While my cannabis usage isn't strictly medicinal, I appreciate its ability to help with falling asleep, something that I've periodically had issues with for most of my life. However, I've been having trouble with inconsistency in its effects on me - sometimes I can go right to sleep, but occasionally it keeps me awake long into the night, even after its effects should've worn off.
I typically use indica hybrid live resin vape cartridges (whole-plant smoke is harsher on my lungs, and my wife doesn't like the smell of it anyway), and my usage is pretty moderate, typically 2-3 times a week in the evenings. Originally, I had believed the issue to be related to the strain, and I think it is, to some extent - some carts I've tried seem to work better than others, but even within the same strains I've had mixed effects.
For example, last night, I started a little before 8 PM with a cart I got a few weeks ago that didn't have the strongest effects on drowsiness of anything that I've tried, but also hadn't given me any trouble up to this point. I tapered off after 9, only having a couple of smaller pulls before 10, where I stopped, and I went to bed at 11. I've been working off of a hypothesis that it's easier to sleep after the peak of a high has passed, which I haven't been able to really prove one way or the other, but it... might help?
At any rate, I felt some kind of residual effect of the high that just... prevented my brain from fully disengaging and falling asleep, which lasted past 5 AM, far longer than I feel like it should've lingered. It didn't feel unpleasant or anything, and I went a lot longer before checking the time and getting worried about it than I would've normally. Still, I'm fairly certain I didn't fall asleep until some time around 5:30ish, and I sure felt sleep-deprived when my alarm went off this morning.
I've had similar experiences before with different strains, which I've previously attributed to either the strain itself or the timing of its use. After last night, I'm starting to get pretty frustrated that I can't figure out why it's such a crapshoot sometimes.
I know an internet forum is not a place for definitive medical advice, but the last time I talked to a doctor about it, it wasn't particularly enlightening, and the people at my dispensary haven't been able to give much advice either, beyond "use indica strains." If nothing else, I'm at least trying to see if I can get any ideas or leads on things to look into and research further. Any advice?
Indica vs. Sativa: let's talk about this for a second. There's no difference between them other than how the plant itself look botanicaly. There's a common misconception there, that was mainly contributed to by myth and legend over the years. What matters is terpene and canabinoid make up of the flower of a strain. Don't shy away from trying hybrid or sativa strains.
Cannabis use also may hinder active sleep while high. Due to the psycho active properties, it can lead to the brain not wanting to enduce a REM state of sleep. That being said the come down, or "burn out", may infact help one fall into a sleep easier. This is potentially caused by a post dopamine blast a thc high gives, you're brain likes dopamine and sleep also provides this, thus triggering your brain to want to sleep.
Play around with strains with higher levels of myrcene and humulene terpenes, as they are said to help induce a tired sleep state. Also look into higher CBD% strains. It's common for dispensary weed to be high THC% with lower CBD%.
Maybe try smoking a bit more, a bit earlier before bed so you hit the burn out stage slightly earlier and with a stronger presence.
Also I'm personally not a fan of these distillate carts(unless i make and fill my own), they seem very inconsistent and who knows wth they put in there to increase viscosity. Potentially look into getting somthing like a Dr.dabber and buying concentrates like live resins/ full spectrum extracted concentrates that are not mixed into a cart solution. Might give you a more accurate/consistent result vs carts.
I'm not a doctor nor "professional" in cannabis. But I've smoked for a long time, have grown many a plant, and am a hobbiest concentrate extractor.
This is 100% your correct answer.
The only thing I'm going to add is that you may want to look for something with the cannabinoid CBN which forms as cannabis ages. That is typically another cannabinoid that is linked to helping with sleep.