Last month I was interviewing the founder of a British CBD firm and he asked me whether I had tried taking CBD.
I was telling him I have suffered from anxiety and depression most of my life but still had not properly looked into the supplement as a treatment, despite working for a CBD and medical cannabis news website.
He was, perhaps understandably, flabbergasted.
After the interview I decided I would begin taking CBD and chronicle my experience with it over time. So here we are. Expect more updates in the coming months.
Week One:
I saw CBD oil was half price in a major high street chain in my hometown and wandered in. As the cashier bagged up the little bottle I gestured towards the empty shelf.
“Popular, is it?” I asked.
“I can’t tell you how much we sell,” she replied.
“Eh?” I responded, articulately.
She explained, apologetically, that staff can’t make any unsubstantiated claims about CBD’s health benefits – and saying how much the store sells could be tantamount to saying it is effective.
Bemused, I settled on a 5% CBD food supplement, a couple of drops under the tongue to be taken 2-3 times a day.
I was unprepared for the strong taste of it. I have no idea why but I imagined it would be fairly neutral. I wasn’t prepared for it to taste so heavily of, well, weed. It’s something I’m still getting used to.
A minute or two after taking it I didn’t feel a lot, but I wasn’t expecting to. After all, it is not psychoactive like THC.
But after a few days of taking it I began to feel a lot calmer when confronted with situations that would have previously triggered anxiety. I also started to sleep better.
I have to be honest here and say I began to cut down on alcohol at roughly the same time, which has always improved my overall mood and sleep patterns.
Nonetheless, I was noticeably more grounded and happier. How much of this is down to a placebo effect I don’t know but It’ll be interesting to see how my CBD journey develops. I hope you join me.
