Using gummies to promote sleep can pose several issues. Firstly, ingesting any cannabis products processed in Thailand, comes with risks; no testing of potency, pesticides, toxins, heavy metals, etc. is an inherent risk to begin with. Secondly, and this is far more involved than the primary risk, is this: Cannabis, and its cannabinoids (THC, CBD, CBN) will alter sleep architecture. Initially, you may benefit from decreased sleep latency and ‘put you to sleep’, but your body will quickly adapt to the sedative effects and develop a tolerance. At first, it will be quite effective and seem like the ‘magic bullet’. It creates a short-term illusion of better sleep - “The knockout effect”. Long term, chronic use leads to a decrease in deep, rested sleep. REM sleep and slow wave rhythm will be altered and suppressed. inevitably you will experience more restless sleep, decreased or no dreaming and fatigue. Prolonged use can produce daytime brain fog and mood swings. Withdrawal effects will likely make you more dependent, requiring higher doses and cause vivid nightmares (the opposite of early onset use) and frequent nighttime awakening. Edibles, if you are insistent on their use, are more effective for maintaining sleep and smoking more effective at falling asleep quickly. Start with low doses and titrate up, slowly increasing the dose. You should first identify if your problem is A. Falling asleep or B. Staying asleep. Most ‘sleep doctors’ recommend cannabis products as a secondary protocol in addition to other therapies as opposed to the singular method to affecting sleep (for the above mentioned reasons). As some posters have mentioned, lowering bedtime temps <20C, no digital screen time, no alcohol, no food before bedtime, etc. are really good things to practice. You will be presented, at some point, with the Sativa/Indica paradigm that is wholly a myth that seemingly will not die. Sativa makes you stimulated and up, and Indica will sedate you and make you ‘down’. This is budtender, pot shop lingo used in marketing. Through extreme hybridization of cannabis, it is just a talking point. My personal advice to you (I am NOT a doctor): try microdosing - tiny amounts of THC, at first. Anecdotally measure the effectiveness. Try CBN products (likely not available here in Thailand). Only mildly psychoactive, has shown to increase non-REM sleep duration without inducing REM suppression seen with THC. CBN Does not lower sleep latency, nor does it improve sleep quality. It does, however, reduce nighttime awakening. There has been a lot of hype in social media about CBN that has subsequently been disproven but has shown promise as a secondary sleep protocol. Try this in concert with the recommendations of previous posts, I.e, temp, alcohol, food, screen time, etc. I have been in the medical end of cannabis (cultivation and extraction) since 2018. I have written several posts on the subject in this forum. I would be more than happy to post or send to you directly, white papers and science journal extracts on cannabis and sleep.
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