Need advice for (severe) insomnia

I feel your pain. I wish I had a recommendation but can only add to your list of modalities that don’t work sufficiently. I hear of people getting a very restful, full nights sleep using cannabis and jealousy overcomes me. I can only attribute it to anatomical diversity and after five years of experimentation am finally coming to the point of giving up.

I, like you, have found it virtually impossible to find anything that lasts past that needed 5hr mark. I’ve tried a second dose when I wake in the middle of the night but it generally takes 1-2 hours for onset and I feel immensely druggy the following morning.

It’s generally accepted that indices are more effective than sativas for sleep but with little exception I find very little differential in efficacy among strains.

Dosage is critical for me. I’ve tried from 2-25mg of thc, thinking the higher dose may possibly last longer. Not the case. I find that a threshold of more than about 10mg results in no sleep at all and with indica dominant strains I suffer from extreme depression to boot at these levels.

I find CBN to be less effective than THC and also brings me to a depressed state at most any level.

While falling far short of what I would dub successful, a couple of better results come with CCO used in a no-cook edible, my fave being a buckeye recipe. Longevity is always inconsistent, however. A 5mg dose seems to be my sweet spot.

I’ve ground some well decarbed flower and loosely filled size 1 caps and added mct oil. This has offered the longest lasting effects. My sleep cycle is generally still interrupted but it seems easier to fall back into sleep mode. The drawback for me, however, is a pretty groggy feeling for most of the morning when I arise. I also started suffering from some relatively serious digestive problems and I’m not totally convinced that it wasn’t from this form of medication.

I’ve recently started trials using about 25mg of full spectrum CBD (.27%THC). 1mg of additional THC in tincture form and a drop of some uplifting terpene additives, all placed in a gelcap. I’ve been using this when I wake in the middle of the night and get back to sleep relatively quickly and have no residual undesirable effects when I arise.

You’re doing the right thing in trying numerous remedies. I pray you find an acceptable remedy to your problem. Hopefully someone will offer some helpful suggestions.

Good luck
BCDD

 

If you can find a flower with high CBN, it will help you sleep well. You can also convert thc in to cbn by leaving it out in the sun and air. It oxidises and converts. CBN is more narcotic and sleepy.

 

Interesting concept.

 

I recommend trying to make edibles.
maybe start with a high CBD strain, and give it a good looooong infusion with your cooking oil. at least 2 hours, maybe three.
lots of help on these forums when it comes to edibles. I'd be happy to help if I can!
inspiration, maybe?

 

Hallucinating Hash Capsules for Hemp Heads
U can make these at home for cheaper than anything u can find at a dispensary. Way stronger than anything u can find there as well. I take 3 n sleep for 9 hrs compared to the 4-5 I use to get.

 

Do you drink alcohol daily? This can greatly affect sleep. Also don't be misguided yes weed can put you to sleep however you are not getting deep sleep. Weed makes you brain psychoactive which even though you are asleep your brain is still high and not getting rest it needs. It's a common misconception especially on this forum that weed is a cure for everything because it absolutely is not.

 

I knock out half my neighbors out with canaoil that I make

Sent from my SM-G935T using Grasscity Forum mobile app

 

Yep once I get my indoor grow set up will be making these with the trim. One pill would be nice before hand. I have a bad habit of when waking up mid sleep taking bong rips which actually is fucking with my sleep. However one edible pill before sleep would be great.

 

Hello all, sorry to be responding so late, but I have some recent experience with CBN vs. CBD for sleep. I am a Florida patient with a new medical permit. I put off going legal until a few more experienced growers bought into the licensed Mmj growers. My pain and insomnia have been through the roof and decided it was time to try Florida’s system out. Harvest, new dispensary in my town, offers a capsule that is 10 mg of CBN. CBD was not recommended for sleep in high doses and can act as a stimulant in amounts as low as 3 to 5 mg. I bought the Harvest brand CBN, 30 10 mg capsules for only $40.

I have trouble getting to sleep, as well as staying asleep. One of their 10 mg CBN cap put me gently to sleep in about an hour or hour and a half. I may wake in about 4 hours for a full bladder, but find I can go right back to sleep. What a relief! Lack of sleep can double my pain levels. It was also recommended to vape 5 to 10 mg of high indica with no more than 2 or 3 mg of CBD. This has been working pretty well for me with just a few nights when muscle spasms defeated my attempts. Even so, I am getting a lot more sleep. I recommend CBN taken orally. This is better than any of the pharmaceuticals that I tried and hated.... terrible side effects.

It is worth chasing this down. Highly recommended!

 

Thought today that I should add some clarification to this post. I do use CBD, but not at night. Those who say it helps them sleep may be experiencing relief of other symptoms that then stop interfering with rest. Reduced anxiety, pain and muscle spasms are absolutely going to help with sleep. As for CBD purely as a sleep aid, my experience and current literature don’t seem to support that and needs further serious study.

Meanwhile, CBN has become a good treatment to add to the arsenal of treatments to aid sleep disorders.

 

I’m very interested to learn which terpines you have been trying. I am convinced that terpines are the key to fine tuning treatments with the Endocannabinoid system.

 

I thought I had insomnia for decades. I would sleep for no more than 4 hours at a time & that has been a pattern since I was 17 & I enlisted in the Army. I thought it was something to do with training but, it never stopped. I came to realize that for me, it was just my normal sleeping pattern. To this day, I never sleep more than 4 hours at a time. Before I retired, it was a constant problem; mostly because my pattern disturbed my wife. Now, I sleep for a couple of hours in the evening, then my normal 4 hour stretch sometime between 4-8 AM.

I think everyone is different. There is no normal sleeping hours for everyone, just what is normal for each person.

I feel perfectly rested after my 4 hours & after dinner I usually siesta for a couple of hours. That is what is normal for me.

If you feel rested, then I would say, that is your body taking the time it needs to function.

If not, stuff your belly with food, get baked & crash. That works best for me.

 

I first used a mixture of linalool, myrcene and terpinolene. These are typically accepted as possessing relaxing properties and I have no reason to disagree BUT, like CBN and heavy dominat indicas, ths terpene mixture evoked horrific depression for me. I feel that most likely I’m unique in this respect and most probably due to the recurring ghosts associated with PTSD. Your results will most likely vary.

I’m now getting some better results by using a mixture of beta caryophyllene, alpha pinene, limonene, (typically uplifting terpenes) and linalool and myrcene. The addition of the uplifting terpenes seem to keep depression at bay much better for me without negating the relaxing effects of the myrcene and linalool.

Let me reiterate, this has not turned out to be a magic bullet for me as a sleep aid. While it is often helpful in regaining sleep in the wee hours of the morning it’s too inconsistent to be reliable.

 

I completely agree that weed is not a cure for everything. Sadly, modern medicine has left consumers having to figure this out on our own after years due to the fake “war on drugs”. For me, it has replaced or reduced my dependence on some pharmaceuticals with nasty side effects. The plus side is that even if it doesn’t offer a cure, the consequences are minimal compared to some of my prescribed medicine like, gaining 30 pounds or a 3 year hoarding binge .... etc.

The purpose of sharing on the forums is that we need each other’s experiences and recommendations. Everything that works for you may not work for me but it feels like a more helpful conversation than with most doctors who have little to no experience and very little training on Cannabis.
I really appreciate your willingness to be honest and share your truth and experience.

 

I agree on the depressant effect on the CBN and some of the terpines. It often depends on how badly I need rest as to what I chose. I have always been a person that slept 4 to 6 hours a night, so insomnia is not new to me. The breaking point is when I can only sleep an hour or 2 at the time. I have a pain syndrome that gets exponentially worse when I can’t sleep, so while I fight depression, atleast I get some relief from the pain when I sleep. Always a stupid balancing act.

On the terpines, how do you determine a “dose”? I know that these occur in tiny amounts naturally.

 

Exercise and/or sex? Sleep like a baby.

 

Totally agree, Robin! It’s definitely a balancing act.

As far as dosage, it’s dependent on method of medication. For a size 1 capsule of dry herb or infused oil, I add a single drop of my premixed terpenes. I seldom prepare more than 3-4 caps at a time because I’m still experimenting with different mixtures of terpenes but to doctor larger quantities of oils or tinctures I try to achieve a 2% ratio by volume, however, I’ve seen forum claims as high as 5%. On true terpenes/ buy terpenes site there is a section addressing proper dosage.

It appears you are knowledgeable of terpene additives but as a word of caution this is a concentrate of pure terpenes that can cause adverse effects in higher quantities and proper dilution is imperative.