Can Cannabis Relieve Menopause Symptoms?

Last updated November 21, 2024 | Published on November 21, 2024

Plummeting hormone levels causing insomnia, brain fog, anxiety and depression. Exhaustion. Hot flashes. And then there’s mood, often alternating between bursts of anger and bouts of weeping and then, suddenly, feeling as though nothing is wrong. To varying degrees of frequency and severity, this is how about 85% of people going through menopause experience it.

A lot of discussion and ongoing studies are looking at the use of cannabis during menopause. While answers are still being uncovered, here’s what the current research has to say.

What is menopause?

Menopause marks the point when the ovaries stop releasing eggs to be fertilized. The entire process can start as early as a person’s 30s and last for decades.

For some people, perimenopause (the stage before actual menopause, when some of these symptoms begin) and postmenopause (which begins after one full year of menopause and continues until the end of a person’s life) can be equally challenging.

Why does menopause cause so many symptoms?

The reduction in estrogen and other hormones in the body during menopause affects not just the reproductive system. These hormones are connected to the function of the brain, bones, hair, skin, heart and cardiovascular system, among other organs and systems.

Symptoms of menopause include:

• irregular and heavy periods
• changes in mood, including depression, anxiety and irritability
• insomnia and sleep disruption
• hot flashes and night sweats
• headaches
• weight gain
• vaginal dryness
• hair loss and increased facial hair
• difficulty concentrating and memory loss
• lowered sex drive

Menopause is a natural process, not a disease, but the disruption and changes to a person’s quality of life make it a significant health issue.

Cannabis as an alternative to hormone therapies

Consuming cannabis for reproductive health–related issues is not a new idea. Historical texts note its usage in relieving menstrual cramps, sexual dysfunction and other reproductive system–related complaints.

Dr. Staci Gruber is a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and a cannabis researcher who founded and directs Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery. She isn’t surprised that people experiencing menopause symptoms are looking to cannabis for help. The most common reasons adults use cannabis in their older years, she says, is to help with a host of symptoms — chronic pain, mood, sleep disruption — that tend to worsen with age and dovetail with menopause.

Conventional menopause therapies include hormone replacement therapy (HRT), in which estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels can be adjusted using synthetic or naturally derived hormones. While HRT use declined due to breast cancer fears stemming from a problematic 2002 study, it’s experiencing a resurgence in popularity thanks to the medical community working to disprove the study’s findings.

But HRT is not a fix-all treatment. Some people still choose not to use it, while others only gain partial symptom relief at maximum dosages. That leads many menopausal people to seek out other options. “Often, people explore cannabis and cannabinoids not as a first-line treatment, but because nothing else has worked,” says Dr. Gruber.

Cannabis and pain, anxiety and other symptoms

In a 2023 survey by University of Alberta researchers, 345 of respondents said they currently use cannabis for menopause, and 66% had used it at some point. Of those current consumers, 75% said they were using cannabis to improve sleep and reduce anxiety and pain.

Cannabis can worsen menopause symptoms for some people, depending on the potency, or the concentration, of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other psychoactive cannabinoids. Drowsiness, fatigue, cognition issues, anxiety and other mood changes are commonly reported effects of cannabis consumption — issues that menopausal people might already be experiencing. Less common effects of cannabis consumption include cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, often caused by long-term, high-THC cannabis use.

Even with these risks, says Dr. Gruber, cannabis and cannabinoids offer a “very interesting therapeutic alternative” to conventional ways of managing menopause.

Find out how your age can affect your cannabis experience

How THC and CBD affect menopause symptoms

While people are using cannabis and cannabinoids such as THC and cannabidiol (CBD) to manage symptoms related to menopause, more research is needed to assess their efficacy and safety.

A 2021 longitudinal study co-authored by Dr. Gruber and published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society looked at the long-term impacts of medical cannabis use on cognition. The 54 medical cannabis patients in the study had an average age of 49 — prime menopause time. The study found that CBD significantly improved executive function, as well as sleep, mood and anxiety, among the medical cannabis users who participated.

Dr. Gruber says older adults often look for products with high CBD content or those that offer a more well-rounded experience thanks to a greater diversity of cannabinoids and terpenes. For instance, she says, the minor cannabinoid cannabinol (CBN), which seems to increase sedation, could be consumed alongside CBD. “I like to think of it as CBN may help you fall asleep and CBD may help you stay asleep,” says Dr. Gruber.

As for other complaints related to menopause and aging in general, a separate study on chronic pain and cannabis use, also co-authored by Dr. Gruber, noted that participants who used cannabis, and specifically cannabis with THC, saw noteworthy pain relief.

If you choose cannabis, know what’s in it

Menopause can be complex to manage. Cannabis can fit into a treatment plan, but as Dr. Gruber says, “it’s important to know what you’re getting in the cannabis products you use.”

She calls it the “what’s in your weed?” factor. Her studies allow research subjects to continue consuming what they’re used to consuming at home, while her team studies the outcomes. To control for variations, they send the cannabis products to a third-party lab for analysis, which allows her team to determine exactly what’s in each one.

In Canada, licensed cannabis producers are required to provide the THC and CBD content of their products. However, consumers can request further breakdowns on cannabinoids, terpenes and potency from the Licensed Producer.

Learn more about how to read the THC and CBD potencies on a product label

Consult a healthcare professional

Knowing which products, strains, cannabinoids and terpenes match up with menopause complaints may take some DIY research. And it’s key to consult a healthcare provider to ensure any existing health conditions and medications don’t conflict with cannabis use.

People experiencing intrusive menopause symptoms should also consider consulting a healthcare professional or menopause specialist to build a holistic framework to support their hormone health and overall well-being.

Take it slowly

Finally, the adage “start low and go slow” rings true here. One tip: Dr. Gruber says choosing a multi-compound cannabis product, typically identified with terms such as “full spectrum,” “broad spectrum” and “whole-plant derived,” means a smaller amount can be used to get a notable result.

Whether the product is inhaled, ingested or applied, mounting evidence suggests cannabis makes menopause a more tolerable experience for some of the billions of people who will, at some point, go through it.