Melatonin is a key sleep hormone that helps you wind down for a good night’s sleep. Although your body naturally produces melatonin, if you need a little extra help falling asleep, you can use melatonin supplements.
Jet lag, basic insomnia, and other temporary sleep disorders can be treated with the help of supplemental melatonin. Cannabis is another therapeutic option that does the same. Getting a medical cannabis card online can give you legal access to the strains and products that are best for your needs if you’re thinking about using cannabis to help you sleep.
If you aren’t getting enough Z’s every night with just one medication, you might be tempted to combine melatonin and cannabis. While some users find success in falling asleep, this combination can cause unpleasant drowsiness and other negative side effects.
With the aid of Online Medical Card, you can evaluate these two popular sleep aids and choose the one that best meets your needs at night. Don’t let insomnia keep you awake at night.
What You Should Know About Using Melatonin with Cannabis
Supplements containing melatonin and cannabis are used to promote sleep. Both options make it easy to fall asleep, but they work differently to make you drowsy.
Furthermore, the advantages of cannabis go well beyond better sleep.
Melatonin 101: The Science Behind the Sleep Hormone
Your body produces the hormone melatonin to regulate your circadian rhythm, or sleep-wake cycle. After remaining low during the day to keep you alert and awake, melatonin levels rise at night to help you fall asleep. Like other hormones, melatonin doesn’t always work.
Many factors can cause your normal melatonin levels to fluctuate, including:
- Exposure to blue light: Your body produces melatonin in response to both light and dark stimuli. Digital screens emit blue light to simulate daylight. Using a phone or computer at night stops your body from producing the melatonin boost that is required for a good night’s sleep by fooling your body into thinking it is daytime.
Jet lag, a condition where your circadian rhythm is momentarily disrupted and your melatonin production is disturbed, can be brought on by traveling to different time zones. When you travel, it can be quite challenging to fall asleep and wake up in your new time zone. After a few days, jet lag usually disappears.
- Aging: Your melatonin levels naturally decrease with age.
- Sleep disorders: When your body’s circadian rhythm isn’t functioning correctly, melatonin production is disturbed. Sleep disorders like advanced sleep phase disorder, which pushes your regular sleep-wake cycle back, and delayed sleep phase disorder, which pushes it forward by a few hours, can affect your circadian rhythm.
If your body isn’t making enough melatonin, you may have problems falling asleep or feel worn out during the day. To deal with these issues, many people take synthetic melatonin before bed to aid in their sleep.
Melatonin is one readily available over-the-counter (OTC) dietary supplement. Products vary in terms of dosage and consumption method.
Simply take your preferred form of melatonin right before bed. Experts usually recommend taking 0.3 to 5 mg of melatonin for optimal results.
The Science of Cannabis: What Happens Inside Your Body
Unlike melatonin supplements, cannabis does more than just make you feel drowsy. However, some cannabis strains give you a heightened sense of alertness and energy.
Cannabis users also benefit from physical and mental health benefits such as:
- Pain relief
- Suppressed nausea
- Stimulated appetite
- Mood boosts
- Reduced inflammation
- Relaxed muscles
How can so much be provided by a single plant? The answer lies in its chemistry.
There are hundreds of distinct chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. Its holistic healing qualities are attributed to cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are very similar to the natural endocannabinoids that regulate the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in your body.
The ECS oversees some of your most important internal operations, such as:
- Sleep
- Pain
- Mood
- Appetite
- Memory
- Inflammatory and immune responses
Cannabinoids like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) can interact with ECS receptors, just like endocannabinoids do.
The specific impacts of every cannabinoid vary:
- When THC activates these receptors, it produces an analgesic and euphoric effect. THC’s sedative properties are often used by users to aid in falling asleep.
- Researchers are still unsure of the precise mechanism by which CBD interacts with the ECS, but its benefits are indisputable. CBD can be ingested or applied topically and has anti-inflammatory and calming effects. While some users prefer the intoxicating effects of THC, CBD can also aid in sleep.
Many states have legalized marijuana for both medical and recreational use. If you have a qualifying medical condition, you can get cannabis with a recommendation from a licensed healthcare professional.
Melatonin and Cannabis: How They Work Together
Without a doubt, cannabis and melatonin interact; they both influence your natural melatonin levels, which makes you feel sleepier than either of them could by itself. There will be no adverse effects when melatonin and cannabis are combined.
Nevertheless, it could increase the likelihood of undesirable side effects such as:
- Fatigue
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Concentration issues
Beyond this, researchers don’t know much about how cannabis and melatonin interact. Given this degree of uncertainty, some doctors will advise you to use caution or avoid the mixture completely.
Melatonin or Cannabis: Which Helps You Sleep Better?
If cannabis and melatonin are incompatible, which should you take?
To begin the conversation, let’s contrast a few key features of each:
- Products: Melatonin comes in a range of forms, including gummies, liquids, and tablets. Cannabis offers even more variety, with hundreds of strains to choose from. High levels of THC and terpenes, particularly myrcene, are often found in the best strains for sleep.
- Dosage: Not all non-FDA-approved over-the-counter supplements go through laboratory purity testing; melatonin dosages vary widely between products, and some may contain more or less melatonin than what is listed on the label. On the other hand, purchasing cannabis from a respectable dispensary gives you greater assurance that your products will fulfill their promises. Because pharmacy and dispensary products are governed by stringent regulations and go through laboratory testing, you always get what is stated on the label.
- Recommended uses: Most doctors only suggest using sleep aids like cannabis and melatonin supplements temporarily.
- Extra advantages: Melatonin supplements only increase your body’s melatonin levels. It cannot account for additional potential reasons for your sleep issues. On the other hand, cannabis does. Some strains target common sleep disruptors, such as anxiety, stress, and chronic pain.
According to a 2023 survey, cannabis can help users stop using traditional prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids. Over 80% of participants said they only used cannabis to fall asleep at night.
The researchers also asked participants if they were getting the recommended 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night:
- Sixty percent reported using cannabis exclusively.
- Only 20% of those surveyed acknowledged using cannabis in addition to other sleep aids or traditional sleep aids.
This decision should ultimately be made by you and your healthcare provider. Discuss your healing and sleep goals before beginning or altering your treatment plan.
Online Medical Card: Your Trusted Source for Cannabis Guidance
Are you curious about whether consuming cannabis could improve your ability to manage your sleep problems? To find out more about your options for treatment, use Online Medical Card.
In many states, if a doctor believes you would benefit from treatment, they can prescribe cannabis regardless of your current list of ailments. Through Online Medical Card, you can get in touch with a state-certified medical marijuana healthcare provider to find out if you qualify. If not, you will always receive your money back. Additionally, Online Medical Card can help you get the license you need to legally grow cannabis if you want to grow 99 plants in CA.
We provide virtual, efficient, and cost-effective appointments because we value your time as much as you value your sleep. Now go ahead and set up yours.
