Insomni occurs in 30% of the population occasionally, but 10% have chronic sleep issues. Add in chronic pain and you have a recipe for a disaster. What is painsomnia and can cannabis help? Painsomnia is a term describing how chronic pain can interfere with a person’s sleep. While painsomnia is not a medical term, it is used anecdotally to describe a common challenge experienced by people living with ongoing chronic pain.
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Coined by Dawn Gibson and Dr. Ben Nowell, painsomnia is the painful lack of sleep affecting many. It can also cause already established conditions to worsen. In a case study, Gibson and Nowell explained just how some individuals are actually woken up by pain and have trouble falling back asleep.
“Painsomnia is a patient-generated term for the vicious cycle of pain and sleep deprivation or fatigue related to a chronic condition or its treatment,” they said. “Evolving from social media discussions, painsomnia is a shorthand description that helps people relate to each other in posts about being prodded awake by pain and being unable to find a comfortable position in bed or to “settle down” for sleep and rest. Anxiety and frustration about lack of sleep and its impact on functioning the next day often accompany patients’ painsomnia experiences and virtual discussions.”
There is clear evidence for marijuana improving sleeping. Israeli scientists sought to better understand if marijuana could help chronic pain patients get find the rest they need. In their study, published in the medical journal BMJ, about half of participants were medical marijuana users and half were not. They found that in the short term, marijuana quickly helped insomniac participants in the 128-person study fall asleep through the night.
Studies have found that marijuana can be helpful in treating neuropathic pain (a specific type of chronic pain caused by damaged nerves). However, more research is needed to know whether marijuana works better than other options to manage pain. In addition, cannabis may ease certain types of chronic pain, including pain due to nerve damage and inflammation.
In dealing with painsomnia, both cannabis and CBD may help. There has been more research (with more needed) to understand benefits of cannabis especially around inflammation, chronic pain and sleep. In regards to CBD, there isn’t as much data, but inflammation can be treated with CBD.
Data shows CBD reduces the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, inhibits T cell proliferation, induces T cell apoptosis and reduces migration and adhesion of immune cells.
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If you have someone suffering from painsomnia, talk to a healthcare professional. The American Sleep Apnea Association believes sleep is not only tied to health and work performance, but so much more.
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