CBD for Menopause Symptoms

If you’re experiencing a lack of support around your menopausal symptoms, your feelings are completely valid. We still don’t fully understand menopause– the scientific community continues to research this transition in regards to why and how our bodies change. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the most prevalent symptoms of menopause and how CBD oil may help. 

Night Sweats and Hot Flashes

Night sweats and hot flashes are some of the hallmark symptoms of menopause. They can be very disruptive to both sleep and our everyday routines, causing frustration, sleep deprivation, and a lower quality of life.

These symptoms are caused by altered neurochemistry within the hypothalamus which controls your body temperature. During this altered state, your blood vessel dilation and sweat response become easily triggered. Studies have shown that hot flashes can be triggered when body temperatures increase by only one and a half degrees during menopause when normally only triggered when the body temperature increases by three degrees.

Since hot flashes are due to neurochemistry, certain antidepressants and SSRIs have been prescribed to help alleviate these symptoms. While there aren’t any existing studies regarding CBD and hot flashes, studies have shown CBD’s promising therapeutic value for balancing mood chemical messengers and serotonin. This could explain the abundance of testimonials of women who swear by CBD for menopause symptoms such as night sweats and hot flashes.    

Insomnia and Poor Sleep

Sleep issues are commonly experienced by many women during menopause as well as post-menopause. Sleep deprivation causes havoc across the body, impacting physical, emotional, and mental health. Since menopausal symptoms can exacerbate sleep disturbances through night sweats, anxiety, or depression, you’ll need to determine what’s causing your poor sleep before you can take the proper action.

While there’s still much to learn about CBD’s relationship with sleep, the anecdotal data has been overwhelmingly positive. CBD may enhance endocannabinoid signaling, influencing neurochemistry and alleviating anxiety for improving your quality of sleep. Many women have reported a sedative effect when taking CBD before bed while others experience relief from other symptoms that can affect your quality of sleep.

Mood Swings and Depression

Since estrogen and progesterone affect serotonin and other mood chemical messengers in the brain, they directly impact mood. During menopause, hormone levels are in constant flux and eventually drop, meaning that it’s likely that you’ll experience mood swings, anxiety, or even depression. 

Professional help is always advised if you’re experiencing these issues. There are many therapeutic and pharmaceutical treatments available to help cope with mood disorders during menopause. Studies  have shown that CBD may offer significant anti-anxiety properties, activating serotonin receptors and helping stabilize mood chemical messengers. This suggests that taking CBD oil for menopause symptoms such as anxiety and mood swings may be a viable option for women seeking a holistic alternative. 

Joint Pain, Muscle Aches, and Tender Breasts

When your estrogen levels start to plummet, your body will produce higher levels of inflammatory molecules in response. With whole-body inflammation triggered, this can drastically exacerbate arthritis symptoms. More than 60% of menopausal women experience muscle and joint pain due to this.

Finding ways to lower your inflammation can help address these aches and pains. There are numerous scientific studies that showcase CBD’s anti-inflammatory potential and promising ability to defend bones and joints from inflammatory damage. In addition to taking CBD, an anti-inflammatory diet and low-impact exercise are also great natural tools for combating inflammation.

Hormonal stress and fluctuation can also contribute to breast tenderness which is common during menstruation, pregnancy, as well as perimenopause. From dull aches to even throbbing pain, breast soreness may be addressed by CBD’s renowned, promising pain-relieving properties. CBD may help manage this painful symptom, offering a natural alternative to over-the-counter pain medication. 

Tip: Try soaking in a warm bath with our Bath Bomb for whole-body inflammation and pain relief. 

Weight Gain and Diabetes

Hormones also play a key role in regulating our metabolism. Without pre-menopausal estrogen levels, our bodies don’t burn as many calories or fat.

Regardless of diet changes and maintaining a stable weight, the consistent hormonal shifts experienced trigger your body to increase fat storage. Increased fat storage also increases the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

There have been studies supporting lower insulin levels and better body fat index ratios  in individuals that use cannabis products consistently. Preclinical studies also show that CBD may help promote a healthy metabolism while buffering the activity of natural endocannabinoids which are linked to insulin resistance during menopause. In other words, CBD oil may provide support for women experiencing menopause symptoms such as weight gain and diabetes. 

Osteoporosis

Calcium and other minerals are consistently moved in and out of bones as a part of healthy body function. As women enter the perimenopause phase, bone resorption occurs which results in lowering bone density and increasing the risk of fractures and breaks. That’s why calcium supplementation is important during this transition.

However, new studies are showing that inflammation may be one of the main contributors to bone resorption. If this is the case, it’s quite possible that CBD may provide relief for menopause symptoms related to osteoporosis. 

Preclinical studies have shown that CBD may promote bone cell growth, helping improve fracture recovery times. It may also lower TNFx levels and aid against age-related bone loss. The promising anti-inflammatory properties of CBD may also target this condition at the root cause.   

Memory Loss and Lack of Focus

Since estrogen and progesterone play a critical role in neural regeneration within the hippocampus for forming new connections, it’s no wonder that menopausal women may experience memory loss. While it can be easy to blame this symptom on age, younger women who have undergone surgical menopause also experience this. 

Even though research is limited, studies have found encouraging neuroprotective properties in CBD. These preclinical studies show that CBD may promote synaptic plasticity and neuroprotection, especially within the hippocampus.

Lack of focus is also another common symptom of menopause. Since estrogen levels are critically connected to brain function, the hormone encourages blood flow to the brain. As estrogen plummets during menopause, so can our concentration levels. Stress and anxiety can further exacerbate this lack of focus, often leading women to experience a vicious cycle as stress is one of the most common symptoms of menopause. Recent studies showcase CBD’s potential for improving cognitive processes, including attention and working memory. Other studies display CBD’s pro-cognitive effects, combined with its stress-relief potential can offer therapeutic promise for helping menopausal women feel more cognitively present.  

Genitourinary Conditions

Genitourinary conditions are characterized as bladder control, vaginal dryness, and atrophy. They can become quite common post-menopause.

Estrogen is important for providing adequate blood flow within the pelvic region, helping deliver fresh oxygen to tissues within the sexual organs and urinary tract. When menopause starts, it’s crucial to find ways of keeping up blood flow. 

Topical CBD may offer therapeutic value due to its vasodilator nature. CBD may help increase blood flow when applied in the pelvic region while helping combat inflammation, alleviate tense muscles, and calm painful sensations experienced in the vagina. 

Tip: Try applying our Pause Muscle and Joint Cream to the pelvic region to help stimulate blood flow and alleviate painful symptoms.

Digestive Issues

With all the various hormone changes your body experiences during menopause, it makes women more prone to experiencing digestive issues. The perimenopause process can cause considerable stress which has a direct impact on digestive health. Additionally, sex hormones play a role in the rhythm of our digestive tract, meaning the fluctuating levels can cause pain, diarrhea, gas, bloating, and changes in your bowel movements. 

Unfortunately, digestive health can be further complicated by the use of hormone replacement therapy. CBD may offer antiemetic and anti-inflammatory effects for targeting a number of digestive concerns. While more research is needed, studies and anecdotal accounts report CBD’s therapeutic promise for aiding in a wide scope of digestive issues including abdominal pain, diarrhea, and more.    

Lowered Sex Drive

Our hormones play a significant role in our sex drive. As women experience the stages that lead to becoming menopause, estrogen levels fluctuate and drop significantly. This in itself can cause a lowered libido. However, many of the other symptoms experienced during menopause like stress, pain, and vaginal dryness, can all further exacerbate this. 

While there haven’t been any studies directly conducted on CBD and sex drive, CBD does offer promising vasodilator, anti-anxiety, and pain-relief properties that can all help set the mood for sensual experiences. Some other natural ways of boosting your sex drive are focusing on a nutrient-dense diet along with regular exercise daily.   

Headaches

Hormone headaches and menstrual migraines are reported by about half of women. For some women, these headaches may get better during menopause. While for others, the hormone imbalance and disruption can actually make them much more severe than before. 

Recent studies display CBD’s potential effectiveness in treating migraines. Its promising pain-relief and anti-inflammatory properties may act as a natural option for helping alleviate headaches and migraines. 

Tip: Try applying our Pause Healing Balm to your temples for tension headache relief.

Impacted Hair, Skin, and Nails

What can we say- hormonal changes can be a real $!@#&! Since hormones play a role in helping hair grow, their decline can lead to hair loss. As estrogen levels plummet, so does our skin’s production of collagen and natural oils. Some women experience dry, itchy skin as a result. With the fluctuating of hormones, our bodies find it more difficult to regulate its water level. This can lead to dehydration and brittle nails. 

Not only are there studies that support CBD’s promising benefits for healthy skin, hair, and nails, full-spectrum products also contain essential fatty acids and other critical nutrients for optimal health. CBD interacts with the cannabinoid receptors located throughout skin cells, hair follicles, and other components, helping nudge everything towards homeostasis.

Tip: Try applying our full-spectrum Pause Tincture topically to problem areas, including skin, hair, and nail beds. Use alone or add to your favorite skincare and hair care products.     

Allergies

Whenever our immune system is stressed, it releases histamines. Since our hormones are so intimately connected with our immune system, it’s not unusual to experience changes in our allergies during menopause. Heightened allergies can also be one of the factors causing poor sleep and insomnia. From hay fever to changes in food sensitivities, it’s important to make note of these changes.

Studies are limited, but research shows CBD’s potential for stimulating the CB1 receptor and inhibiting mast cell degranulation which is the process in which they release histamine inflammation into the body’s bloodstream. CBD may lower the body’s histamine response to allergies, while helping alleviate inflammation and other physical symptoms.