The Change often brings on occasional sleeplessness, but this natural product can help.
What’s the opposite of sleeping like a baby? According to 52-year-old Sonya Davis, it’s the sudden sleep disruption that millions of women report during menopause.
Ever since a 2003 back surgery left her with chronic pain, Davis struggled to sleep through the night. She figured restless nights were just another thing she’d eventually learn to manage…until she hit menopause. “Nobody warns you,” says Davis. “I felt like my body was betraying me — I gained weight, my clothes didn’t fit, and I felt awful. I was getting night sweats every night, and I stopped sleeping almost entirely. I didn’t feel like myself anymore.”
Thus began Davis’s journey into the world of sleep aids. From prescription sedatives and anxiety medication to hot baths and chamomile tea before bed to over-the-counter sleep aids, nothing seemed to ease her sleep issues. “You name it, I’ve tried it,” she says. “Even if I found something that knocked me out, I’d wake up feeling so groggy that it made things even worse.”
Davis’s wife Heather was also worried about the changes she was seeing in her partner. “She was having to exhaust herself during the day just to get a few hours of sleep,” remembers Heather. “I’d wake up in the middle of the night to find her staring at her phone. I didn’t understand how she was able to function.”
Just as she began losing all hope, Davis discovered relief from an unexpected source: her dog, Mickey. “He was elderly and suffered from arthritis, and had recently undergone surgery,” she explains. “He could hardly walk anymore, and seemed to be in so much pain.” The vet explained that Mickey likely only had a few months left, but there were some options to make him more comfortable — and one was CBD.
Armed with this new information, Davis got to work researching the most effective CBD products on the market. With so many brands available, she wasn’t sure which to choose, until a commercial caught her attention. “I saw this ad for Cornbread Hemp, where they describe their ‘flower only’ ingredients. I thought, “What the heck, we’ll give it a shot.” She bought the full spectrum hemp oil for pets and started giving it to her pup. Two weeks later, his energy levels increased, and he’d even started jogging alongside Heather on their morning walks. Although the vet had told the couple Mickey likely had just months to live, he was with them for almost two more years. “I figured if CBD did that for him, maybe it could help with my sleep issues,” says Davis.
Although she’d seen how much CBD oil had helped her dog, Davis was initially wary about trying it herself. Having been sober for most of her adult life, she was concerned that there might be a psychoactive effect from the cannabis extract. “I hate feeling out of control,” says Davis, “and I was already having panic attacks from menopause. I didn’t want to take anything that would impair my mind.”
CBD, or cannabidiol, is a cannabis extract derived from hemp plants. Unlike THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, it’s not psychoactive, so it doesn’t make a user feel high; it’s used to treat anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain caused by inflammation. Feeling confident that CBD wouldn’t have the same effects as THC, Davis decided to give it a try.
She began using Cornbread Hemp’s organic hemp oil each day, and its hemp sleep gummies every night. After just a few weeks, her wife Heather began noticing a change: “One morning, my wife of 24 years looked at me and said, ‘I’ve never seen you this calm,” says Davis. Her night sweats were gone, and so were the panic attacks; she no longer wanted to keep ice packs in her bed. “At first, I thought it might be a placebo effect,” she says. “But I use a few apps to analyze my sleep patterns, and my scores confirmed that for the first time in years, I was actually getting some rest.”
Then in 2021, tragedy struck: Davis’s sister developed metastatic breast cancer. When her sister passed away, Davis and Heather became the primary caretakers of her 12-year-old niece Jax. Wanting to give Jax a fresh start, Davis and her wife purchased a home in Heather’s hometown of Sulphur Springs, W. Va, and brought Jax to live with them.
Between the grief of her sister’s passing, the stress of a big move, and caring for a pre-teen niece who’d just lost her mother, Davis says this period was one of the most difficult in her life. “If I hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep during that transition, I don’t think I would have been able to get through it,” she says. “I really believe CBD is what kept me sane.”
While two years have passed since her sister died, Davis still sees the positive impact of CBD on her everyday life: “I used to get so grouchy and snappy during the day from sleep deprivation, and I’d have to remove myself and just be alone,” she says. “You can’t do that when you’re raising a kid.”
Davis acknowledges the gummies haven’t solved all of her problems: “They’re not a magic potion,” she says. “I still have the occasional sleepless night, and I’ll still get snappy from time to time. But I have way fewer days like that than I used to.”
Now situated in their new home, Davis and Heather are introducing Jax to the natural beauty of the area. “We’ll all go on walks together and sit by the water, and take some time to decompress,” says Heather. And Davis has been able to join her family as they explore the great outdoors: “If my issues from menopause were still keeping me up all night, I’d be spending that time alone inside,” she says. “I only regret that I didn’t learn about CBD earlier. I already missed out on so much quality time with my wife from those months of sleepless nights. If I hadn’t started taking CBD, I’d be missing out on quality time with Jax right now. This has been a huge win for our whole family.”
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