CBD Oil and Menstrual Cycle

According to Medscape, dysmenorrhea or painful menstrual cycle affects more than 50% of menstruating women. While NSAIDs and contraceptive pills help reduce its symptoms, these medications also produce some nasty side effects like stomach ulcers, gastrointestinal bleeding, dizziness, and nausea.

Today, an increasing number of women use CBD oil for menstrual pain. They find that it helps relieve their menstrual pain and ease other symptoms.

So, how does CBD oil help, and is it really effective?

Menstrual Cramps and Pain

Menstrual cramps and pain occur because of compounds like prostaglandins. These hormone-like lipids cause your uterus to contract and expel its lining. In some women, this physiological action causes extreme pain.

In addition to uterine contraction, these compounds also trigger pain and inflammatory responses. These, in turn, contribute to the development of dysmenorrhea.

Now, there’s little research done on CBD and menstrual cycle. But CBD has many properties that help relieve the symptoms of dysmenorrhea.

CBD for menstrual cramps not only relaxes the muscles but also helps reduce pain and inflammation. CBD works on the endocannabinoid system and other non-cannabinoid systems such as the serotonin, adenosine, and vanilloid receptors. These receptors play a role in controlling pain and inflammation. CBD prompts the cells to stop releasing pain-generating chemicals, and it also modulates inflammation.

CBD and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Many women deal with premenstrual syndrome or PMS before their menstrual cycle. The symptoms are also caused by changes in hormone levels. It’s characterized by mood swings, irritability, breast tenderness, fatigue, headache, nausea, joint pains, backache, and acne flare-ups. Some women also develop abdominal bloating with changes in bowel movement (constipation or diarrhea).

You can also use CBD for PMS. Using CBD oil for PMS helps ease some of its symptoms including mood swings, irritability, depression, and fatigue. It also relieves joint pain and backache. CBD also helps reduce acne flare-ups since it acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent.

You can find the best CBD for PMS mood swings in your local dispensary, but for more brands and potencies, you can shop online.

Menstrual Cramps Dosage

We lack specific studies on CBD and PMS as well as dysmenorrhea, so using CBD will be a bit of a trial-and-error approach, especially since it has no set RDI or recommended daily intake yet. You have to find the best dosage that works well in controlling your symptoms.

But to help you get started on how to use CBD for period pain, you may use the dosage chart for our ICARIA CBD oils:

• For mild symptoms, use 6.25 to 12.5 mg of CBD or 5 to 10 drops
• For moderate symptoms, use 18.75 to 25 mg of CBD or 15 to 20 drops 
• For severe symptoms, use 25 to 50 mg of CBD or 20 to 40 drops
• For extra-strength CBD, use 100 mg of CBD or 80 drops

Our dosage chart should be able to help answer questions like “how much CBD should I take for menstrual cramps?” or “how many drops of CBD oil should I take?”

You can lower the dose though, especially if you developed some adverse side effects. On the other hand, you can also increase the dose if you didn’t feel any improvement in your symptoms.

Warnings and Benefits of CBD Oil

Can you use CBD oil for menstrual cramps?

As mentioned earlier, CBD oil helps with many symptoms associated with painful menstrual cycles. By activating the endocannabinoid system and non-cannabinoid receptors, CBD helps decrease pain and inflammation. It can help reduce abdominal cramping, joint pains, and backache. CBD for PMS mood swings also helps improve mood and depression, and it also eases nausea.

CBD also has some side effects though. Some CBD users report that CBD caused eye and mouth dryness. It also made them feel a bit dizzy. But these side effects were well-tolerated and disappeared once the body adjusted to CBD.

Can CBD oil help with heavy periods?

if you want to use CBD oil for your symptoms, we recommend speaking with your primary care physician first, especially if you have a chronic medical condition and/or taking medications.

CBD, according to experts, interacts with several drugs and can either increase or decrease their effects. For example, CBD increases warfarin’s anticoagulant effects and may not be good for women with heavy periods and blood problems.

Does CBD Help with Menstrual Cramps?

Anecdotal stories show that CBD oil for menstrual cramps helps. It has powerful muscle relaxant effects that can help ease cramps.

One study, in particular, notes that CBD helps with endometriosis. Endometriosis is a painful condition wherein the tissues that line the inner uterus grow outside to also cover the outer uterus. Its symptoms include painful menstrual cycles, abdominal cramping, heavy bleeding, pain upon urination and defecation, painful intercourse, and infertility. Women suffering from endometriosis also complain of fatigue, nausea, and abdominal bloating.

According to the 2019 study published in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, CBD was one of the most effective alternative treatments for endometriosis. It significantly helped reduce their pain and discomfort.

Does CBD affect menstrual cycle?

Again, we lack studies on CBD and menstrual cycle. While it can help relieve many symptoms associated with painful menstrual cycles, we don’t have enough evidence though to show that CBD can prolong or shorten a cycle.

However, care should still be taken when using CBD oil. One study done on animals suggested that cannabinoids reduce the secretion of luteinizing hormone. This is a hormone that regulates the menstrual cycle and prompts the ovary to release an egg.

If you’re thinking of using CBD oil for your menstrual cycle problems, we reiterate the importance of seeing your doctor first.

Conclusion

CBD does have many therapeutic properties that relieve painful menstrual cycles. It relieves pain, discomfort, cramps, joint pains, and backache, and it also relieves depression and stabilizes mood swings. CBD’s anti-inflammatory property also regulates inflammation, which contributes to pain and acne breakout.

However, if you’re using anticoagulant drugs like warfarin, be careful when using CBD oil for heavy periods since CBD increases warfarin’s anticoagulant effects.

If you’re looking for the best CBD for menstrual cramps, then be sure to check out our website, ICARIA. We specialize in organically-grown, hemp-derived CBD oil. All our products underwent laboratory testing by a certified third party, and their certificates of analysis show they’re free from any toxic residues or pathogenic microorganisms.

You may contact us via our website to know more about our ICARIA CBD oils. We’d love to help you choose the best type of CBD oil for your menstrual cycle problems.