CBD and Menopause: Everything You Need To Know

In my world, transition is a hot topic. For many women, this phase begins around the age of 45 and can last up to a decade. It is often times accompanied by numerous discomforts. It is this very prospect that makes us, as women, well aware of the fact that this is something big and meaningful.

As a 45-year-old woman myself, what I mainly experience –besides an irregular menstrual cycle– is that my bucket fills up faster. Before, I was quite able to cope with a lot of stimuli at once, such as working from home while the children run around the house and keeping up with the household in the meantime. Currently I need that moment of rest to come to myself much sooner.

Menopause is a natural process of ageing, but you may experience it as a considerable burden. First, for yourself, but also for your loved ones, colleagues and others around you. Hormonal changes cause the ovaries to stop producing oestrogen which can be accompanied by symptoms like:

• Hot flushes
• Mood swings
• Changes to your body
• Night sweats
• Sleep disorders
• Vaginal/mucosal dryness
• Joint pain

Possible treatments during menopause

If you search for resources for your menopausal symptoms, you quickly end up with hormone treatments. These can indeed help make symptoms less intense, but are hardly an appealing choice to embrace the natural process of hormone changes for every woman.

We also know of herbs that can have a positive effect on your oestrogen levels because phytoestrogens actually regulate your oestrogen balance. It is therefore important to know which herbs do what. In fact, some have an anti-oestrogenic effect, which helps with excess estrogen. Others have an oestrogenic effect, which is useful for estrogen deficiency. These are mainly found in sprouts but also, for example, in red clover. As a herbal alternative to hormone treatment, in other words. Last summer, every time my son saw red clover growing on the roadside, he would turn towards me and hopefully say: 'Mummy, shall I pick those little flowers for you, so you’re happy all the time?'

Effects of CBD on menopause symptoms

But what exactly does CBD do for menopause symptoms? To find out, as a health scientist, I like to dive into the literature and read all the studies and reports done in this field. As it turns out, menopausal women in combination with CBD have not often been the specific subject of scientific research so far. In Canada and the United States, there have been some studies on the experiences of cannabis on menopause symptoms, but thus not on the specific effect of CBD on these symptoms. In experiential studies women do report that cannabis helps with sleep problems, mood swings and joint pain (1,2,3,4).

Striking, and at the same time very sad, was that in one of these surveys it showed that women see similarities between menopause and cannabis use: in both cases there is a lack of available information, a limited role of healthcare providers, contradiction and feelings of stigmatisation, with the need for self-education as an explainable consequence (3). This –to me– hits the nail on the head: women are thus supposed to figure out what their bodies need themselves, in such a transformative stage of life.

Preventive treatment: CBD in osteoporosis

The fact that CBD can help with numerous symptoms during menopause is well established; in fact, there is quite a lot of research available on positive effects of CBD on unwanted menopausal symptoms such as sleep disturbances, feelings of stress or tension and joint pain. But one study, done specifically with CBD in menopausal women, caught my attention last week because I am only now realising that osteopenia –or osteoporosis– is a disease state that comes into play for women in my age group. In fact, menopause plays a major role in the onset of this syndrome because estrogen deficiency causes brittle bones: osteoporosis.

The study describes two women who were administered either 100 or 300mg of CBD for a 12-week period to measure the effect on bone formation. During and after the study, the values were redetermined and the bone markers indeed showed improvement (5). This conclusion is supported by considerably more research describing, among other things, how cannabinoid receptors play a role in bone building and fracture healing (6, 7, 8). Accordingly, CBD can not only be used as a potential symptom-fighter against menopausal symptoms, but also as a preventive therapy to lower the risk of osteoporosis.

Vaginal discomforts: Happy Hemp Yoni

For women struggling with vaginal discomforts, the Yoni variety of Happy Hemp may be the answer. This product is composed of cannabis in organic coconut oil with an addition of rose oil. It is pure nature, as well as sustainable. Produced by my company, this oil is specifically created for vaginal use. Yoni oil helps with discomforts such as dryness, burning and irritation, but also provides relief from pain during intercourse or minor wounds and inflammations. It is at the same time a perfect addition to a self-pleasure ritual or a reason to take me-time seriously.

Meaning menopause

All in all, I conclude that cannabis can provide relief in menopause. But why is the conclusion of the fertile phase of life now such an intense and sometimes negative experience? After all, if we turn it around mentally, something incredibly beautiful could also take its place. As your cycle disappears, you can start living your own natural femininity optimally, from your core. The hot flushes give way to a come-back of your passion, fire and often a rediscovery of your libido. So, this could actually be the time you want to completely embrace as a woman, especially because of the possible prospects of more intense orgasms. Because once side issues disappear, a woman –as a sexual being– comes into her own more as a complete individual. And with that, we can transform into the wise woman we essentially are, and the one Mother Nature has destined for all women. Isn’t that wonderful?

References

1. A National Survey Study of Cannabis Use During Menopause: Identifying Variables Associated with Recreational, Medical, and Hybrid Use.

Dahlgren MK, Kosereisoglu D, Sagar KA, Smith RT, El-Abboud C, Lambros AM, Gruber SA.J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2024 Jul 23. doi: 10.15288/jsad.24-00014. Online ahead of print.PMID: 39042073

2. A survey of medical cannabis use during perimenopause and postmenopause.

Dahlgren MK, El-Abboud C, Lambros AM, Sagar KA, Smith RT, Gruber SA.Menopause. 2022 Sep 1;29(9):1028-1036. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002018. Epub 2022 Aug 2.PMID: 35917529

3. Expectancy mediated effects of marijuana on menopause symptoms

Melissa N. Slavin, Stacey Farmer, Mitch Earleywine; 2016 29 Feb. Addiction Research & Therory Pages 322-329 

https://doi.org/10.3109/16066359.2016.1139701

4. Women's perceptions and experiences with cannabis use in menopause: a qualitative study.

Babyn K, Quintanilha M, Ross S, Makowsky M, Kiang T, Yuksel N.Menopause. 2024 Sep 1;31(9):781-788. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002388. Epub 2024 Jul 8.PMID: 38980742

 5. Oral Cannabidiol Treatment in Two Postmenopausal Women with Osteopenia: A Case Series.

Kulpa J, Harrison A, Rudolph L, Eglit GML, Turcotte C, Bonn-Miller MO, Peters EN.Cannabis Cannabinoid Res. 2023 Sep;8(S1):S83-S89. doi: 10.1089/can.2023.0060.PMID: 37721991 Clinical Trial.

6. Cannabidiol, a Major Non-Psychotropic Cannabis Constituent Enhances Fracture Healing and Stimulates Lysyl Hydroxylase Activity in Osteoblasts

Natalya M Kogan, Eitan Melamed, Elad Wasserman, Bitya Raphael, Aviva Breuer, Kathryn S Stok, Rachel Sondergaard, Ana VVillarreal Escudero, Saja Baraghithy, Malka Attar-Namdar

JBMR. 2015 Mar; 19.10.1002. 2513

Link: https://academic.oup.com/jbmr/article-abstract/30/10/1905/7599197?redirectedFrom=fulltext

7. Cannabinoid Receptors as Target for Treatment of Osteoporosis: a tale of two therapies Aymen I Idris. Curr Neuropharmacol. 2010 Sep; 8(3):243-253 doi: 10.2174/157015910792246173

8. Cannabinoid Receptor Type 1 Protects against Age- Related Osteoporosis by Regulating Osteoblast and Adipocyte Differentiation in Marrow Stromal Cells

Aymen I. Idris¹ ∙ Antonia Sophocleous¹ ∙ Euphemia Landao-Bassonga^1∙.. ∙ David Baker³ ∙ Robert J. van't Hof¹ ∙ Stuart H. Ralston¹²

2009, August 06 Volume 10, Issue 2P139-147