Lack of sleep can make you feel agitated, low, and out of touch with reality. Occasionally your body can handle it, after all, we all pull nightmares sometimes for game nights, presentations, or catching up with friends and family members.
However, if you consistently suffer from poor and lack of quality sleep, it can cause heart disease, hypertension, weight gain, mental imbalance, and even deadly strokes. But there’s a new savior in the market, CBN Oils and Tinctures are quickly gaining popularity as effective sleep aids that don’t cause any major side effects like prescription sleep medicines.
But is CBN really better than good old Ambine or PCM? Does it make you feel groggy the next day? Should you consider adding it to your pre-bed ritual? Let’s find out !!
What is CBN?
CBN or cannabinol is a plant compound found in cannabis plants. It’s the very first discovered cannabinoid which was isolated from cannabis plants back in the late 1800s.
Rober Sidney Cahn, a British chemist first reported CBN’s structure in the 1930s. It’s known as the best cannabinoid for sleep, but there haven’t been any major scientific studies to establish this fact.
It mainly comes from experience or anecdotes of people who have used it for sleep troubles and saw significant effects, plus one or two very small muddy studies here and there. But experts have established why CBN works so well for sleep, let’s understand it in detail.
Why is CBN the best cannabinoid for sleep?
The reason behind this belief is CBN’s origin. Unlike CBD and THC, CBD is not present in developing cannabis plants. Why? Because it forms only when THC breaks down over time due to oxidation.
That’s why CBN concentration is highest in dried, cured, and mature cannabis plants. However growers these days are using special genetic seeds to grow CBN-rich plants to meet increasing demands.
But what does it have to with its sleep-enhancing effects? Well, since it’s a broken or weakened down form of THC, it has better sedating and calming effects than other cannabinoids.
It’s not as strong as THC to make you high, but it’s definitely more sedative and nerve-calming than CBD. Plus, at high doses, it shows slightly psychoactive effects.
Will it make you groggy the next day?
Some people assume that since it’s a weak form of THC, it will make us feel groggy and agitated the next day. But that’s not true, CBN won’t make you feel groggy, in fact, you’ll wake up fresher, energized, and ready to conquer the day.
Why? Because by the time you wake up, it will get fully metabolized by your body. Whether you take it in the form of gummies or tinctures, its sedating and calming effects will wear off by the time you wake up. Cannabinoid effects usually don’t last more than 6-8 hours, so unless you wake up in the middle of the night and decide not to sleep again, you won’t have any issues.
Plus, whatever muscle pain, soreness, anxiety, and stress you’ve, will most probably go away by the time you wake up because of CBN’s anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anxiolytic, and stress-relieving properties.
CBN is good for your skin too, it can relieve skin redness, pain, itching, and redness by modulation TRP channel activity. It may also protect your brain cells when taken along with other cannabinoids (full-spectrum/broad-spectrum products).
It has strong antibacterial properties making it effective against bacteria, fungi, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. All in all, despite being a lesser-known cannabinoid, it does have lots of potential to improve your well-being holistically.
How much CBN should I take for sleep?
As a beginner, you can benefit from even doses as low as 10mg a few hours before bed. However, with time you’ll develop tolerance to the compound and may have to gradually increase it to 20-25mg at some point. This roughly translates to one gummy or two-three drops of CBN oi depending on the potency of the product.
The exact onset time will be dependent on your method of consumption. Edibles take around forty minutes to two hours, so it’s best to take them after dinner. Plus having it with food will lead to better absorption of cannabinoids in the body, especially if you are using a a full-spectrum CBN product. But don’t expect drastic sleep improvement from the very first day.
Allow your body to get adjusted to it, you may not see much change for a few days, but don’t get discouraged and continue with your daily dosage. Soon you’ll start noticing better in terms of how your mood is the next day and how free and relaxed you feel.
You can also take it throughout the day if you have chronic pain or hyperanxiety, but be mindful of its strong sedating effects and keep a watch on how much you are consuming.
Are there any Side effects of CBN?
Generally, all cannabinoids are well tolerated by the human body. So even if you end up eating more than the usual number of CBN gummies, you won’t need any special medical attention.
Some people may feel dehydrated, dizzy, and nauseated in the starting days, but it’ll mostly go away with time. It’s recommended to increase your water intake and to plan your doses with meals.
If such symptoms persist, then either reduce the dosage or stop it altogether for a few days. Do consult with your doctor first if you are already on a sleep medicine prescription.
The Final Note
To sum it up, CBN doesn’t make you feel groggy the next day. Unlike traditional sleep medicines, CBN doesn’t have any lingering effects in the morning, and it completely wears off within 6-8 hours max.
It’s much safer, cleaner, and effective than your regular Ambien. Plus, other than sleep it will also help in easing your stress, anxiety, and pain levels. For fast impact, you can go with CBN tinctures and for slow release, gummies are your friend. Whoever you decide to buy, just make sure to get it only from reputed and well-tested brands like Colorado Botanicals.
