Some Women Use Cannabis for Chronic Pain and Stress Some Women Use Cannabis Daily for Chronic Pain and Stress According to a national online survey of more than 5,000 middle-aged women presented at the 2023 Menopause Society annual meeting, 42 percent of women ages 45 to 64 reported lifetime cannabis use in some form. Of those who smoked it, 30 percent reported using it daily or near daily for a year or longer.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629301083a8-b68b-432e-ad5b-9336af8ca66a Among the women who used marijuana for medical purposes, the most common reasons were to relieve chronic pain (28 percent), anxiety (24 percent), and sleep and stress (22 percent). An estimated 6 percent used cannabis to target menopause-related mood and sleep difficulties.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976297cfb4428-0d8b-4b1a-bdfc-cb102e4fbb54 Another survey of 258 peri- and postmenopausal women showed that 86 percent reported cannabis use, and of that group, 67 percent used it to relieve sleep issues during menopause. Forty-six percent reported using it for mood and anxiety issues, especially perimenopausal women. Still, more research is needed to determine how and why the substance might help.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762926a31d58-cbfe-4f41-ac6c-29bc08fc64fe Experts theorize that cannabis binds to certain brain and nerve cell receptors to help mitigate pain and inflammation, but the exact mechanism is still unclear.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976291343f4a1-b9a9-4a4e-a433-f63a5ef6e58c Additionally, most studies of cannabis and chronic pain have produced inconsistent and mixed results.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629e260384c-aaa5-4e7b-b2c0-d973e690a5a9 Middle-aged women appear to use cannabis for many of the same reasons as the general population — anxiety, sleep, and stress — but also menopause symptoms, says Dr. Gibson. “But we still do not know if use is actually helping for those symptoms, or if it may be contributing to other challenges,” she adds.
If you’re a woman in menopause, you’re likely no stranger to experimenting with remedies. Research shows that about 28 percent of women try complementary therapies to relieve menopause symptoms — and cannabis is one of them.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629cdf9e2ee-f6d3-494f-9042-1a52acd53844 Studies have found that cannabis, or marijuana, is popular among middle-aged women to mitigate menopause symptoms like sleep and mood issues.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629264e949a-e0b8-41a3-ba32-2eadfa0fc182 Some also use products with cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating component of cannabis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Still, very little evidence confirms its efficacy for menopause relief. “We know that cannabis use is becoming more common with normalization and with legalization in adults over the age of 50, and women are the fastest-growing population for those who use cannabis,” said Carolyn Gibson, PhD , an associate professor of psychiatry and a health services researcher at the University of California in San Francisco. But “most studies have focused on men and young adults — not many studies have looked precisely at women in midlife, so there’s a gap in what we know.” Below, learn more about what anecdotal evidence and medical research says about the potential ways cannabis may ease menopause symptoms.
Potential Risks Potential Risks of Cannabis for Menopause Relief Cannabis targets the body’s endocannabinoid system, which regulates things like sleep, temperature, inflammation, and emotional processing.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976294720e10a-d081-47a9-9d33-9c4e63222fb4 While this could be beneficial for certain health concerns, there is little to no scientific evidence that cannabis can directly target and relieve symptoms like hot flashes or mood swings in menopause.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629565f6871-de35-476f-8456-7fbb6307b85d No matter your reason for using cannabis, there are potential risks. “Obviously, when we think about smoking anything, it brings up concern for cardiovascular health and respiratory health, especially if people are smoking on a daily basis,” Gibson says. Smoking marijuana has been linked to chronic bronchitis and negative impacts on the body’s immune system, according to the American Lung Association . Consuming cannabis via edibles (gummies, candies, baked goods) may be safer, but there are concerns about products that have a really high potency, have impurities, or aren’t labeled accurately (typical in states where it may not be legal or regulated). In that case, potency isn’t known at all, Gibson says. “Higher potency brings risks for increased tolerance, which brings risks for dependence, and also acute risks such as acute anxiety, fall risk, maybe psychosis, the things that send people to the emergency room,” Gibson says. THC (the psychoactive chemical found in cannabis) levels have also increased about 10 times higher than in the 1970s and ’80s, says Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD , a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine in California.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762923622b6b-4c9f-4c59-810c-09a4333fd393 Cannabis may also negatively interact with certain prescription medications, so it’s important to talk to your doctor before using it for menopause or any reason.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629a4b921bd-0e36-4029-935b-1695ef0217a5
More Research Is Needed on Benefits and Risks More Research Is Needed to Explore the Benefits and Risks Gibson says, given the “relatively common use” of marijuana, more research is needed to evaluate how cannabis may benefit or harm women during the menopause transition and beyond. Historically, that’s been difficult given that cannabis is illegal at the federal level, but there’s been some progress. In 2022, President Biden signed into law a bill that streamlines access to marijuana for clinical trials and expedites applications for universities and producers to grow and distribute cannabis for research. Moves to reclassify cannabis from a highly regulated schedule 1 to schedule 3 drug have also been proposed, which may make it easier for researchers to study.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762963bcd4d8-6311-4188-8e5a-c6d489a807b2 At the state level, 41 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, and 24 states have legalized it for recreational use for adults 21 and older.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762940de66d2-55e1-4152-83e8-a6add311af15
Cannabis May Help With Menopause-Related Sleep Issues Anecdotally, Cannabis May Help With Menopause-Related Sleep Issues Karen Adams, MD , a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and the director of the menopause and healthy aging program at Stanford Health Care in California, says that her patients report turning to CBD- or THC-containing marijuana to help them sleep. “My menopausal patients tell me they are incredibly bothered by their sleep difficulties. They used to be good sleepers, and if they got up at 2 a.m. to go to the bathroom, they could still fall back to sleep pretty quickly. But after menopause, once they were up, they were up for hours — so much so that the next day they experienced brain fog and fuzziness,” says Dr. Adams. Adams has observed that taking these products before bed has been a game changer for many of her patients, helping them fall and stay asleep. “Anecdotally, it seems to work. However, we need more science investigating the risks, side effects, and long-term outcomes in women using cannabis for sleep issues in menopause,” says Adams.
When to Talk to Your Doctor Talk to Your Provider Before Using Cannabis for Menopause “It’s unclear why women are turning to cannabis, a product not thoroughly evaluated as it relates to efficacy and safety, and if they are also talking to their healthcare practitioners about these symptoms,” says Juliana (Jewel) Kling, MD, MPH , a professor of medicine, the chair of women’s health internal medicine, and the dean of the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona. If menopause symptoms are negatively impacting your quality of life, talk to your doctor. “There are many products available to treat menopause symptoms, but it may be that women aren’t aware of them, aren’t offered them, or are not associating their symptoms with menopause,” Dr. Kling says. Other menopause treatments, like hormone therapy, have more substantial evidence, says Gibson. Practitioners should also ask patients about cannabis given that it is widely used, says Kling. Gibson agrees: “We need to normalize talking about cannabis in the healthcare setting.”
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