Daily Drop of CBD Oil Reduces Migraine Headaches
/By Pat Anson, PNN Editor
A CBD oil formulated for migraine sufferers significantly reduces the number of migraine headaches, according to a survey conducted by Axon Relief, a Utah-based company that makes a line of therapeutic CBD products.
“Our goal was to put out a CBD oil that is specific for people with migraine and to get feedback from them. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence that it works, but we haven’t seen any clinical data really behind it. And so this is kind of a first effort of ours to get some directional data on how effective this is,” says Ben Rollins, founder of Axon Relief.
Axon’s CBD Oil is made from pure hemp seed oil and has about 30mg of CBD per dose, a stronger than average dosage of cannabidiol. It contains no extra flavors, colors or THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, and is tested by a third-party lab.
The company asked new users of its CBD oil to take the Headache Impact Test (Hit-6™) both before and after a 30-day trial period. The questionnaire asks participants about the frequency and severity of their migraines, and how it impacts their daily lives.
Of the 105 customers who participated in the survey, 86 percent said a daily dose of the CBD oil reduced the impact of their headaches. On average, they also had nearly four fewer headache days per month.
The number of participants with chronic migraine – daily headaches – fell from 15 at the start of the study to 10 after the trial period, a 33% decline.
“Since the '90s I've been on constant high doses of carbamazepine and gabapentin. The periodic pain breakthroughs were only controlled by hydrocodone,” one user said. “What a change CBD Oil has made: no more carbamazepine or hydrocodone, and only half the gabapentin -- and far better pain control.”
Another participant said the CBD oil “significantly helped with my chronic migraines. If taken at onset, I can rely on it to take the edge off relatively quickly."
Previous studies have found that inhaled and ingested cannabis help reduce migraine pain. A recent study of nearly 10,000 people in the U.S. and Canada who used a migraine tracking app found that 82 percent who used cannabis believed it was an effective pain reliever.
A 2017 study conducted in Israel found that combining THC and CBD in a 200mg oral dose reduced pain by 55 percent in a small group of migraine sufferers.
And a 2016 study at the University of Colorado found that inhaled and ingested cannabis significantly reduced the number of migraine headaches. Inhalation appeared to provide the fastest results, while edible cannabis took longer to provide pain relief.
Axon Relief will soon be introducing an extra strength version of its CBD oil, which will contain about 100mg of CBD per dose. The company is also releasing a new dietary supplement in capsule form that combines CBD with magnesium, CoQ10 and riboflavin – ingredients recommended by the Migraine Trust.