Anyone who suffers from an anxiety or sleep disorder knows how draining it can be. The two conditions, while distinct, often occur together and create a cycle that can be difficult to break free of. But daily worrying and lying awake at night for hours on end can are not just damaging to your emotional health; the cumulative effect can have a negative effect on your physical well-being too. Call Dr. Frankel and Dr. Kurzman at Greenbridge Medical in Santa Monica, California, to learn more about treatment for anxiety or insomnia or book your appointment online.
An anxiety disorder is not the normal fretting or nervousness that everyone experiences at one time or another. People who experience this can have bursts of intense worry out of nowhere, have elevated baseline stress levels at all times, or a combination of both.
This increase in anxiety can result in panic attacks and can turn daily life or social situations into a nightmare.
If you have an anxiety disorder, you may notice the following:
In addition to these unpleasant symptoms, chronic anxiety and stress can lead to a whole host of other health issues over time.
If you have difficulty falling asleep or keep waking up in the middle of the night, then you most likely suffer from insomnia. Insomnia can make life miserable due to the constant fatigue it causes, as your body quickly stops functioning efficiently without enough sleep.
Sometimes insomnia can be caused by something else, like anxiety, asthma, or arthritis; when this is the case, it is called secondary insomnia, which is usually temporary. But other people have what is called primary insomnia, which means a person is having trouble sleeping for no other tangible medical reason.
Insomnia can present itself in a lifelong struggle getting to sleep or in bursts of days without rest, but everyone living with insomnia can improve their lives with treatment.
Both anxiety and insomnia have traditionally been treated with medication, usually in combination with therapy and small lifestyle changes. Better habits like exercise and avoiding alcohol and tobacco are also effective ways to manage anxiety and get better sleep.
Medical cannabis has been shown to help those with anxiety disorders through the calming effects of several cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol (CBD). People who suffer from anxiety can benefit from whole plant cannabis as well. Most people with anxiety insomnia, or both, often experience relief from symptoms such as:
When the cannabis is effective, they are able to decrease, and at times even discontinue, their other prescription medications.
Many patients at GreenBridge Medical report instant and long-lasting relief from cannabis that they could not get from their traditional treatment alone.
Soothing your baseline anxiety levels is also a way that medical cannabis helps people get to sleep and then stay that way all night long.
The sleep aids, anti-anxiety, and antidepressant medications often used to treat anxiety and insomnia can have harsh side effects that can take their toll on you over time.
These side effects range from minor, like weight gain or nausea, all the way to vomiting, panic attacks, and an increase in suicidal thoughts. Medical cannabis helps people avoid these harsh side effects while managing their anxiety and insomnia.
Call Greenbridge Medical or make an appointment online to learn more about how medical cannabis can help your anxiety and insomnia.
