Does CBD oil help you with your depression and/or anxiety?

Did he have to get off the Benzo first I’m reading you can’t take cbd w a Benzo and that it causes med side effects to worsen I’ve been looking up other ways for anxiety I and having being on colonopin and they won’t take me off of it it’s been year half now and trying to add straterra for anxiety and I just want off all this stuff I am scared of psych meds due to so many reactions I’m scared of changing things around w my anxiety and ocd

I’ve been using the cbd oil for over a week now and feel like I’m making some progress! I started out with 2-3 drops once or twice a day then upped to 10 drops at the advice of someone. Well let me tell you - that was way too much for me but I didn’t know it at the time. I even thought it wasn’t helping me or I needed more. I felt so horrible and literally cried for days. I was ready to call my doctor and ask for anti-depressants immediately. BUT I reached out to someone who has training with cbd oil to ask about dosage. She gave me a call, explained it to me, and then suggested that I was using way too much She suggested that I try 1-3 drops at the most. Once I brought it down to 1 drop a day I felt much better! I am learning how my body reacts to the cbd oil and if I have an very stressful day I can add another drop if needed. I am sleeping very well too. I’ve learned that the cbd oil is very powerful and useful! I am encouraged that this will be very helpful to me. If you plan to try the cbd oil it’s a good thing to start out with lower amounts. Beware of companies that try to sell you a higher dosage until you know what your body needs.

I tried CBD for several months to treat an arthritic hip that was on its way to replacement (I've since had this done). On the pain side it had limited impact, but it did seem to moderate it a bit. However, this was during an extended period of very deep depression that I've discussed elsewhere on this forum, and I do not recall any abatement there. But however again, I was not thinking about it as a treatment for the depression, so I wasn't paying attention to it on that level either.

Another caveat. It has since been determined by myself as well as my psychiatrist that the extreme depression I experienced was driven by Effexor, which had been prescribed by my general practitioner and it has been shown that roughly 1-1.5% of antidepressant users descend into intense and potentially suicidal depressions far worse than the depression they were prescribed to treat. And in one study, Effexor tops the list of antidepressants that are problematic in this manner. But I have had lifelong depression issues, and there was a prescription antidepressant and a non-opioid pain medication mixed with the supplement. So it's hard to say if the prescription drugs overrode any possible benefits of CBD.

So there are a lot of variables in my answer. But I will say that watching what you mix with any medications you're taking is always important. As is letting your provider know what supplements you are taking since your provider will usually - but not always - know of any potential interactions you should be on the lookout for. I was taking CBD prior to the Effexor-driven depression landing me into treatment that led me to a psychiatrist. My family doc, who was prescribing the antidepressant, knew I was using CBD for pain and felt it might help there, but he's not a psychiatrist, and the studies that have shown potential reverse depressive effects of antidepressants aren't widely known outside of psychiatry. That's a situation in need of being rectified since MDs frequently prescribe them.

Sorry for the convoluted response, but I thought I'd weigh in with my experience.

@gailb, where did you purchase the CBD. I also have been curious about the product, but there are lots of sellers on Amazon, but I hate to purchase a supplement that I don't know anything about the seller. Most of them you can find some pretty good lists of sellers that have good reputations. If you could give a brand name that you used and liked, I would appreciate it. If that is something that needs to be a PM, that will be fine. Thank you, Gary

Been on CBD oil for 7 days seems to help some but I have break through depression like today which is causing crying and nausea, have my self wrapped up in blankets fighting all this crap which has been caused from coming off Lyrica. Have a vape but it scares me I’ve never done anything like that

Hi, @lorena1egas, and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. That is unfortunate that the sleep and mood problems have come back.

I have merged your post with this discussion here on CBD oil for depression and anxiety, thinking that some of the members here might have some input on your question on whether people find CBD oil therapeutic for inflammation, depression and sleep, and using it without harm.

What kinds of sleep and mood problems are you experiencing?