CBD for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)

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Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

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Introduction

Chronic fatigue syndrome also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a long-term illness that affects many parts of the body. People with ME/CFS find it hard to do everyday things. In some cases, the condition can make them unable to leave their beds or homes.

The syndrome is named for its main symptom, which is chronic fatigue. When it doesn't get better with rest or sleep and gets worse when you do things. People with ME/CFS also have trouble sleeping, both in terms of how well they sleep and how long they sleep. When people with ME/CFS try to do more than they need to, their symptoms tend to get worse. This is called post-exertional malaise, or PEM.

CBD oil is getting a lot of attention as an effective, non-toxic way to treat ME/CFS symptoms like fatigue, chronic pain, and trouble sleeping.

What causes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

ME/CFS is a chronic, acquired, multi-systemic disease that causes major relapses after any kind of mental, emotional, or physical effort. The condition is linked to problems with the brain, immune system, and nervous system. As well as problems with the autonomic nervous system and sleep. These problems cause pathological fatigue and a loss of function. ME/CFS has no known cause, but its symptoms are often brought on by another illness, infection, or health problem.

Even though it's not clear what causes ME/CFS, there are also no tests or other ways to diagnose the condition. No drugs have been made to treat ME/CFS, and there is no known cure as of right now. Because there aren't many diagnostics or tests available, it can take years for a doctor to give a ME/CFS diagnosis. One estimate says that between 84 and 91% of people with ME/CFS don't get a proper diagnosis.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)/chronic fatigue syndrome can happen to children, teens, and adults (CFS). The ratio of women to men in the community who have ME/CFS is 3 to 4. This means that more women than men have this syndrome.

Many people have the syndrome's symptoms for years before they find out what it is. ME/CFS is linked to overwhelming fatigue and a big drop in both mental and physical stamina.

Malaise, or a general feeling of being sick, is a key symptom of the syndrome. Even mild mental or physical activity can make symptoms worse for people with CFS. When these symptoms show up after a workout, they tend to last for days, weeks, or hours. They don't get better with sleep or rest!

Symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome:

• Cognitive problems
• Disturbed sleep or unrefreshing sleep
• Localized or generalized pain
• Light-headedness
• Multiple organ systems-related symptoms
• Joint pain or muscle pain
• Sore throat
• Problems remembering
• Headaches
• General malaise
• Heart palpitations (irregular or fast heartbeats)
• Flu-like symptoms

How does it affect us?

Some younger people with CFS can go to school either part-time or full-time. Others can't leave their homes, need a wheelchair, or can't get out of bed. Since there isn't a specific test for ME/CFS, doctors make a diagnosis based on how the symptoms fit together. To diagnose ME/CFS, they look at the patient's medical history and rule out other causes of fatigue through imaging and tests.

Chronic fatigue syndrome can come on quickly or slowly. With a sudden increase in how often and how bad mild fatigue symptoms are. There is also often a history of repeated illnesses that happen months or even years before the first CFS symptoms show up. Viruses or flu-like illnesses happen often, and there are also orthostatic symptoms like feeling dizzy. CFS can sometimes happen after a short-term infection, like infectious mononucleosis.

Even though most people with CFS have the same symptoms, the severity of these symptoms tends to vary a lot from person to person. Many people have a lot of trouble with their mental and physical abilities. Also, their quality of life isn't as good as it is for people with epilepsy, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, or epilepsy.

Even though there is no cure or specific treatment for ME/CFS, the following therapies can help with the symptoms:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT
• Graded Exercise Therapy or GET, which is a structured exercise program
• Medications to control sleeping problems, joint or muscle pain, and nausea

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What is the difference between CFS and normal tiredness?

A lot of people don't believe in chronic fatigue syndrome because they say that everyone gets tired. But this disorder is more than just being tired or not getting enough sleep. It can often lead to serious problems. Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as CFS, is often misunderstood by people who have never had it.

Chronic fatigue syndrome affects many parts of the body. This can make people so tired that they can't live their normal lives. CFS can also cause pain in the muscles and joints, problems with thinking, and sensitivity to sounds, lights, and touches. Post-exertional malaise is a sign of this condition. It is a big increase in CFS symptoms that usually happens after physical or mental activity.

People would understand if someone said “I'm too tired” instead of “I'm in too much pain”. As a result of a lack of knowledge of chronic fatigue syndrome, a patient is usually ignored. Instead, the main focus is always on how much pain they are in.

Chronic fatigue affects a person's body and mind. It's a lot worse than just needing to rest at the end of a long day.

One thing that all people with CFS agree on is that fatigue is very bad. You can deal with pain with pills or other methods. However, you can't get rid of fatigue with the usual pills or ice packs.

More from our blog:

• Can CBD oil Help Chronic Pain and Mental health?
• CBD Oil for Back Pain
• CBD Benefits
• CBD for Inflammation
• Can CBD help you sleep better? What you should know!

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What about CBD for chronic fatigue syndrome?

CBD is being looked into for a lot of different health problems. Many of those problems have symptoms that are similar to ME/CFS. We can't say for sure that these results apply to similar situations, but they give us some reason to think so.

Cannabidiol is a chemical compound that can only be found in the Cannabis Sativa plant. Cannabis Sativa has been used throughout history to make seed oil, industrial fiber, food, medicine, religious and spiritual purposes, and for fun.

There are both hybrid and pure types of the Cannabis plant genus. Cannabis Sativa, Cannabis Indica, and Cannabis Ruderalis are the three most common species.

These varieties are grown to bring out certain qualities in the plant or to make the strain stand out so that its medicinal effects are stronger. Some types of cannabis are grown only for their seeds and fibers (hemp), while other types have a lot of THC, which is a compound that makes people feel high (marijuana). The third type of cannabis that is often grown is high in other cannabinoids but has less than 0.2% THC.

Even though CBD doesn't make people feel high, research shows that it stops THC from making the brain feel high to the same level as without.

CBD is then mixed with carrier oils like MCT- or hemp seed oil, which are known for their healing properties, and other important ingredients to make healing products.

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CBD can reduce abnormal pain sensations

Many studies show that the central nervous system (CNS) is a big reason why people with chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia have problems with how they process pain. The problems are caused by not being able to stop pain well enough and by central sensitization. Central sensitization is a condition of the nervous system in which there is persistent high reactivity, which keeps the body in a state of constant pain.

More and more evidence shows that glial cells play a key role in making people feel pain in a way that isn't normal. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets published a study from 2017 that says CBD may be able to reduce the activity of certain brain cells (called glia) that cause central sensitization. Other conditions, like migraines and irritable bowel syndrome, are also linked to the CNS being too sensitive.

Even though it hasn't been proven, endocannabinoid deficiency is thought to be a cause of both chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Endocannabinoid deficiency means that the body doesn't have enough endocannabinoids or that it's getting rid of them too quickly. Researchers think that CBD stops the destruction of endocannabinoids by activating cannabinoid receptors in a way that isn't directly visible. This helps to restore stability and homeostasis. When the balance is back in place, the pain goes away and energy and alertness go up.

A review in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research says that CBD can help treat conditions with similar symptoms, like irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, and fibromyalgia.

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CBD for Pain relief

A lot of research has been done on how well CBD oil relieves pain. Many studies show that CBD oil may be able to reduce pain and inflammation. Systematic reviews that looked at multiple studies about how well CBD helped with pain found that CBD could help reduce chronic pain by a lot. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, researchers found that CBD oil helped reduce inflammation and pain. This means that it could be used to treat the chronic pain that comes with CFS.

Opioids or NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are usually given to people with ME/CFS to help them deal with pain. Strong painkillers have side effects that aren't great, and there have been drug overdoses. Doctors worry about the risk of addiction. CBD has been found to be a safer, non-toxic way to treat pain. It doesn't have any substances that make you high and is full of compounds that fight inflammation. Studies have shown that CBD has no side effects and does not cause addiction.

More than 2,000 people with chronic pain who were part of a study were given medical cannabis. Researchers found that CBD helped most of the people in their study with pain without causing any bad side effects.

An animal model study that was published in the European Journal of Pain found that CBD products were also good at reducing swelling and pain.

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CBD is combating oxidative stress

Researchers also found that CBD reduces oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease through in-vivo studies.

How CBD reduces fatigue

CBD oil and other products made from cannabis have been used to treat things like fatigue, pain, and epilepsy in many parts of the world for many decades. There is evidence that CBD does these good things by changing how important signals in brain cells work. CBD helps reduce the feeling of pain by interacting with certain brain receptors. It also makes you feel better and gives you more energy.

In the 1980s, scientists found cannabinoid receptors in the brain and other parts of the immune system. Soon after that, scientists also found the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which keeps the body in homeostatic balance. Even though there are many endocannabinoids in nature, the body makes them in response to stress. The endocannabinoid system is made up of the endocannabinoids and the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors, which are found all over the body.

Energy and mood are linked to CB1 and CB2 receptors. CBD, unlike the other psychoactive compound THC, does not affect these receptors directly. However, it may change the way receptors bind to other important chemicals, such as neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are important messengers that send the brain important messages. CBD may also stop endocannabinoids from being destroyed, which helps keep the body's functions in balance.

Many researchers think that CBD controls pain through mechanisms other than CB1. CBD may help control pain and inflammation by turning on receptors for serotonin 1A, vanilloid, and adenosine A2A.

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Summary – CBD for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, is a disease that causes people to feel very tired even when they get a lot of rest. Most of the time, CFS comes on suddenly, but it can also come on slowly. It might be found after other things have been ruled out.

CFS is a long-term condition that is often linked to trouble sleeping, pain in the muscles, and trouble thinking. Chronic fatigue syndrome has a lot of different symptoms, so there are a lot of different treatments that could help.

Some people say that you should change your lifestyle and stay away from things that make you feel stressed. Some people like to do aerobic exercises to improve the way their bodies work. A physical therapist and/or an occupational therapist would be a big help in making an exercise plan that fits your needs.

Studies show that the healing effects of CBD may help ease the symptoms of CFS.

If you suffer from CFS you have NOTHING to lose trying CBD to help alleviate some of the debilitating symptoms of CFS.

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FAQ – CBD for CFS

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The Real CBD for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome