Getting through recovery days
I recently wrote about the recovery days I go through thanks to cartilage/bone damage in my foot. They are not fun and the pain on these days is making me think dark, dark thoughts.
These days I'm feeling frustratingly helpless: if (!) I make it from bed to couch I don't dare to drink water or coffee (if I can even reach the kitchen to get it) because I'm afraid I'll have to go to the bathroom which I might not be able to reach.
It sucks.
Over the counter pain medication doesn't do a thing for this kind of pain, and since I feel like I need pain meds too regularly anyway (for regular nasty head aches or every month for menstrual cramps), I don't love the idea that I am adding more pain meds in my routine for these recovery days that come and go irregularly.
Finding alternatives for OTC pain meds
So I have been searching for alternatives. CBD is one of them. I bought CBD Oil Drops two winters ago, legal here in the Netherlands (well, sort of, not in theory but in practice, yes), but they build up slowly. They help me immensely in the winter months when the pain in my foot flares up thanks to colder temperatures - but they don't help me 'on the spot' when I need the relief now. They are often used to build up a 'base level' of CBD contents in your body over days/weeks, but as far as I know are not always effective for immediate pain relief - and if they are for other, it doesn't work for me.
CBD shops in the main street of Vienna!
While traveling in Slovakia and ending up a few days in Vienna, Austria, with pain levels going through the roof, I was shocked and positively surprised to see a CBD shop in the middle of the Main Shopping Street. Big windows, doors open, way different than the coffee shops I see in my city where you will be welcomed by a big muscled guy who wants to check your passport and makes you feel like you're entering an illegal place. Yes, coffee shops are legal here, but they are not welcoming. CBD 'only' shops I haven't found anywhere in my country still - so all curious and happy I walked into that welcoming open and light-filled CBD store.
It was a pleasant experience since I had been searching and reading up on the internet, but sometimes you just want to be helped by a human person, and also see labels, prices, contents in an organized way.
There was a guy behind the counter that listened to my story shortly, and gave me a vaporizer with 50% (yes, that's a high dosage!) CBD in it. I took a deep breath and tried to inhale - it immediately went to my head, feeling a short-lasting dizzy feeling, not unpleasant at all. The whole set-up of the vaporizer and oil would cost me 100 euros, probably a reasonable prize, but since I only spontaneously stepped into the store I wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money.
And there came the surprize: he also had a 'starters' option, a simple battery and cartridge that I could screw on, with Moroccan Mint taste CBD contents, 10% concentration, together for 25 euros. Well, that was something I was prepared to try out!
So I bought it. I figured I would need to inhale more times with 10% CBD, but, also, I could dose better, since 1 inhale would contain less I could more precisely experiment to find a right dosage for me.
Trying out the CBD at home
So all happy I went back home with my CBD vaporizer, and since I had been traveling and crossing all kinds of pain boundaries I had one of the recovery days next day. I arrived at the couch, had already prepared the vaporizer, and... Tried it out, even before I took breakfast.
Well, normally, a recovery day lasts 24 hours of which about 18 I can't walk, can't go to the bathroom, let alone make some coffee for myself which gives me a bit of comfort. But after inhaling with some pauzes in between while watching an episode on Netflix I realized the pain in my foot was down many many levels, and I needed to go to the bathroom. I was in pain, yes, for sure, but I could walk!
I was happy to get back to the couch again, the pain was softer but still very present, and inhaled a few more times. Another 15-20 minutes later I was sure I would be able to make coffee - and so I tried. And it worked! Normally, standing in the kitchen is the worst, even worse than walking, but I could this time - still noticing the pain, but I felt it was 'far far away'.
Throughout the day I inhaled a few times more to keep the CBD levels in my body up, but I didn't need much more. I got through the day and was even able to climb the stairs at night myself with my walking support/stick.
The magical thing about this CBD experience, despite it liberating me from days where I'm feeling totally helpless, is: it numbs the pain in a way where I'm still aware of it, which means I won't overuse the foot because I still get pain 'warnings', so it can actually recover, but it makes it numb enough so I can do most things I need to do like getting food and water.
Anyway, today is another recovery day, and so I'm writing this while on my second CBD vaporizer experiment. It worked again. The relief I feel, both in pain levels and emotionally, is unbelievable. After 3,5 years of trying to find a solution I might... actually have one?
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The stores around here call the vape pens “little puffs of bliss”
Hahaha - they certainly are!
Thats brilliant. So glad you found relief and i was worry about you being hydrated haha!! Its far too expensive here... been looking into growing my own again and perhaps making my own.
Yes, growing your own is a great idea :-) It's pretty easy to extract oils after that. However, if you need to have exact doses of either CBD or THC it might be less ideal - but for general use I believe we all should be free and able to grow a few plants :-)
My husband and I both use a mixture of CBD and THC 1:1 ratio (25 %CBD and 25% THC) to sleep and when we have excessive body pain. It has worked for us for the last 4 years.
I'm surprised you had to go out of the country to get it. I thought the Netherlands was more open about CBD and THC if not the most open tolerant country. We haven't been there in about 20 years but remember little "brown cafes" throughout the city.
It is easy to get it here if you have a doctors prescription. The cost here for a battery and oil cartridge (500mg) is about 35.00. I should mention the battery is rechargeable and last about a year.
Your experience is the best news I've had all day.
Good to hear you're finding some relief in CBD/THC as well!
Yes, THC is easily to get by, but pure CBD (I have no need for the THC for now), as in, more 'medical' information, is hard to get by. I once e-mailed a Cannabis shop to ask about what strain/CBD would be good for certain pains and they answered me that by law they couldn't give out medical advise on this as CBD isn't recognized for most ailments. So yeah. That means you can easily get high in the Netherlands, but not helped medically with Cannabis ;-) Nasty and interesting contradiction.
One of the smartest things I have done, is to take CBD...... I am a firm believer in all the benefits.....
I'm happy you found your way to CBD as well @shoemanchu! It's getting more and more known now for its many benefits, I just would love it if it was easier to educate yourself on the topic :-) Thanks for stopping by!
Amazing news for you! You live in Holland right? In Holland you mostly will find high THC and low CBD cannabis products. But in Belgium, THC is still illegal, but CBD canna-related products are booming. I would recommend you to take a look in such a shop in Belgium if that is possible for you. The options are limitless...
Awesome @pele23 - thanks for the tip! I can be in Antwerp in an hour, going to do some research on that :D Or maybe even order stuff online from Belgium to get it delivered here. Didn't know Belgium was so obsesses with CBD already - good news for me :-) Thanks again, appreciate the info!
You’ve very welcome m, I hope you finally get the relief you have been longing for!
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I am really happy you are finding some relief.
This is the key and so important. Masking pain can often cause further complications by making you ct as if the problem has gone away.
Hope you find further coping techniques and never stop researching and trying :-)
Yes, I too believe that's the perfect balance - if the pain is gone you easily overcharge your body again, while it's supposed to be healing :-)
Me too! I'll keep searching at least, I wish I had counted the hours it took me to find all kinds of smaller and bigger coping techniques/tools/products :D
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I'm so glad to hear this Soyrosa 🙂
I've tried CBD for my digestive issues, but unfortunately it didn't help with them. I still have a bottle of it in the cupboard though, so I'm thinking if my back goes out again I'll give it a try instead of getting horrible opioid pain killers from the doctor.
The sciatic pain has a similar effect as you describe where I can't stand long enough to cook, or make a coffee. But this only happens once a year at most where my back goes. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to have those pain levels regularly.
So happy to hear you've found something that helps 🙂
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Glad to hear this works for you! I love a 2:1 ratio of CBD to THC tincture. Works wonders:)
Thanks @jonyoudyer - happy you found a tincture that works for you as well! :D It's all experimentation for me for now, but my current CBD solution seems to work, although today the pain comes back sooner than the first time - maybe I need a higher dose in the end, or add some THC to strengthen the effects? Lots of research to do :D Cheers!