I Spent a Week With CBD Night Drops - Nasreen Osman, Because Magazine

Nasreen Osman trials the much-raved about CBD oil drops in an effort to cure waves of insomnia.

I wouldn’t consider myself a light sleeper – I don’t wake up at the sound of floorboards creaking in the night or fall out of bed when someone slams the door. However, I do suddenly wake up at 3am with an epiphany or when a drunken couple are having a heated spat outside and naturally, I should perch on my windowsill to watch, wide-eyed and running on 2 hours of sleep. So...maybe I am a light-sleeper, but definitions aside, those momentary lapses in my sleep pattern have recently taken a turn. I now survive off two modes: wake up at 5am (4:46am to be exact) or fall asleep at 5am. 

So, as you can imagine, I lapped up the opportunity to try out the CBD Night Drops from Dreem Distillery. These night drops use broad spectrum CBD and a bespoke terpene blend, which supports the body’s reaction to the hemp plant and helps to ensure a consistent sleep. Truth be told, no matter how much I read about the 3-letter word and the craze that follows it, I still don’t quite get CBD. In case I butcher the information on the science behind it, I highly recommend reading about how it works on their website, because they rather graciously explain the mechanism in layman's language.

Ahead of writing this, I kept a sleep diary to keep track of my experience with the drops. It's easy enough to use: I squeezed out 6-8 drops under my tongue and held it inside my mouth for 60 seconds. The day after I wrote, “Bleh, I can’t help but grimace at the oily texture.” If you practice oil pulling then the feeling and taste won’t be a big deal but for newcomers, it takes some getting used to. Alas, that night I woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep...but I didn’t take it 30 minutes before bedtime, as recommended. So, the experiment continued. 

Day 2 had too many variables which impacted my sleep (i.e. getting the vaccine) so let’s fast forward to day 3 when I slept until 7am without any interruption. That was major. I couldn’t even remember the last time that had happened. Ever the skeptic, I wondered if it was a placebo effect or whether I had slept well only due to being flat out tired. However, I continued to use it religiously and I kid you not, on day 4 and 5, I slept like a log.

On day 7 (I couldn’t sleep on day 6 but hey, it’s not a miracle worker) I came to a conclusion on the drops: they were working too well - meaning, I was sleeping too well.  The only good thing about my past near-insomniac life was quiet mornings, reading a book with a cup of tea and feeling bleary-eyed but refreshed. After using the drops, I found myself waking up later and later and wanting more! I felt conflicted. I was thrilled to be sleeping through the night without interruption but as a recent morning-person convert, I couldn’t help but feel as though my hard work had been undone. From then on, I’ve taken to reducing the amount of drops I use and trying to figure out what works best for me. It's not an all or nothing situation but rather, trying to work out what I need night by night. I should also mention that by this point, I had completely come around to the taste and texture of the oil. 

The night drops boast an impressive clientele with the likes of Poppy Delevingne, Val Garland and Yasmin Sewell using the oil and seeing success. Save for the fact that I’m not an A-lister, I would be adding my name to that list. The drops come in at £160, which may seem steep but given its potency and efficacy (well, for me) I’d say it’s reasonable. Now the small bottle sits pretty by my bedside table. When deciding whether I should use it or not, I ask myself, “How well do I want to sleep tonight?” 

Today I woke up at 8:30am, so you probably know the answer. 

Shop The Dreem Distillery CBD Night drops here.