As a fellow anxiety-sufferer, I strongly encourage you to pursue sleep hygiene to the utmost. It doesn't fix everything for me, but it makes things way more manageable
Any feedback on CBD oil? Dosing? Type? I've never used cannabis at all, but I intend to try CBD.
I appreciate the advice.
I'm honestly a terrible person to ask, I preferred THC strains and never tried CBD products, and I mostly bought the most potent stuff which was on sale. It's also hard for me to judge dosage because I have developed a really high tolerance.
When I first started smoking it had a completely different effect on me, including visual hallucinations. Over time & with heavy use (which I don't necessarily recommend) the effects mellowed out a lot. So take things with a grain of salt, my experience may not be indicative of what your experience with CBD products would be.
I would say to make sure you're purchasing from a reputable dispensary, start with the smallest dosage (I've noticed people sometimes even cut up their gummies to get a smaller dose than is commercially available, for example.), and experiment. I know that's very generic advice, but the older I get and the more I learn, the less confident I am that I can understand how cannabis will effect other people. If I had to recommend a starting dose to someone, knowing very little about them, I'd probably say 5mg. But again I have low confidence in my ability to recommend a dose.
For me it had two primary benefits:
1.) As a "rescue inhaler," it could terminate panic attacks and sometimes shorten depressive episodes by helping me escape repetitive cycles of thought. I cannot promise it will work this way for everyone, for some people it could make them paranoid and ruminative.
2.) Reducing the incidents of repetitive anxious thoughts like, "I should have worded that email differently, they're going to think X of me, this is just like that time you did something embarrassing in high school." Again, cannot promise anything.
The first sign of an addiction (at least, the first which is visible to an outside observer) is that it interferes with your life and you won't stop. Until about a week ago, I was a heavy daily cannabis user for a very long time (more than ten years). If you had asked me if I had an addiction, I would have said no.
Recently I came to believe I had Cannaboid Hyperemesis Syndrome, a disease for which the only cure is to quit cannabis. So I quit - immediately. I have a gigantic pile of weed in the house, and I pass by it everyday. I just shake my head and go, "darn, wish I could smoke that," and go about my day.
That's not a story you're going to hear from an addict.
That's not to minimize the experience of people who do experience a cannabis addiction. I have known people I suspect have a problem. But no, cannabis and alcohol continue not to be comparable as far as their harm and addictive potential.
(And I have absolutely no regrets about my consumption, it was an incredible medication for my anxiety.)