I don’t think anyone would be shocked to hear my type-A self has struggled with anxiety. These days, I think it has almost become the trend to appear anxious or that you have ‘so much going on’ in an effort to justify your life for some reason. It’s a real problem. We are constantly pulled in two directions – be successful but also create time to relax. In a world where we have come to expect everything instantaneously – from groceries to success – it’s no wonder we’re all curious about CBD. For me, my anxiety is two-fold… it’s my personality, but also my autoimmune thyroid disease that throws me off balance. So, I turned to managing anxiety with CBD as a way to NOT add another medication (per se) to my repertoire. Here’s what I’ve learned…
Now, I will start this right off the bat by saying I am by no means a medical professional and the content in this blog post should serve purely as entertainment and/or a means for you to start doing your own research.
I’m telling you my story and my experience. Yours may be completely different. Your results may vary.
For me, my anxiety manifests in its worst way by causing massive, almost debilitating stomach upset.
During the early parts of this pandemic, I was struggling with extreme indigestion and painful bloating.
So, as a normal person, I turned to stomach medications.
A round of omeprazole (two weeks) resulted in zero improvement.
Then I tried a round of Nexium (two weeks), with minimal improvement.
I also was taking TUMS every day (late afternoon).
Ending my evening in the fetal position in bed, or worse, having to call my husband at work crying in the bathroom because I wasn’t sure if I could function the rest of the day because I felt so sick.
Additionally, I was having massive issues falling asleep at night. “Wired yet tired,” was my living motto. I could stay asleep fine, but I just could not shut my brain off… which was perpetuating not getting enough sleep and feeling MORE anxious during the day.
_Less sleep = more anxiety for ANYONE._
After trying all of these stomach medications with little help, I heard a few Instagram friends/influencers of mine really having success with their anxiety management trying CBD.
I just knew my stomach issues weren’t really stomach issues… it was subconscious worry.
However, I knew I couldn’t just grab any CBD from anywhere.
It had to be high quality, pure, clean… all the good stuff. No fillers. No THC.
I needed to address my daytime stomach issues, and my night time sleeping challenges.
So, I first was introduced to a brand called Equilibria.
I love the idea behind Equilibria – they are a female founded, female owned business. For women, by women.
Their hemp is sustainably and organically farmed in Colorado.
All our full-spectrum hemp oil products are GMO, solvent, heavy-metals, pesticide and herbicide free. Each plant is hand harvested and the oil is carefully extracted from flowers only—the purest source of therapeutic plant compounds. We never use stalks, stems, seeds, or isolates.
What’s SUPER cool about Equilibria is they have dosage specialists that help every new customer find her way in the CBD world.
Once you place your order, they set you up to schedule a meeting on the actual phone with a specialist who helps you find your perfect dose and what that may look like for you.
If you’re totally new to CBD, this is such an incredible feature.
When I tried Equilibria, I signed up with their Balance Box. It includes their regular CBD soft gels, and a CBD tincture.
You typically take the soft gels in the daytime, as they are slower-release over a longer period of time.
The tincture is an oil-based liquid that you drop under your tongue for more immediate relief (think: full anxiety or need to calm the mind quickly). I used the tincture at night to help get me ready for sleep. Similar to melatonin.
The dosage specialist is incredible. That benefit is amazing.
I learned I need a pretty high dose of CBD for sleep. This is common. Sleep is a HARD issue to manage with CBD and it can take weeks to build up enough CBD in the system to truly help someone.
So with that being said, Equilibria just wasn’t financially feasible for me to continue to use. In order to increase the dosage I would need at night, I would be paying nearly $300/month for CBD.
My groceries have to trump CBD, so I had to find a new brand that was just as pure and clean… but a bit more affordable.
After researching other brands of CBD that provided similar hemp based products to Equlibria, I stumbled upon a brand called Highline Wellness.
Highline Wellness also uses a sustainable, organically grown crop out of Colorado for their CBD products.
However, Highline Wellness seems to (currently) have a more robust line up of products. Including CBD for pets 🙂
I also REALLY was attracted to the lower price point.
No, you won’t find dosage specialists with Highline Wellness, but I’m willing to pinch some pennies and forego the dosage specialist after knowing what I know now.
The most important factor besides the price point was the fact that they offer so many more dosage strengths in their tinctures, particularly, and variety for daytime relief (gummies).
My first order from Highline Wellness was their daytime gummies with B12, and their 2000mg mint tincture.
Since then, I have purchased their nighttime gummies with melatonin and about to order the CBD Bath Bombs and Body Cream! Clearly, I’m a convert. 😉
The most important part of this blog post, right? How did it work? How is it working now?
So, it’s been nearly three months using CBD daily during the day and at night.
With the exception of a recent episode involving my 10 year old golden retriever having a near-death medical situation this last week (which I had to break out the Xanax for)… I have not had ONE DAY OF STOMACH ISSUES.
Incredible, if you ask me!
Using Highline Wellness’s CBD during the day does not make me feel ‘high’ or ‘drunk’ or drowsy… it has simply allowed my body to stay a bit more chill without even realizing it… thus not letting my subconscious get the best of me and cause my stomach to do backflips.
The reason I love the Highline Wellness Daytime Gummies is they include that B12 for added energy. A very common side effect of CBD is a feeling of tiredness… which I totally experienced with Equilibria. So the gummies really help to compensate for that feeling.
As for sleep… we’re still working on it.
I definitely get a more restful sleep… but I’m still struggling to fall asleep quicker.
Recently, I had bloodwork done and learned I am pretty deficient in Magnesium, so I’ve added a magnesium supplement to help, as well, so that could also explain my sleeping issues.
After a month of using the nighttime tincture, I switched to the Highline Wellness Nighttime Gummies with Melatonin and those seem to be working better, alongside the Magnesium.
Your results may be better than mine if you don’t have a magnesium deficiency you’re also trying to compensate for :).
Of course, the shameless plug.
As soon as I fell in love with Highline Wellness’s products and price point, I reached out to them to see how I could hook you all up with some savings if you wanted to try!
They quickly got back to me and you can use code STEF10 at checkout to get some $$$ off your first purchase.
Highline Wellness frequently offers promotions, though, so my code may not be your best deal. That’s ok. I also have a $10 referral code you should be able to combine with any other promotion (OR, it simply may be the better deal depending what you’re spending). Just click here to access the $10 off code.
Using the referral link helps you save some money, and gives me some store credit for my refills haha… so we all win!
Let me know if you have any questions about CBD or my experience. I hope this helps someone else find relief.
XOXO,
Steff
