Can CBD Help You Sleep?

CBD may help some people sleep better, but the evidence is early and it works differently than a traditional sleep aid. Rather than sedating you, CBD is thought to interact with your body's endocannabinoid system and with serotonin and GABA receptors to ease the anxiety, pain, and mental restlessness that commonly keep people awake. That means CBD may help with sleeplessness that's driven by stress or discomfort, but it isn't a sleeping pill, and it hasn't been proven to treat clinical insomnia.

Sleep Problems Affect Many of Us

There are few things worse than lying wide awake at 2am unable to sleep. You look at the clock, you have to wake up for work at 6am, you look at the clock again, the stress slowly starts to build, and you get further and further away from that elusive slumber.

This happens to the best of us once in a while, especially, and ironically, when there is something important we have to do the next day that really necessitates a good, full night’s sleep. We all have restless nights from time to time.

The real problem, however, starts to arise when this becomes a regular occurrence that we can’t escape. Whether you can fall asleep but then consistently wake up a couple hours later and can’t fall back asleep, or you just plain can’t fall asleep at all.

We put up with it for a little while, but then we turn to the sleep aids. This is where people get creative, trying everything from large doses of melatonin or valerian root, to Benadryl, Tylenol PM, or nighttime cough or cold medicine. If the condition persists, people might turn to actual, heavy sleep medications.

There are a few possible problems with these common remedies, however. Oftentimes they either don’t produce the desired result or they can make you feel so groggy in the morning that you have little idea of where you are, who you are, or why you should even get out of bed. In addition to making you feel like you woke up in a strange place on the other side of the world, many of the stronger drugs can cause dependence.  

Well, CBD may be an alternative and many people are turning to it to help them sleep better.

How Does CBD Work in the Body?

CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid that interacts with the endocannabinoid system, the network your body uses to maintain internal balance, without producing the high associated with THC.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of the main and most well known cannabinoids found within the Cannabis Genus of plants. In a nutshell, it interacts with your body’s biochemical communication highway known as the endocannabinoid system to trigger changes. The endocannabinoid system essentially works to maintain homeostasis, or balance, within your body and CBD is thought to help it achieve that goal.

Unlike its more well known cousin, THC, CBD is not psychoactive and does not produce the euphoric feeling of being “high”. Instead, people consume CBD to help them with a range of issues, from pain relief and reducing seizures, to gaining a more restful night’s sleep.

There is a small but growing amount of evidence that CBD may help you sleep longer and better, but the research is still in its beginning stages. With that said, a study from 2019 that included 103 adult patients suffering from both anxiety and sleep issues found that CBD might help people with short term sleep problems. Specifically, anxiety scores for the first month improved for 79.2% of the patients and sleep scores improved for 66.7% of the patients.

What Causes Sleep Problems in the First Place?

When it comes to CBD and sleep, it’s first important to understand the root cause of many sleep problems. According to CDC data from the 2024 National Health Interview Survey, 30.5% of U.S. adults sleep less than seven hours a night, 15.4% have trouble falling asleep, and 18.1% have trouble staying asleep. The primary causes of sleeping problems or insomnia are the following:

• Mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and PTSD
• Physical conditions like restless leg syndrome
• Medications that throw off your sleep-wake cycle
• Caffeine late in the day
• Loud noises, an uncomfortable bed, or other environmental factors

What makes researchers and scientists excited about the potential for CBD to help sleep is that it goes after the root cause. Whereas other sleep aids use chemicals to make you drowsy, despite whatever the cause of your restlessness is, CBD may relieve the cause itself. In fact, 3.7% of U.S. adults are already using CBD products as sleep aids. 

How Might CBD Help People Sleep?

CBD is thought to support sleep indirectly by calming the nervous system through serotonin and GABA receptor activity and by easing pain, rather than by sedating you the way traditional sleep aids do. Although the mechanism is not completely understood, studies have suggested that CBD’s benefit when it comes to sleep stems from its calming effects. Specifically, its interaction with serotonin and GABA receptors in our brains. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that manages mood and anxiety, whereas GABA receptors (Gamma-aminobutyric acid) inhibit or reduce the activity of the neurons to help mitigate activity in the central nervous system.

In other words, CBD is thought to interact with two components of our bodies that are essential for falling asleep and achieving a good night’s rest. These interactions, along with its reported anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties, suggest that CBD may help sleep by both quieting our minds at the end of the day, reducing anxiety, and minimizing any pain or discomfort.

Unlike powerful sleep aids, CBD does not “knock you out”, rather it combats the issues that are keeping you from falling asleep naturally on your own.

What Does the Research Say About CBD and Sleep?

Several small studies and reviews suggest CBD may improve sleep, particularly when anxiety or pain is the cause, but most are early-stage, small, or observational rather than large controlled trials.

• A review of CBD in 2018 in the Frontiers in Pharmacology journal concluded that there is a relatively large amount of evidence supporting the claim that CBD relieves pain. The authors also pointed out that pain relief help improves sleep.
• A study in 2014 looked at four patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease and found that CBD may help improve problems associated with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD). RBD is what is behind conditions like sleep paralysis, sleep walking, and extreme nightmares or night terrors.
• A 2017 review suggested that CBD may have a short term benefit for sleep apnea and might be a promising remedy for both REM sleep disorder and excessive daytime sleepiness.
  

How to Use CBD to Help Sleep

There are a variety of ways to consume CBD if you are trying to help yourself sleep. Some of the most common types of CBD products are tinctures and capsules. Tinctures are one of the fastest way to get CBD into your system, while capsules are easier to be exact when it comes to dosage. However, both effective at bringing CBD to bear and it really comes down to personal preference.

At Urban Roots Hemp Co., our Sleep CBD capsules are designed specifically to promote a restful night’s sleep. This product combines a low dose of melatonin with 25mg of CBD in each capsule. Many of our customers have found that taking one or two of our sleep capsules allows them to fall asleep quicker, stay asleep longer, and feel more rested in the morning.

How Much CBD Should You Take for Sleep?

Whether you are trying CBD to sleep or to help you with a different health issue, we suggest starting with a lower dosage and working your way up as needed. As you learn how CBD affects you individually, you can adjust dosage and the type of product you are consuming. 

So if you’re having trouble sleeping and have been unable to find a remedy, you may want to try CBD today to see if it helps!  

CBD Sleep Capsules A nightly dose of CBD plus a low dose of melatonin allows the body to experience  a restful night’s sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Does CBD make you sleepy?
CBD isn't a sedative and doesn't reliably cause drowsiness on its own — it's more likely to help by reducing the anxiety or discomfort keeping you awake.

How long before bed should you take CBD for sleep?
Most people take CBD 30 to 60 minutes before bed, though tinctures tend to take effect faster than capsules or gummies.

How much CBD should I take to sleep?
There's no established dose for sleep; start with a low amount and increase gradually to find what works for you.

Is CBD better than melatonin for sleep?
They work differently — melatonin signals your body that it's time to sleep, while CBD may address the anxiety or pain keeping you awake — and some products combine both.

Can you take CBD with sleeping pills or other medications?
Talk to your doctor first, because CBD can interact with medications processed by the liver, including some sedatives, blood thinners, and antidepressants.

Will CBD make you groggy the next morning?
CBD is less associated with next-day grogginess than antihistamine-based sleep aids, but higher doses can leave some people feeling drowsy.

Is CBD addictive?
The World Health Organization has reported that CBD shows no evidence of abuse or dependence potential in humans.

Does CBD help with insomnia?
CBD has not been proven to treat clinical insomnia, and persistent insomnia warrants a conversation with a doctor rather than self-treatment.