pick up your products, and start your dosing regimen.

TeleLeaf: Helping Patients Find All-Natural, Patient-Centered Relief

If you’re entering the menopause transition, you might be facing side effects—or perhaps you want to take a proactive approach to wellness during this time of change. In either case, consider how medical cannabis could be an excellent fit for your healing journey.

TeleLeaf is passionate about connecting patients with the plant-based, all-natural cannabis care they deserve. That’s why we help patients get their medical marijuana cards in Louisiana and beyond. As the best online medical marijuana card service on the market, you can trust us to help you get access to cannabis quickly and simply.

Ready to get started with CBD or THC? Schedule your first appointment.

Sources:

National Institute on Aging. What Is Menopause?.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/menopause/what-menopause

Healthline. 6 Health Benefits of CBD Oil—And a Look at Side Effects.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cbd-oil-benefits

Forbes. CBD for Sleep: How It Works, Benefits, and Risks.
https://www.forbes.com/

National Institute on Aging. Sleep Problems and Menopause: What Can I Do?.
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/menopause/sleep-problems-and-menopause-what-can-i-do

WebMD. The Emotional Roller Coaster of Menopause.
https://www.webmd.com/menopause/emotional-roller-coaster

HealthCentral. CBD for Anxiety and Depression.
https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/cbd-for-anxiety-and-depression

Molecules. Cannabinoid Delivery Systems for Pain and Inflammation Treatment.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

Healthline. Can CBD Make Sex Better? Here’s What the Experts Say.
https://www.healthline.com/health/cbd-sex-effectiveness#potential-benefits

The Brookings Institution. The Farm Bill, Hemp Legalization, and the Status of CBD: An Explainer.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-farm-bill-hemp-and-cbd-explainer/