CBD and Fibromyalgia

I will start with the bottom line since that’s probably why you are reading this blogpost: CBD oil, or rather hemp oil, may help alleviating the symptoms of Fibromyalgia. The reason I am saying the word “may” is since the way cannabinoids like CBD interact with our endocannabinoid system varies from one person to another.

Nonetheless, our CBD rich hemp oil has proven to work wonders in alleviating the symptoms of Fibromyalgia and returning customers with exceptional success stories is something you can’t really argue with. But let's take a few steps back now.

Some Fibromyalgia History and Treatment Paths

4% percent of the population live with Fibromyalgia with women suffering from Fibromyalgia in significantly higher number than men.

 Evidence for Fibromyalgia has been around since the 19^th century, however, only in the late 90s of the 20^th century this condition gained the formal acknowledgement of the medical institution.

Nowadays, we know that there are several factors that can cause the breakout of the disease, and treating it runs in two parallel paths: the first with medications and the second, and probably the more important one, a change in lifestyle and the use of various techniques to reduce emotional stress, utilizing anything from alternative medicine to using CBD oil for Fibromyalgia.

Stressful Trauma Triggered Fibromyalgia - True Story

Terry (25), did not believe it was happening to her. A family relative and a close friend went to sleep and never woke up again. The formal diagnosis was cardiac arrest. Terry, all shaken up, began experiencing severe anxiety and sleepless nights.

Her Insomnia became worse with time, until a few months later, she began suffering from neck pain, headaches and swings in moods. Later on, the aches and pains spread out throughout her entire body and became so severe that, Terry, the mother of three little kids, was struggling to attend to her kids and even had to leave her job.

It’s called Fibromyalgia, and its symptoms are chronic pain all over muscles and the skeleton and is characterized by having excessive sensitivity, sleep disorders and, sometimes, mood swings and memory deterioration.

And although that, as mentioned, there are evidence of this syndrome as early as the 19^th century, it gained the formal recognition of the medical community and clear diagnosis criteria only in the 90s of the 20^th century.

The Feminine Yuppie Disease

Since Fibromyalgia is so common among women, as much as 80% of the patients, it, initially, in some cultures, it got the nickname ‘the feminine yuppie disease’, implying that, doctors perceived the reported pain as imaginary pains (ever heard a doctor telling you that “it’s all in your head”?).

Fibromyalgia attacks roughly 4 percent of the population with the percentage of women that suffer from it is substantially higher than of men. Although the disease strikes at any age, including kids, most commonly it will appear in ages 20 and above and is extremely common in individuals starting the age of 50.

Research has identified that the appearance of Fibromyalgia is much more common in populations that experienced continuous emotional stress, for example war veterans and people in war-inflicted areas in the world.

What Might Cause Fibromyalgia?

Often, the condition’s symptoms will appear after an emotional or physical trauma that affects the central nervous system, however, the exact disease mechanism is unknown. It is thought that Fibromyalgia is the result of various genetical and environmental risk factors.

Examining genetics, researchers have found a greater prevalence of the disease in some families and there is evidence of genetic modifications or mutations that might be associated with the syndrome.

Another risk factor is the hormonal factor – the grater prevalence of the disease among women might be an indication of the connection between hormonal changes to the development of the syndrome.

Some researches even show that hormonal instability can lead to the symptom’s development as well as to the ‘outbreak of symptoms’ among already Fibromyalgia-diagnosed women.

The third risk factor, and not less important, is maintaining an unhealthy lifestyle – research have shown a correlation between a lifestyle that includes smoking, excessive weight and the lack of physical exercise to the development of the disease.

This is also the reason that adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes a routine of physical exercise is considered as one of the most meaningful ‘treatments’ in the disease, and it can help controlling its symptoms, sometimes to an even greater extent relatively to the effects of medications.

As mentioned, women are more likely to suffer from this disease and medical researches indicate that this might be the result of a difference in the perception of pain among men and women that comes into effect in women’s greater sensitivity in the sensation of pain.

Turns out that Fibromyalgia will come often with additional medical conditions. These include migraines, various forms of Arthritis, the jaw joint pain (temporomandibular disorders (TMD)) and various forms of inflammatory bowel diseases.

The Formal Diagnosis of Fibromyalgia

The medical community formally defined Fibromyalgia in 1990 as a condition in which a patient will be defined as such if there’s a presence of 18 pain-sensitive points in his body and to what extent these physical pain points show sensitivity to pain when pressure is applied. Back then, the report of 11 such sensitive points among potential patients led to a positive diagnosis of Fibromyalgia.

Well, since that definition of those 18 pressure-sensitive points as an indication for the disease 30 years have passed and the criteria for diagnosing Fibromyalgia has been updated quite a few times.

These days, the syndrome is diagnosed through a thorough clinical diagnosis that includes the identification of wide-spread pain all across one’s body and the identification of additional syndromes like insomnia, fatigue and other functional limitations.

Since 2016, a greater emphasis was put around the fact that one’s diagnosis of Fibromyalgia does not contradict the potential existence of the diagnosis of additional conditions, like Rheumatoid Arthritis and of other autoimmune conditions.

What Are The Ways to Treat Fibromyalgia?

First, it is worth mentioning that there’s no single treatment or medication that can heal Fibromyalgia. Furthermore, there’s no single medication that can alleviate all symptoms inclusively.

In fact – treating the disease is divided to two paths – medicinal and non-medicinal. In fact, the latter is considered the more effective and preferred one. This includes adopting a daily routine of low intensity aerobics (for example a 20-30 minutes daily walk).

Another aspect of the non-medicinal approach is relating to the improvement of patients’ quality of sleep and general emotional relaxation. These can be done by practicing techniques like meditation, mindfulness, balneotherapy (that’s a treatment method that involves hot water, mostly done in bathhouses), maintaining proper nutrition, hydrotherapy, quit smoking and maintaining proper weight, emotional therapy, alternative medicine.

And of course, Cannabis or hemp (read more about what's the difference between cannabis and hemp and where CBD fits in the picture) has been proved to have a strong anti-inflammatory effect and can contribute to one’s general wellness and sleep quality.  

In general, maintaining proper nutrition and reducing excessive weight not only gives patients a better personal feeling, builds their self-confidence and support emotional health, but also reduces weight stress from their joints and skeleton.

But going back to our initial questions - Is CBD oil for Fibromyalgia helpful? And what is the right CBD dosage for Fibromyalgia?  Our customers success stories in treating their Fibromyalgia and alleviating its symptoms prove that, indeed, our 2800mg formulation can offer some relief and help improve overall wellness.

As for what it the right CBD dosage for Fibromyalgia, there is no right answer. Some customers take half a dropper (0.5mg) twice a day and some take a full dropper (1mg) twice a day. It is a lot about experiential learning and in general, start low and increase as you go along if needed.

but hey, if you won’t try, you’ll never now…