CBD, like anything you decide to put inside of your body regularly — can have potential risks associated.
Higher doses of CBD trigger tiredness and/or fatigue. While some sources call this a side effect, other sources say you need to lower your dosage. With higher doses, the sedative (sleepy) effects can trigger some potential irritability.
Let’s take a look below and see if we can figure out any other potential reason why your CBD oil brand might be causing some irritability, aggression, or anger throughout your day.
Is one of the side effects of CBD irritability?
Yes.
Irritability is one of the few potential side effects of CBD, discussed in detail below.
If you’re feeling irritable after taking CBD, there are several things you can do to make your experience with CBD much better.
When taking a full-spectrum CBD oil, you’re also consuming small amounts of the THC molecule.
THC has psychoactive properties and may be one of the potential reasons why you’re experiencing extra feelings of irritability.
To help mitigate the effect of THC, you can try taking a broad-spectrum CBD oil product.
Broad-spectrum CBD products don’t contain the THC molecule.
However, you have to be careful with certain brands of CBD because some brands will label their products as — THC-FREE — and will still contain trace amounts of THC.
Are there any bad side effects of CBD?
Most of the reported side effects stem from researching CBD isolate, not a broad-spectrum CBD oil.
Potential side effects from CBD include: (source 1) (source 2)
- Tiredness
- Diarrhea
- Appetite changes
- Weight changes
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Irritability
With CBD having a high tolerance and safety profile, some of the side effects can come from potential impurities from unreliable CBD companies.
For example, after rigorously researching the various CBD products you can easily purchase on Amazon — most (if not all) of the available CBD products from Amazon lack lab reports.
Lab reports issue a Certificate Of Analysis (COA) showing exactly what’s in it — in some cases.
When a CBD company sends its product for purity and safety testing, there’s a different cost to test for each safety element.
Some safety elements a lab can test for — and report on a COA — include:
- Exactly the amount of each cannabinoid (most labs only test for up to 11 of the 113 known cannabinoids.
- Terpene and flavonoid profile.
- Pesticides.
- Herbicides.
- Heavy metals.
Very few CBD companies spend the extra money to make sure the final product doesn’t contain any impurities.
When you’re looking at the COA, make sure it’s up to date with the batch you’re ordering to make sure the impurity isn’t the reason why you’re experiencing an adverse effect.
Is it safe to use CBD oil every day?
After you’ve verified your CBD oil product is safe by making sure the COA displays a clean bill of health, you can move on to determining how to optimize your experience of taking the dose of CBD oil you need for your situation.
A new CBD nano-technology is gaining popularity, claiming that secret patented processes make the CBD more (bioavailable) — capable of being absorbed and used by the body.
The problem with this “advanced” CBD nano-technology is the lack of safety studies.
Currently, leading researchers don’t know if taking CBD with nano-technology is safe to use long-term or even every day.
Another common ingredient to potentially watch out for is the use of natural flavoring and other isolate chemicals.
Even though most natural flavorings are considered “safe” in moderate doses, most of the average consumers are taking higher doses of natural flavoring than what’s considered safe.
If you find you’re having issues with CBD oil products containing nanotechnology, natural flavoring, or toxic chemicals — you might want to consider switching to a higher-quality brand.
Can CBD oil cause mood swings?
Even though CBD helps support normal mood fluctuations, CBD does have some potential side effects.
Depending on the specific types of CBD you’re taking and how much you’re taking, each can have different effects.
Types of CBD products include:
- Tinctures oil drops
- Vape to inhale
- Topical cream
- Pill capsules
- Beverages infused with CBD isolate
- Any many more
Typically, when you take too much of any type of CBD, you’ll experience a sedative effect that can make you sleepy.
When you’re sleepy in the middle of the workday, it can be easy to SNAP while having a lower tolerance to environmental stressors.
It’s recommended you lower your CBD dosage, try a different type of CBD product, or find a brand that is more transparent and uses higher-quality ingredients.
Can CBD oil cause irritability?
Peter Grinspoon, MD (Harvard Medical School contributor) reports CBD might cause irritability.
On top of irritability, CBD may also cause drowsiness, fatigue, and anxiety.
Even though CBD is typically used to ease anxiety, depending on the dose, you may experience undesirable effects.
According to the Journal of Frontiers In Pharmacology, CBD has a unique dose-response curve when humans consume various doses.
The unique dosage of CBD triggers different effects at different doses.
Researchers found the effects from different doses of CBD form an inverted U shape.
The inverted U-shaped dose-response curve of CBD shows the effects of CBD are most optimal when taking a “medium” amount for your body type and size.
Each person will typically have a different dose based on individual requirements.
Lower doses trigger one effect, and larger doses produce another.
Higher doses can cause the more undesired effects of CBD.
An optimal CBD dosage exists and can be calculated to help you find the dosage that meets your needs best.
When mixing CBD with THC, research showed irritability was one of the handful of adverse reactions.
In another study, published in the Journal Of Autism And Developmental Disorders, CBD-rich cannabis was given to 60 children ranging in age from about 11 years old, and found 9% of them had an adverse effect of irritability.
Can CBD oil cause aggression?
According to NeuroscienceNews, CBD is shown to potentially reduce aggressive behavior.
CBD can reduce aggression through the activation of certain receptors responsible for serotonin.
The specific receptors CBD helps facilitate into an active state are the 5-HT1A and the CB1 receptor.
Even though CBD has been researched for nearly 20+ years, not much research into how CBD can affect aggressive behavior has been conducted.
What medications does CBD interfere with?
Research is showing that CBD can interact negatively with certain types of medication.
Before adding CBD to your daily medication routine, it’s best to speak with your doctor to prevent any possibility of having a negative experience in mixing medication.
When adding CBD to the medications you take daily, CBD can have several different potential interactions.
Depending on the specific type of medication you’re mixing, CBD can cause the medication to work more efficiently and require you to take less of your prescription medication.