When it comes to mental and physical health, fatigue is considered one of the most common symptoms that affect people all around the world. However, fatigue is more than just feeling tired or exhausted. It’s a severe condition that has a negative impact on the quality of your life when your body is unable to catch up, leaving you weak and like you can’t do simple tasks of everyday life.
Although there are different possible treatments, many people try to seek additional remedies to fight chronic fatigue. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a popular, up-and-coming supplement right now that is being advertised as a cure for most diseases and disorders. It’s only natural that individuals suffering from fatigue are developing an interest in CBD products as an effective remedy. Since CBD is known to help people that have low energy, can CBD be a safe and useful alternative for this complex and debilitating disease? Let’s draw attention to CBD potential and find out if this compound can mitigate symptoms in sufferers with fatigue.
What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex, long-term disease that describes consistent feelings of extreme tiredness and fatigue and can occur in different ways. Some individuals experience an onset of this condition suddenly, while others display symptoms more gradually. Experts identify chronic fatigue as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID) and usually diagnose it as a long-term problem that can cause disruptions in home, work, and school life.
CFS triggers severe fatigue that can stay for months or years, doesn’t improve after a significant time of rest, and might worsen after intense physical or mental activity. Those people that suffer from ME/CFS might find themselves unable to complete their daily activities, or even bedridden entirely.
Chronic Fatigue Symptoms
Chronic fatigue syndrome features a vast amount of symptoms believed to stem from the dysregulation of numerous systems throughout the body. As the most widespread symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome is exhaustion without an apparent underlying reason, those people that have ME/CFS may also notice other symptoms. For instance, some additional symptoms can include not only fatigue but also sore throat, headaches, increased feelings of depression, muscle pain, and cognitive disruptions, which can result in memory loss and problems with keeping information.
Unfortunately, there is no certain test for CFS. However, a diagnostic exam of chronic fatigue syndrome includes ruling out conflicting displays of other ailments and conditions that can cause your symptoms. This means chronic fatigue syndrome stands as its own disorder and shouldn’t be compared with symptoms related to it.
Treatments for ME/CFS can vary widely from person to another and require a multi-pronged approach by combining conventional medications and lifestyle changes. Although there is no cure for CFS, treatment typically involves providing relief and managing symptoms of pain, trouble sleeping, anxiety, or depression. One of these remedies can be CBD oil, and here is why.
What Is Cannabidiol?
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a naturally occurring substance that is obtained from Cannabis Sativa plants. CBD doesn’t possess psychoactive or addictive properties, meaning it won’t cause a ‘high’, euphoria, or intoxication as it does another infamous cannabinoid – Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
CBD oil has been widely used for hundreds of years to relieve symptoms of various physical and mental diseases. Therefore, researchers have been keen to identify how the compounds in cannabidiol work. They suggest that CBD can modify specific signals in the brain, which results in the interaction between particular receptors in the brain.
Cannabidiol is known to interfere with the body’s central regulatory system called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). ECS is responsible for crucial processes occurring in an organism and involves two primary types of receptors: CB1 and CB2. The CB1 receptors are mostly centralised in the brain, while the CB2 receptors are mainly available in the immune system and spread throughout the body.
CBD can work with ECS by influencing special receptors to regulate body systems, such as pain, sleep, mood, anxiety, energy, temperature, inflammation, and more. While CBD doesn’t directly attach to CB1 and CB2 receptors, it may modify how these receptors relate to vital chemicals. Many of these chemicals act as messengers and deliver essential signals that the brain interprets and then activates. So, how exactly can CBD help people that are subjected to chronic fatigue?
Which Symptoms Can Be Improved By CBD?
Although there are no studies or clinical trials investigating the ability of CBD to improve symptoms of ME/CFS, there is anecdotal evidence regarding the beneficial effects of CBD. CBD is being researched for multiple conditions while many of them share features with ME/CFS, which gives some basis for informed speculation. Let’s highlight the main advantages of CBD toward chronic fatigue syndrome.
Sleep
The potential of CBD in improving sleep quality is relatively well-established. After intake, CBD in the forms of sleep gummies or capsules interferes with the ECS to provide the state of balance in the body. By ensuring homeostasis, CBD can help to stabilise various sleeping problems such as insomnia, hypersomnia, restless sleep, and abnormal awakenings.
Pain
Also, CBD has the ability to alleviate the root of sleep disturbances caused by pain and chronic aches. It’s been demonstrated to help with three categories of pain such as neuropathic pain (instigated by traumas which damage nerves), inflammatory pain (appeared after tissue damage), and central pain (caused by nervous system dysfunction). Aside from the positive impact on ECS, cannabidiol possesses anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and analgesic to help relieve pain from different aches, reduce inflammation, and heal wounds, scars, and injuries.
Anxiety & Depression
CBD can help to fight stress by diminishing activity in the amygdala and activating prefrontal cortex, which are the two brain areas typically associated with anxiety. It also impacts CB1 receptors of the brain to rebalance glutamate and GABA levels, which are involved with stress and anxiety. Using CBD oil for anxiety has been proved to be beneficial in the treatment of stress, depression, and anxiety-associated disorders, including generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Energy Levels
As the mitochondria deliver power for body cells, CBD can help to sustain their activity within a day by impacting and supporting their energy levels. Also, CBD can affect critical systems of the body like the serotonin receptor 5-HT1A. Serotonin plays a significant role in energy balance, while low serotonin levels leave you feeling less energised and tired. CBD can stimulate these vital receptors in activating energy, among other useful functions.
Through a decrease in anxiety, improved energy, and a feeling of balance and wellness, CBD provides an effective all-natural energy boost that can help to reduce stress levels.
