My name’s Katie, 36, and the proud mummy to a pair of beautiful twins. They just celebrated their 3rd birthday the other week. It was the first one of their parties that I had been able to actually enjoy. Shortly after giving birth, I’d say about three weeks or so, I started to just feel utterly crap. This feeling of all over aching, gut pains, stiffness, and utterly crippling headaches just wouldn’t go away.
I was still suffering like hell on wheels when I went for my regular postnatal check-up. The lovely nurse noticed straight off the bat that something was not right. I didn’t even need to open my mouth to mention how terrible I’d been feeling. She sat me down, and five minutes later I was being quizzed by not one, not two, but three GPs! Never heard of that before, but trust me it was not funny at the time…
The older lady doctor was leading the grilling, asking me all sorts of questions – things like, “could you be in withdrawal” and “are you feeling suicidal?” – the answer to which was obvious, at least to the first back then. Anyhow, to cut a long story short, they referred me straight to hospital where I was kept in for six days while they prodded and poked about. My partner was terrified, and no stretch of a lie, we were talking about the worst case scenario once it became clear that the doctors just couldn’t find anything wrong.
Finally, I was given a diagnosis – and frankly, I already had a horrible feeling what it might be – fibromyalgia. Just in case you haven’t heard of it, this one of those real nasty conditions. The kind where there is no cure and treatment options are basically just pain medication and a sick bag. Sounds like a fate worse than death, doesn’t it? Well, just to rub it in, if you contract this – and anyone can at any time – there’s also no reason for it directly to shorten your life either. 50 years of anguish and pain on the horizon, no shock they put me on Prozac right away.
Anyway, it gradually stabilized a bit once I made it home. I could just about function, but had to let work know that there was no way I could really go back (I was a post lady!). That was a nasty feeling, let me tell you. But, I had to do my best for the boys – and that included my stressed to death boyfriend. I took their advice and joined a couple of great local support groups. They were lifesavers for those first two years and I made good friends with others who had fallen victim to fibromyalgia for all sorts of reasons.
One especially, Marian, became very close. We started doing Pilates together, and she mentioned one day that she’d started taking CBD on top of her usual pile of pills. She explained that it had helped other people – it was the first I’d heard of it – and that all she did was drop a little oil under her tongue and hold it for a little while a few times a day. Straight from her pocket she brought out this little bottle and gave me a try. Can’t say it did anything, but I do like olive oils so that was yummy!
I forgot all about that chat for a few weeks. Then over coffee, Marian said that she really thought it was starting to help her out. Not only was her pain not as bad, but her IBS (honestly that’s the worst bit) had become much better. It was still there, just again – more in the background than right in her face.
Obviously, the first thing I did was jot down what she was taking and rush home to order some. I didn’t have much of a clue what I was doing, but the next day a little envelope came through the door – Infuse drops, 30ml bottle at 2,000mg. Following her advice, I took just a tiny drop and held it underneath my tongue for a couple of minutes or so. Then that was it. Nothing was different, and I still felt like crap! It had taken a few weeks for her, but she’s a bit bigger than me so maybe it’ll work quicker – at least that’s what I hoped.
I reckon it did too, you know. I noticed it came on more subtly for me, but I’d say I noticed proper improvements after just a fortnight. My painkillers seemed to be more effective for some reason – in that they actually helped – and I couldn’t figure out why to start with. Make no mistake, that near constant ache was still there, but yeah – there really was some relief at last. Over the coming days it became even better, so much so that it massively improved my mood, and I think everyone in the rest of the house started to notice that too.
A few months later, and I cannot for the life of me understand why this stuff is not yet on the NHS. It costs a bit at this strength, and I tried weaker but it just didn’t work as well. Think I must have got lucky, but hey I am sure not complaining one bit. So I’d just like to suggest to anyone else who suffers from fibromyalgia or even other types of chronic pain, that maybe CBD can also help your life become bearable again too.
Thanks for reading everyone xxx