By Adrienne Dellwo 
Medically reviewed by Meredith Bull, ND 
March 29, 2021

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS) is an extremely difficult illness to treat. It features dozens of symptoms believed to stem from the dysregulation of multiple systems throughout the body. Cannabidiol (CBD) oil is a hot, up-and-coming treatment right now that's being touted as a fix for all kinds of diseases. It's only natural that a lot of people with ME/CFS would develop an interest in CBD oil as a possible treatment.

But is CBD a safe and effective treatment for this complex and debilitating disease? Thus far, we have no specific research on CBD for ME/CFS, so it's too early to have an answer to that question.

Another possible deterrent for people considering this treatment is that CBD oil—which comes from hemp—gets wrapped up in the controversy over medical marijuana. That may make some people hesitant to try it. Additionally, it's been hard to find a straight answer about whether it's legal, but that concern should be going away soon.

What Is CBD Oil?

CBD stands for "cannabidiol," which comes from the cannabis plant. That's the same plant that gives us marijuana. However, CBD—as an oil or in other forms—doesn't have psychoactive properties. That means it doesn't provide the "high" associated with marijuana.1

The substance in marijuana that gets you high is called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). 2 Growers who want to maximize the plant's psychoactive effect use breeds and techniques that result in higher levels of THC. On the other hand, cannabis that's grown for hemp is generally richer in CBD than THC, and that's where CBD comes from.

CBD oil can be used in several different ways. You can smoke it (typically in vape pens), take it in capsule form, use it sublingually (under the tongue), use oral sprays or drops, or apply it topically to your skin. A crystalline form of pure CBD is also available, which is generally taken sublingually.

CBD products that are extracted from cannabis are being used for a lot of medical purposes, and you can find many claims online about miraculous results.

But are these claims true? And would it work as well for you? From a scientific standpoint, the answers are more like "we don't know" and "possibly" and "some claims appear to be true" than a firm "yes," and it depends on which claims you're looking at.

People are using CBD oil for a whole lot of different medical purposes, including:

  • Chronic pain and inflammation, including neuroinflammation (a suspected feature of ME/CFS)
  • Social anxiety disorder
  • Insomnia
  • Halting the growth of cancerous tumors
  • The pain of glaucoma
  • Epilepsy, especially in children
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Schizophrenia
  • Movement problems caused by Huntington's disease
  • Help with smoking cessation

As of June 25, 2018, CBD oil has been approved by the U.S. FDA as an oral solution (Epidiolex) for the treatment of seizures associated with two very severe forms of epilepsy that usually affect children: Lennox-Gaustaut and Dravet syndromes.3

Research in the United States for other diseases is still in the early stages. That's because legal restrictions have for decades made it extremely difficult to study the medical benefits of marijuana or any of its components, which are called cannabinoids. Promising research is being done, though, on multiple conditions. Down the road, it's likely that we'll eventually see many applications submitted to the FDA.