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QUESTION: My 72-year-old mother is taking 10mg of CBD in MCT oil every night before bed to help her stay asleep, but it’s not really working. She still wakes up every few hours, and doesn’t feel rested in the morning. Should we increase her dose? How can we help her best use cannabis for sleep?

The first place to start is to make sure there’s no underlying health issue causing your mom’s poor sleeps. If she hasn’t seen a doctor to ensure it’s not sleep apnea or some other type of sleep disorder, then that’s the first place to start! Cannabis can certainly help people get a more restful sleep, but it’s not a panacea.

Assuming her doctor has given the all clear, there are a couple different things that could help her achieve a more restorative sleep. They each depend on the factors causing her poor sleeps. If you don’t know already, have a conversation with your mom and ask about the reasons she wakes up. Is she feeling anxious? Is she in pain? Is there no real reason, just lots of waking up?

Empty, messy bed, symbolizing sleep issues that can be addressed with cannabis.
An empty, messy bed, representing the struggle with sleep issues that cannabis can help alleviate.

How to use CBD for sleep

CBD helps to reduce both anxiety and general pain from inflammation. Both anxiety and inflammation can interfere with a good night’s rest. If your mom is having trouble sleeping because of anxiety, then it’s a good idea to avoid too much THC. High THC doses can cause anxiety. Instead, increase her dose of CBD. Try increasing it by 2.5mg a night for a few nights to see if it helps. It’s important to know that some stomachs can be sensitive to too much CBD. Keep an eye out for that, and revert to her standard dose if it becomes a problem.

How to use THC for sleep

You can also try adding a very small amount of THC oil to her CBD oil. Try mixing 1 mg of THC with her nightly dose of CBD, or even 0.5mg of THC. If she’s able to tolerate the effects without increasing her anxiety, then increase her THC by 1 mg each night. Continue to increase the dose until she sleeps better or experiences negative side effects.

If anxiety is not the underlying cause of insomnia, she may find taking more THC along with (or instead of) CBD to be most effective. This is because THC helps both with sleep and pain management.

Finding the right ratio of THC to CBD

The effects of cannabis are unique to each person. That’s why the optimal ratio of THC to CBD will be unique to each consumer and condition. While you’re finding the best dose for her, you want to follow the rule “start low and go slow“. People who are new to THC should start with 2mg for their first dose, taken half-an-hour before bedtime. If better sleep is achieved, great! If not, try increasing the dose by 2mg each night until she sleeps better. If the effects become too strong for her, then keep the dose lower. There are some possible effects of increasing the THC dose too much. She could feel intoxicated before she falls asleep. This might actually make it more difficult for her to get to sleep! She could also experience grogginess the next morning, which usually goes away with a cup of coffee or ginseng tea.

To learn how to make your own cannabis oil or edibles for sleep, check out this blog post.