NuLeaf Naturals CBD Oil First-hand Experience
I took CBD oil for 30 days and this is the story of what went down. Everything from product selection to ordering, feel, smell, taste – you may be surprised to find out what happened. This beginners guide to CBD oil is told from my personal perspective and chronicles my journey.
As with all products or services I review, I take the plunge all-in, to make sure I fully understand every aspect of the experience.
If you are new to this topic or are investigating whether or not to take the journey yourself, hopefully this post can provide some benefit.
Initial thoughts (random order)
- What CBD brand to try?
- Is CBD Oil legal where I live?
- Am I going to be embarrassed to tell people I use CBD?
- If I go on vacation, will TSA or the Disney police arrest me?
- What does CBD Oil taste like?
- Do I need to flavor or mask the taste of the CBD Oil?
- What does CBD Oil smell like?
- What does CBD Oil feel like?
- Will I experience any side-effects with CBD?
- Is it safe for me to use CBD Oil?
- How do you take CBD Oil?
- What dosage of CBD Oil is right for me?
- If I have to take a random drug test for work, will I fail?
I’m about to find out some answers as I’ve set out on the journey of discovering CBD.
I went for my annual physical recently and casually mentioned that I planned to try CBD oil to my doctor. While he did not believe it would help, he also did not believe it would hurt.
What I hope to achieve for myself in this experiment:
- Answers to most if not all the questions above
- I have trouble getting a good night’s sleep and hope this can help
- I have chronic pain in my neck and back from a roof fall 20 years ago; I would be very happy if CBD Oil can help ease my chronic pain. Click here for more info on my pain
- I have some amount of mild and occasional anxiety that makes me feel amped up with a need to do something like I’m on a mission, but really there is no mission. I would not mind if that feeling went away and allowed me to focus on living in the moment instead.
This blog ended up longer than anticipated. If you like details and the long story, please read on. If you prefer instant gratification, click here to skip to the summary.
Moving forward with CBD Oil
My apologies for this video; it turned out really bad – it might even be the worst video on Youtube. I kept messing up and getting tongue tied which led to doing a voiceover later, which is also not great. I figured, if I’m going to mess around with editing, then why not add views of their website and other images, which may have made it worse. Ultimately, it does provide the information I was trying to convey. If you can’t get thru the video – I transcribed it in the paragraphs below –
After a bit of research, I found that NuLeaf Naturals was hands-down the best choice. I could go on talking about 100% certified organic or green extraction methods, sustainable farming practices, full-spectrum – all the important stuff. But, you can research that on your own.
This is what sold me: Check out the user reviews for NuLeaf Naturals! Over 20,000 verified reviews, 5 out of 5 stars. You do not achieve this level of customer satisfaction unless your product is the absolute best and your service is world-class.
On to their website, click “buy CBD oil“, select the size I want and “add to cart”. I make the purchase, quick and easy, and right away they send me a confirmation email.
Then something crazy happens. 23 minutes later I get another email – my order shipped!
Ordered on Friday and received on Monday.
OK, here we are, the package has arrived. As you can see, a plain white USPS box from NN Shipping in Denver. Let’s open it up.
Welcome letter. Packing slip. Bubble wrap. Brochure.
There it is, NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil. Let’s open it up and try it.
First, what does it feel like? It feels exactly like olive oil.
Next, smell. Earthy like soil, slightly pungent, overall fairly mild.
What does CBD oil taste like? Plant-like, rich, a little bitter, like a strong green tea with a pinch of grass clippings. Surprisingly good.
Well, that’s it, my first CBD oil experience is complete. After reading reviews of other brands, I was a little nervous it would smell and taste bad. I am happy to report that NuLeaf Naturals is very mild and actually pleasant, no flavoring required.
Note: Everyone’s palette is different, I do appreciate the bitterness of dark chocolate, I drink my coffee black no sugar, and I enjoy the earthy flavors in different foods like mushrooms, asparagus, brussel sprouts. If you do not like these flavors – you will likely have much less appreciation for the flavor of NuLeaf Naturals.
In case anyone has a desire to know the size of the bottle for NuLeaf Naturals CBD Oil 240mg (small bottle) – it is exactly 3 inches. The label is 1.25 inches tall and 2.75 inches wide. I’d say this is “travel size”.
Day One with CBD Oil
There was a welcome letter in the box from NuLeaf Naturals. One of the paragraphs talks about the recommended dosage amount for CBD Oil.
“The dosage amount for CBD oil can vary greatly between people. Most people report 10-15 drops (approx. 25-35mg) once or twice daily as their best regimen, which can be taken at any time, before or after a meal. Drops should be placed under the tongue (sublingual) and held up to 45 seconds. We encourage everyone to research and experiment with serving size to find their best solution.”
Sounds good to me. 10 drops under the tongue, hold for 45 seconds.
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: Some dry-mouth, nothing else to report
- Symptom relief: no noticeable relief experienced or expected
Day Two with CBD Oil
Yesterday caused no harm, no reason to discontinue use.
10 drops under the tongue in the morning, hold for 45 seconds.
What does CBD oil taste like? Still the same (Plant-like, rich, a little bitter, like a strong green tea with a pinch of grass clippings), although I noticed today that the after-taste stayed around for about 30 minutes. It is possible yesterday was the same in that regard but I did not notice until today.
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: Some dry-mouth, and head-buzz similar to drinking too much coffee in a short timeframe. Not sure if this is good data – because right before taking CBD I had 2 cups of strong coffee in less than an hour and I usually have 2 cups over a 2-3 hour period. I will normalize the coffee intake tomorrow and report any differences.
- Symptom relief: no noticeable relief experienced in terms of the items I listed above. One surprise entry; my right wrist and forearm have been hurting lately – I am at my computer more than usual and figured it was “mouse-arm” – too much point and click. Today, after the morning dosage the pain went away for 2-3 hours. No other pain relievers taken during the day.
Day Three with CBD Oil
10 drops under the tongue in the morning, hold for 45 seconds. CBD Oil taste? Today, more hints of mushroom. I did not notice much after-taste today.
Also new, instead of going to the mirror and counting ten drops as I see them fall… I figured out approximately how full the dropper needed to be in order to administer 10 drops, filled it to that level and just emptied it all at once under my tongue. I never said I got this stuff right the first time, but I do eventually figure it out…
Beginning of day evaluation
I spread out the coffee to be more inline with how i usually drink it, 2 cups over 2 hours. No head-buzz after taking the CBD oil. Hopefully, that solves that mystery.
Sleep. I slept well and all through the night, I cannot remember waking up until 6am, which is normal waking time (even on weekends). This is the fist time in a long time I slept thru the night. I wish I had more quantitative data. I used to wear a Fitbit HR that did an OK job of documenting sleep quality and patterns like REM. So, I have historical data on how I was sleeping last year. I dug it out of the junk drawer and found the charger (in a different junk drawer, I know, I know; junk drawers!). It is charging now and I hope to wear it starting tonight. The plan will be to collect data over the next week or month and compare to data from last year.
I exported Fitbit data from this month, one year ago. This is the average data for the entire month and will be used as the “baseline”:
- Total sleep = 7 hours 20 minutes
- Deep Sleep = 1 hour 27 minutes
- Waking = 1 hour 3 minutes
- Light sleep = 4 hours 13 minutes
- REM sleep = 2 hours 6 minutes
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: noticeably less dry-mouth. No head-buzz today at all – yesterday’s event was most likely the coffee.
- Symptom relief: My “mouse-arm” is still pain-free (although it is Saturday, we will see if Monday’s all-day computer marathon changes anything.
Day Four with CBD Oil
15 drops under the tongue in the morning (I increased the dosage as the dry-mouth side-effect is wearing off), hold for 45 seconds. Today, the CBD taste is just a mild earthy tone. Still minimal after-taste.
Sleep report: I charged up the Fitbit Alta HR, connected it to the app and wore it starting at about 7pm last night. This is the data provided:
- Total sleep = 6 hours 51 minutes (29 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Deep Sleep = 1 hour 5 minutes (22 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Waking = 51 minutes (12 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Light sleep = 3 hours 24 minutes (49 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- REM sleep = 2 hours (6 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Up at 5:49am
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: no dry-mouth at all. No other side-effects.
- Symptom relief: No help with sleep last night as seen above. Right arm has some muscle tightness but no pain. Neck and back pain, still there; I will stay at 15 drops and try going to twice a day to see if that changes anything. Anxiety; no anxiety to report today.
Day Five with CBD Oil
15 drops under the tongue in the morning, hold for 45 seconds. What does CBD Oil taste like today? A mild earthy tone but I also noticed a sharper bitter taste. It went away quickly. Still minimal after-taste.
Sleep report:
- Total sleep = 8 hours 5 minutes (45 minute more than 2018 AVG)
- Deep Sleep = 2 hours 25 minutes (58 minutes more than 2018 AVG)
- Waking = 51 minutes (12 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Light sleep = 3 hours 34 minutes (39 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- REM sleep = 2 hours 6 minutes (equal to 2018 AVG)
- Up at 7:30am
Another 15 drops sublingual at about 7pm.
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: no dry-mouth at all. No other side-effects.
- Symptom relief: Great night of sleep as seen above. Right arm has minor pain. Neck and back pain, still there. Anxiety; no anxiety to report today.
Day Six with CBD Oil
15 drops under the tongue in the morning, hold for 45 seconds. What does CBD Oil taste like? Today, a mild earthy tone, the mildest it has ever been, no bitterness. It went away quickly; minimal after-taste.
Sleep report:
- Total sleep = 7 hours 26 minutes (6 minutes more than 2018 AVG)
- Deep Sleep = 1 hour 48 minutes (21 minutes more than 2018 AVG)
- Waking = 1 hour 16 minutes (13 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Light sleep = 3 hours 32 minutes (41 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- REM sleep = 2 hours 6 minutes (equal to 2018 AVG)
- Up at 7:32am
Another 15 drops sublingual at about 7pm.
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: no dry-mouth at all. No other side-effects.
- Symptom relief: decent sleep as seen above. Right arm has minor pain. Neck and back pain, less today. Anxiety; no anxiety to report today.
Almost every night I take Naproxen Sodium to relieve my back pain enough to fall asleep. I get through the day well enough without drugs of any kind, but it is hard to sleep when in pain. The pain reliever lasts about 12 hours so I have the best chance of sleeping through the night.
Today I feel well enough, pain-wise, to go without Naproxen Sodium.
Day Seven with CBD Oil
15 drops under the tongue in the morning, hold for 45 seconds. What does CBD Oil taste like on day 7? A non-event; minimal after-taste.
Sleep report:
- Total sleep = 6 hours 8 minutes (72 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Deep Sleep = 1 hour 17 minutes (10 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Waking = 1 hour 15 minutes (12 minutes more than 2018 AVG)
- Light sleep = 3 hours 22 minutes (51 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- REM sleep = 1 hours 29 minutes (37 minutes less than 2018 AVG)
- Up at 6:05am
When I started waking at about 3:45am, my back pain was getting worse. It was good while it lasted…
Another 15 drops sublingual at about 7pm.
End of day evaluation
- Side-effects: no dry-mouth at all. No other side-effects.
- Symptom relief: poor sleep as seen above. Right arm has zero pain. Neck and back pain, still less today – but I will take the Naproxen Sodium to be safe. Anxiety; no anxiety to report today.
What I learned after 7 days with CBD Oil
- What CBD brand to try?
- At First; NuLeaf Naturals
- Over time I gravitated to Lazarus Naturals
- And then to Hempland USA ECS5
- Is CBD Oil legal where I live?
- Am I going to be embarrassed to tell people I use CBD?
- So far, no
- If I go on vacation, will TSA or the Disney police arrest me?
- Not tested personally, no Disney plans in my future
- May 28 2019, TSA made an intriguing statement suggesting they will allow products that conform to the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 in carry-on as well as checked luggage. Proceed with caution and print out your 3rd party test results to prove legality. The final decision rests with the TSA officer on whether an item is allowed through the checkpoint.
- What does CBD Oil taste like?
- It seems to me that 1/2 the people surveyed say it tastes horrible and the other 1/2 say it tastes fine. That seems normal as people’s tastes differ.
- Do I need to flavor or mask the taste of the CBD Oil?
- I personally, did not. Not once did I feel the need. The more I consumed, the less I noticed the taste at all.
- What does CBD Oil smell like?
- Earthy like soil, slightly pungent, overall fairly mild for me.
- What does CBD Oil feel like?
- NuLeaf Naturals feels exactly like olive oil
- Will I experience any side-effects with CBD?
- Dry-mouth, but that went away after a few days
- You may have the same and/or others
- Is it safe for me to use CBD Oil?
- For me, it was perfectly safe
- Click here for advice on if CDB is safe for you
- How do you take CBD Oil?
- Sublingual; under the tongue; hold for 45 seconds, swallow
- What dosage of CBD Oil is right for me?
- Still working on that, current dosage is 15 drops twice a day, or 70mg total per day. I will continue to experiment over the next month or so with less as well as more to see if anything changes.
- Am now at 25mg per day – with the cumulative effect, I was able to reduce dosage and maintain the desired level of relief
- Will I fail a drug test
- I ordered a home drug screen from Amazon
- I did not read the fine print for exactly what it tested for – it seemed comprehensive and had good reviews
- Results: Positive for Cannabinoids
- The test did not look for THC specifically
- Fully expected as that is what I am taking – but no drug test for any job I ever took tested for CBD, only THC, so I believe I am safe on this one.
What I achieved for myself in this experiment:
- Answers to most of the questions posed above (all but Disney/TSA)
- Some promising results getting a good night’s sleep
- CBD Oil did help ease my chronic pain, not 100%, maybe 20%
- CBD Oil did, in fact, help with anxiety. I had more calmness and more focus on living in the moment.
30-day Update
Sleep: Overall, as the month progressed the results got better. I believe that the positive effects of CBD Oil will continue to improve my sleep over time.
Pain: Has subsided enough to use Aleve 2-3 times a week and still get decent sleep.
Anxiety: Noticeably less. Not only in how I feel but others have commented about the difference.
Conclusion
CBD Oil absolutely does work for me. The degrees to which it works for me will absolutely differ for you. Side-effects and effectiveness will vary. It worked so well for me, I tried it on my dog, Roxy. Read Roxy’s story to see how CBD oil helped my dog with her anxiety.
I do not believe CBD Oil is a one-stop miracle cure – but I do believe that CBD Oil is one important piece of the puzzle – that when combined with other efforts, make my life much more comfortable and enjoyable.
For me, it is worth continuing on. My contact at NuLeaf Naturals told me that there is an accumulative effect – over time the relief you experience should increase and the amount of time of the relief gets extended. If you want to see more Q&A, take a look at my interview with Laura from NuLeaf Naturals.
How about you? If you are ready to move forward with CBD Oil and you trust NuLeaf Naturals as I do; use my link and coupon code below to get 20% off your order!
If you are wondering how much CBD oil to buy at a time or how much it costs over time, see this post: http://cbd-oils-review.com/how-much-does-cbd-oil-cost/
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Professional Product Reviews and part-time Blogger
Environmentalist | Animal Activist | Advocate for those in Need
Constantly seeking Peace and Calmness of the mind
