Could CBD Help with Menopause and Fatigue?

CBD, Menopause and Fatigue

We are talking about CBD, menopause and fatigue today. Fatigue describes a feeling of exhaustion. If you are suffering from fatigue, you are more than just tired and even a solid eight hours of sleep is likely not enough to alleviate your fatigue.

People who are fatigued might feel mentally tired in addition to their bodies being tired. It is possible to experience mental or emotional fatigue without physical fatigue and vice versa, but these things often go together.

Fatigue can interfere with all aspects of your life. It can make it difficult to focus and concentrate, it can make it hard to perform your job duties, and it can make for rocky relationships. It can also make you feel all-around bad because you feel too tired to enjoy your life.

According to the National Institute of Health, about 10 percent of Americans suffer from severe fatigue and their condition interferes with everyday life. The risk of experiencing fatigue increases during various times in life and menopause is one of those times.

Women who are transitioning through menopause often deal with mental and physical fatigue. As a matter of fact, health experts estimate that as many as 80 percent of women going through menopause will suffer fatigue at some point during the process and in varying degrees.

Some menopausal woman suffer so much they are unable to participate in their lives and are forced to spend the majority of their time resting. A normal day might wear them out so much they are unable to enjoy any activities with their loved ones or participate in recreation they once loved during their time away from work.

Making matters worse, fatigue can be worsened by other symptoms that are so often a part of the menopause transition. For instance, if a woman experiences night sweats and has trouble sleeping, it will make her even more tried than if she were experiencing fatigue alone.

Women who are dealing with menopause might also experience a condition known as “crashing fatigue.” If you’ve ever experienced a late afternoon slump, maybe after eating a large lunch, and you feel as if you have crashed, menopausal crashing fatigue is somewhat similar to this.

However, it is not necessarily linked to what you’ve eaten or any other event occurring during the day. Some menopausal women simply experience a sudden and overwhelming crashing exhaustion that strikes at any time during the day.

Even if her day is otherwise normal and she has over-exerted herself, menopause can cause a woman to experience crashing fatigue. The symptoms of crashing fatigue include:

• Drowsiness
• Muscle fatigue and weakness
• Low energy levels, especially after eating
• Strong urge to sleep
• Lowered attention levels
• Difficult focusing
• Apathy
• Irritability
• Memory lapses

What Causes Menopausal Fatigue?

Experiencing fatigue during the menopause can be related to two different things that can occur simultaneously. Many of the symptoms of the menopause interfere with a woman’s ability to get adequate sleep and cause fatigue indirectly. Night sweats, hot flashes, and unpredictable and irregular periods can affect sleep.

It’s also possible for fatigue to be caused directly by menopause because of the fluctuation in hormones. Menopausal women experience a decrease of estrogen in their body which can cause issues with sleep. A decrease in estrogen can make it difficult to fall asleep or to stay asleep for a significant number of consecutive hours. Lower estrogen can also trigger anxiety, which makes it difficult to get enough sleep.

Knowing that the fatigue you are experiencing is linked to menopause can be an important part of treating it properly. If you know menopause is what’s triggering fatigue you can choose from a variety of treatment options, including CBD oil and other CBD products. In some cases, fatigue might be caused by another health issue and it’s important to rule out anything else before treating fatigue as menopause related.

The best way to connect menopause and fatigue after ruling out any other serious health concerns is to look for other signs of menopause. If a woman is experiencing mood shifts, night sweats, and hot flashes and her periods have become irregular, there’s a good chance her fatigue is linked to menopause.

Using CBD Oil to Treat Menopausal Fatigue

CBD oil can help treat a variety of symptoms linked to menopause, including fatigue. Though many women assume they can live with the fatigue caused by menopause, they often find that after some time it becomes debilitating. In some cases, they assume a lack of sleep in later life is no different than when they were in college or after they had a baby.

Unfortunately, their lives and bodies are much different now and sleep deprivation can be much different for them, too. Fatigue can increase a menopausal woman’s risk for anxiety and depression, creating a scenario in which it is impossible to live a full and enriching life. It’s always better to seek treatment, especially natural treatment like CBD oil, to help with menopausal fatigue.

CBD has not been officially approved for treating fatigue, whether it is linked to menopause or not, but there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence available for its ability to help with this phase of life. Many women have used the oil to ease a variety of the symptoms linked with menopause, including depression, anxiety, and fatigue.

CBD oil is used by many to help with tension and getting a better night of sleep. Not only does sleeping well combat fatigue, but it also helps to reduce the risk for other complications related to menopause. Furthermore, CBD oil appears to have very few negative side effects. People are able to use it without any of the side effects of powerful sleep medications and doesn’t leave them feeling groggy or half-awake in the morning.

It’s important to understand that, while CBD is linked to cannabis and medical marijuana as it comes from the cannabis plant, it will not make you high. People who use CBD oil to treat fatigue, as well as chronic pain, mood swings, and other menopausal symptoms do not experience any psychoactive symptoms (as it does not contain THC) and do not need to worry about the compound interfering with other medications—though it is important to speak to a doctor before using it or any other treatment.

This article by Madeleine Taylor is originally published at SundayScaries.