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CBD For PMS: Can It Help With Period Cramps & Other Common Symptoms?

AN EDITED ARTICLE ORIGINALLY Written by KL & LG

 

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) includes a wide variety of signs and symptoms from mood swings, fatigue, food cravings, tender breasts, and abdominal cramping that occurs 5–10 days before menstruation.

The cause for these symptoms isn’t exactly known by researchers, but it’s believed to involve the shift of two hormones, estrogen, and progesterone—two of the main female reproductive hormones.

For some women, PMS symptoms can become so severe that it impacts aspects of their daily lives—which may require pharmaceutical intervention from their primary care doctor. However, a non-prescription and natural compound many women are turning to ease symptoms is cannabidiol (CBD).

CBD has been extensively studied for its potential towards supporting normal stress levels and may have anti-inflammatory properties that show a lot of promise in helping to address pain from cramping.

In this article, we’ll investigate CBD’s potential uses for women’s health, how to use it effectively, and how to shop for quality products.


 

The Long & The Short:

  1. PMS has a wide range of symptoms that involves two main female reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone.
  2. CBD is one of the main active compounds derived from cannabis plants with broad-acting effects on one’s wellness, primarily acting on the endocannabinoid system.
  3. CBD doesn’t directly affect hormone changes in the body, but it may help to support stress, balance mood, improve cramping discomfort, and support a normal inflammatory response.
  4. Research surrounding CBD for PMS symptoms is still new and requires more exploration, but that hasn’t stopped many people from reaching for CBD products to reduce PMS symptoms.
  5. CBD is a versatile compound that can be used both internally and topically to support women’s health.
  6. Always shop for CBD products from trusted brands that practice honesty and integrity with their manufacturing of CBD oil.

 

How Can CBD Oil Help With PMS?

We want to clarify that there are no CBD products out there that is FDA-approved to treat, mitigate, or cure PMS symptoms, and there’s still a lot of research needed to understand CBD’s relation to PMS—PMS is too complex for one single compound to tackle on its own.

However, some people anecdotally report success in using this cannabinoid to make their PMS more comfortable.

Cannabidiol belongs to a class of phytochemicals called cannabinoids from the cannabis plant. Unlike its notorious counterpart, THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, CBD is non-intoxicating and may have more potential towards supporting one’s mood, inflammation, and pain perception.

Let’s get into some of the research.

1. CBD May Help To Balance Mood

Mood swings are often brought up when discussing PMS. When the body releases an egg, estrogen, and progesterone levels decline, which also influence serotonin levels. Serotonin is a key hormone and neurotransmitter that regulates our mood and sense of happiness.

CBD doesn’t directly affect hormone levels, but it has been shown to indirectly regulate serotonin levels. Anandamide is a naturally occurring cannabinoid that the body produces. It’s also nick-named the “bliss molecule.” Anandamide binds to CB1 receptors in the brain, which regulates the serotonin system [1].

Because of CBD’s particular shape, it doesn’t have an affinity to bind to CB1 receptors, but it does help to increase anandamide levels in the body by inhibiting the release of enzymes that break down the bliss molecule. On top of this, CBD has also been observed to increase the CB1 and CB2 receptor sensitivity to cannabinoids [2].

 

2. CBD May Have MUSCLE-RELAXING Properties To Reduce Tension

CBD interacts with the endocannabinoid system (ECS). Your ECS is a complex signaling system that helps keep your body in homeostasis for optimum function. One of the ECS’ actions is to control muscle spasms and the pain associated with them. Unlike muscle relaxant medication, CBD doesn’t numb pain. Instead, it strengthens the signaling in the ECS to get to the root of the cramping.

As we mentioned earlier, there isn’t a lot of significant research supporting CBD on premenstrual cramping.

Most of the research surrounding CBD as a muscle relaxant is conducted on multiple sclerosis—an autoimmune disease that attacks the protective layering of nerve cells resulting in muscle spasms and loss of coordination, patients with promising results [3].

3. CBD May Help With PMS Discomfort

One of the most popular reasons people reach for CBD is for pain relief.

Medical cannabis research surrounding cannabinoids use as a pain-reliever found that CBD is effective at blocking pain signals without hijacking the reward center of the brain, making it less prone to substance abuse [4].

During your period, the uterus contracts to expel the lining and a release of a hormone-like substance called prostaglandins also trigger inflammation of the site, causing painful abdominal cramping.

How To Use CBD For PMS Discomfort

CBD is an incredibly versatile compound that’s been used both internally (CBD oil, gummies, teas, and more) and topically (creams, lotions, balms) for inflammatory support, mood regulation, and relief from all sorts of discomfort.

there are 3 main things to be aware of:

Hemp Quality

Extract Type

Dosage

1. Hemp Quality

The quality of the hemp source and its manufacturing is crucial to making effective CBD products. Unfortunately, not all CBD brands are in it for the right reasons, which is why where you shop for your CBD products is just as important as the application itself.

Transparency about hemp sourcing and manufacturing practices are key to assuring quality. Hemp can be grown just about anywhere—but the quality of the soil matters.

Hemp is a bioaccumulator, which means it absorbs nutrients and chemicals from its growing environment. If the hemp is grown on contaminated soil, it could end up in the final product and add a host of other problems you don’t want to worry about on top of your PMS symptoms.

Reputable brands not only market quality hemp, but they also prove it with lab tests that showcase the potency of the hemp extract and its purity. The lab tests should be conducted from an accredited, third-party lab to remove biases surrounding the product.

 

2. Extract Type

When you’re shopping for CBD products, you’ll come across three types of hemp extract—full-spectrum, isolate, and broad-spectrum.

Most experts and anecdotal experiences on the web recommend full-spectrum as the best extract type for supporting PMS symptoms. Among the three extract types, full-spectrum resembles the hemp plant the closest. It contains a range of cannabinoids and terpenes in hemp to amplify the effects of CBD while curbing some potential side effects. This is called the entourage effect.

Since hemp plants contain up to 0.3% THC, it’s not accessible to everyone, especially if you live in an area that has strict THC restrictions or if you have CBD sensitivities, the next best bet is to opt for a broad spectrum CBD extract.

The broad spectrum starts as a full-spectrum extract but it undergoes additional processing to isolate and remove all traces of THC. In effect, you still leverage the entourage effect.

CBD isolate products are generally cheaper because they don’t require as much careful processing to preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes. While CBD isolate will still work, you’ll likely need higher doses to achieve the same effects as you would with extracts that can leverage the entourage effect.

 

3. Dosage

When it comes to alleviating discomfort and supporting a normal inflammatory response, multiple studies have found higher doses of CBD (50MG and up) to be more effective.

The tricky thing is that the dose of CBD is always dependent on the individual. With our high-potency CBD we make sure to break things down so that you know what is a the right amount for you. Again this all helps your ECS to support homeostasis (balance) in your lifestyle.

If you’re new to CBD, it’s recommended to start with low doses and build your way up to higher doses to allow your ECS to adjust.

When it comes to topical CBD products, you don’t have to worry about overdoing it. CBD applied to the skin doesn’t enter the bloodstream. It interacts with endocannabinoid receptors in the skin tissue to support inflammation and pain regulation—but it won’t do much to support your overall mood.

To sum it all up

Your lifestyle and wellbeing is important to us, and we know it is important to you. For that, we’re aware you have to keep you in mind throughout your CBD journey, and all of the CBD options out there don’t really help it to be an easy decision.

So even if you don’t select one of our CBD products, we want to make sure that you’re informed and able to encourage you to make the best decision for you. Whether it is for your PMS, inflammation, stress or other reasons that you’re applying CBD to your life, we want to be the lifestyle brand that is on your side and in your life the right way.


OUR SELECT PARTNERS

 


Bobby Rapscallion’s CBD Products

At Bobby Rapscallion, honesty and integrity are values put into everything. Our hemp is farmed on American soil using organic practices. Our extracts are meticulously tested by our team and a third-party lab to ensure the highest quality standards. Since we stand firmly behind the profound effects of the entourage effect, you won’t find CBD isolate products in our catalog—but we understand that full-spectrum products aren’t ideal for everyone, which is why most of our products are also available in a THC-free broad-spectrum option.

Our high-potency oils start at a Potency Level 1 for those that are wanting to ease into CBD but need a higher dose. Keeping to this focus, we’ll be releasing Potency Levels 2 & 3 in the future. This is to make sure that all of our customers have the option to get high-quality CBD at a potency level that works best for them.

 

Our CBD Oil

CBD oils are a product staple for a CBD brand. We’ve carefully crafted our CBD oils to keep our high-quality hemp crops the star of the show. CBD oil also provides a wide range of versatility as you can take them sublingual (under the tongue) for fast-acting effects, or mix our flavored options into your favorite foods and drinks for wellness with a unique twist. CBD oils are a favorite for beginners and experts alike for their versatility and because you can customize your doses drop by drop.

 

our CBD Gummies

For those who don’t enjoy the natural bitter terpene flavor in hemp oils, but still want the whole plant benefits, CBD gummies might be a better solution for you.

We create selectively-crafted gummies at a cGMP facility and make them fresh to order. These also come in assorted flavors to mask the hempy taste and potencies start at 45MG per gummy.

Always remember that the ingestion process is different between oils and edibles like gummies. So we provide products that allow you to decide what works best for you and how you want to experience CBD.




Resources:

  1. Haj-Dahmane, S., & Shen, R. Y. (2011). Modulation of the serotonin system by endocannabinoid signaling. Neuropharmacology, 61(3), 414–420.
  2. Leweke, F. M., Piomelli, D., Pahlisch, F., Muhl, D., Gerth, C. W., Hoyer, C., Klosterkötter, J., Hellmich, M., & Koethe, D. (2012). Cannabidiol enhances anandamide signaling and alleviates psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia. Translational psychiatry, 2(3), e94.
  3. Peer W. F. Karmaus, James G. Wagner, Jack R. Harkema, Norbert E. Kaminski, Barbara L. F. Kaplan. (2013). Cannabidiol (CBD) enhances lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced pulmonary inflammation in C57BL/6 mice. Journal of Immunotoxicology 10:3, pages 321-328.
  4. Blake, A., Wan, B. A., Malek, L., DeAngelis, C., Diaz, P., Lao, N., & O’Hearn, S. (2017). A selective review of medical cannabis in cancer pain management. Ann Palliat Med, 6(Suppl 2), S215-S222

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