My progress as of 11/24/2023

My Progress

A lot has happened since my last update in March.

I was losing some weight every month except in May but doing ok. I had actually got down to 204. But then a setback and I gained back to 220.

In August I began some physical therapy 3x a week. The therapy is very hard and I’m sore after it and at first the soreness created lots of additional pain. I couldn’t move easily, I couldn’t get comfortable to sleep at night and I’m a stress and comfort eater. I started ending my fasts early, I began to get hungry and snack on various things. Then I even began eating cookies and candy again – all things I thought I had conquered before. So of course I began to gain back my weight.

You can see the changes in my screenshot of my spreadsheet below.

As of today I weigh 216.6. I’m trying to get back on track with my 24 hour plus fasts, no snacking, eating keto when I eat.

Thanksgiving was a big eating day and we traveled to my stepdaughters home, eating out and I splurged and ended up with a big tummy upset. I’m trying to get over that right now and adding probiotics to my day. Working on a 24 hour fast presently. I hope I make it this time. I’ll keep this blog updated hopefully more often.

I welcome comments and questions, leave yours below.

Progress as of March 27, 2023

My Progress Continues

This is my progress since I started doing intermittent fasting and keto at the end of November, 2022. I should definitely have lost at least 8 pounds by the end of the week for the month of March. My BMI has gone down several poingts since I started. If I can keep it up I will be losing 72 more pounds by the end of the year, making 113 pounds total since Dec 1, 2022. So I will be within 12 pounds of my goal weight going into 2024. So I should be at goal by next summer so I can travel to see my daughter and her family on the mission field. I’m also counting on reversing my type 2 diabetes and being off my meds long before then and up out of this wheelchair and walking again. Looking forward to walking our dog, Bo, and walking with Mel – eventually even playing pickleball with him. (wouldn’t that be fun)!

I’m reading where many have gotten rid of their arthritis and fibromyalgia and back pain doing what I’m doing. Also, many who have gotten off lots of meds for diabetes and blood pressure too.

Just thinking I’m doing this all because several years ago I read Dr. Jason Fung’s fasting book. He and his website, videos and groups have inspired me totally and continue to each day. Since then I’ve purchased and read two other of his books.

Anyone can purchase Dr. Fung’s books on Amazon and learn what I have and be motivated also.

Comments

I love to get questions and comments, please leave yours below

My New Fasting Journey!

Fasting Again!

I thought I would share where I am now and my new Intermittent Fasting (IF) journey.

Background

I’m Shirley Dawson, age 69, retired from 33 years working as a civilian with the FDA. I’m married (to Mel) and we have a big black Giant Schnauzer “Boaz” who is like our 2nd child. We have one daughter who is married with 3 small children and lives in Papua New Guinea on mission as Bible Translators to the Mubami tribes of the western province. I have a step daughter who is married with 3 girls (one married and 2 in college) who lives with her husband in Oklahoma.
I was never overweight in my life until I got pregnant at age 34. I gained lots when I was pregnant and my back went out during my 7th month. It was bad, after my daughter was born, I could not even lift her and put her in her car seat. This was in 1988 and my back has been an issue ever since. I was very active all during my 20’s, playing and coaching both softball and volleyball. But when my back went out I could do none of that. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I think around 2000. I was first just prescribed metformin and then they kept raising the dosage until one day the Doc said just forget this, I’ll have the nurse show you how to inject insulin. So I began to inject insulin. During the following years my dosage of metformin and insulins have been increased several times. I now am prescribed 1000 ? of metformin twice daily, short term Novalog (24 units at each meal), long term Lantus (60 units every night) and Victoza (1.8 every night).

My blood glucose levels (BGL) have never been well controlled. My a1c’s have been as high as 10 and as low as 7.8 I think. I’m used to seen numbers in the 200s, 300s, 400s and even off the scale of my meter.

In addition to my back issues (degenerative discs) I have a blood disorder where my bone marrow produces way too many platelets (Essential Thrombocythemia or ET). I’ve been taking an oral chemo drug daily for years and years to control my high platelets. I also take a blood thinner for that. This disease makes me a clot/stroke risk. In fact several years ago, after a major hernia surgery, I threw a clot and had a stroke. Luckily for me, the stroke was one that caused confusion, not paralysis. After over a year of recovery and neurologist visits, I was finally able to do math again and to multitask once again. I’m pretty much back to mentally being the way I was before the stroke now -except if I get very, very tired.

After my FDA retirement in 2006, a friend and I ran a photography studio for several years, then because of my back problems I had to quit the studio and sold out to my friend.

I still love photography and editing images and I’m into art, both traditional and digital. I build blogsites and websites now (I can do that from my chair and desk). In 2014 I had a severe case of diabetic foot and leg ulcers. This was so painful, the worst pain I had ever been through. I prayed hard every sleepless night for God to cure me or take me home. This turned out to be an 8 month ordeal with several docs involved (both endocrinologists and dermatologists). Finally I saw a wound specialist who treated me with lots of prednisone, actually gave me pain pills and did wound debriding (quite an experience that was). The many wounds were finally healed, but that entire experience put me in a wheelchair and I’ve been in the wheelchair ever since.

I’ve seen a great neuro-surgeon who did tests on my back and told me I would require rods, screws, grafts in my back and because of my uncontrolled diabetes, I could be worse off than before surgery. He recommended I never let someone take a knife to my spine.
Because of my issues, I now avoid all elective surgeries. One doc recommended I go to the Cleveland Clinic for bariatric surgery but I refused that elective surgery.

My First Intermittent Fasting (IF) Attempt

In late 2016 I found Dr. Jason Fung and began reading his fasting book. His statement that Fasting was like “bariatric surgery without the knife” really hit me. So in Jan 2017 I started intermittent fasting and eating low carb. In 2.5 months I had lost 20 pounds and was off all of my diabetic meds. Things were looking up. But life got in the way. Our family had a crisis.

My missionary daughter got sick in the jungle mission field and the Wycliffe clinic did all the could put they could not help her. She was going downhill and my son-in-law was afraid she was going to die. She was med-flighted from Papua New Guinea to a hospital in Cairns Australia that Wycliffe had an agreement with. She was placed in their ICU and docs could not identify her illness.

My husband and I and one of my sisters flew from the US to Australia then to Cairns to be with her. Mel and I didn’t have passports but we found out we could go to Hot Springs Arkansas and get them in one day. We applied online for a vista and we flew from Dallas Fort worth to Sydney, Australia – a 16 hour flight (the longest one in the world at that time). I was fasting during that flight, but stress and fatigue got to me and I broke fast during the flight. We stayed in Cairns for a week. I had never seen my daughter so ill. But many, hundreds, of people were praying for her all over the world and the docs finally found antibiotics that began to work on the infection, drained fluids off her lungs and she began to recover. We had to fly back the day she left the ICU for a regular room. After a couple of months in Australia the clots in her lungs were dealt with and she returned to the mission field.

I didn’t go to back to my IF and low carb eating until the fall of 2022. I had read Dr. Fung’s latest books, the Obesity Code and the Diabetes Code and loved reading about fasting and keto. In the fall, my diabetes doc put me on an additional insulin (oral Farxiga). I began taking the pills and immediately got very sick at my tummy and had lots of gastro issues with bloating and gas. I started researching Farxiga then (I had not heard of it before) and what I read scared me. There were lawsuits ongoing because of damage to people taking this type of drug. They had severe damage and even awful flesh eating genital infections. I wanted nothing to do with a drug like that. So I figured I needed to do something else myself. My BGL were way up and in 2021 I had a TIA caused by my high BGLs; I knew I had to do something or I would never see my daughter and grandchildren when they return on furlough in 4 years.

New Beginning

On November 31st, 2022 I decided to begin IF and eating keto. (great time to start, huh, right before the holidays!) I started at an 18:6 protocol, but then soon changed to OMAD (one meal a day). During December I was just eating lower carbs. I started weighing 166 pounds, but I lost 17 pounds during December. In January it slowed down and I started counting my calories and macros. I realized I was still eating way too many carbs to be keto, so during January I started eating closer to real keto (20 carbs or less a day). I kept doing OMAD OR 20-22 fasting hours a day. I lost another 10.4 pounds in January.

During February 2023 I was concerned about the slow down in my weight loss. I kept reading on all the forums and started watching some videos. I decided to start doing longer fasting hours. So I did some longer hours, 36 hours and a 42 hour fast. I kept counting calories and was concerned that my calories were totaling in the 500-800 range and I thought that was bad. So I started adding more calories to my meals during my eating windows. I tried to reach 1200 calories a day or so. I was actually forcing myself to eat more. My weight loss plateaued. I had several forum “talks” about not counting calories, but to only count carbs. But I fought that thinking I thought I might go into starvation mode since I was not that hungry anymore and I was forcing myself to eat more to reach the 1200 calories a day during my eating days.

Finally someone on my Forums made me realize that it was ok to not eat 1200 calories, that it was ok to eat only 500-800 calories; I would not go into starvation mode because my body was burning additional calories from my fat stores. This was late in February, first part of March.

I am now doing 2×48 each week and really working on keeping my carbs at 20 or below although sometimes I still go above that. I lost only 7 pounds in February. I’m at 3 pounds lost in March and hope to get closer to 8-10 pounds lost for the month. I’m going to keep at this IF schedule and work on keeping my carbs lower the rest of the month.

I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet that I started in 2017 when I was doing IF before and I’m keeping up with my weight loss and the number from my body comp scale. I tend to weigh every day because I’m obsessive. Here’s my latest update on this second IF journey starting Nov. 31, 2022.

Goals

My Goals, I almost forgot to tell you. Here are my long term goals:

Get off all my diabetes meds, Reverse my diabetes.
Lose all this extra weight and get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 140 with a BMI of around 23
Get out of this wheelchair and walk again. I figure if I lose this weight, a total of 125 pounds from my staring weight of almost 266 on Nov. 31, 2022 and get healthy, my back should respond positively

If I can do this by next summer, I plan on traveling to Papua New Guinea and visiting my daughter and grandkids on the mission field. This gives me something great to look forward to.

Here I am on December 8 of 2022 with my sisters. I’m in the wheelchair. I don’t have progress pics because I couldn’t stand up and get pics. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that soon and add a progress pic.

Comments

I love to hear from readers and accept questions and comments. Leave yours below.

You can eat keto too and reap the rewards!

Keto Really Works!

I was skinny during my teens and 20’s, but after I had my only child in my 30’s I gained significant weight which I’ve tried to lose ever since then. I’m also a type 2 diabetic. I’m 65 years old now and during my life, I’ve tried everything to lose weight and the only things I’ve found that work for me are the following:

Atkins. I did the Atkins diet when I was younger (20’s) and it was easy for me to lose 5-10 pounds doing that. But that was over 40 years ago and my body is different now.
The Whole 30. I did the Whole30 plan in 2016 and lost 30 pounds that year eating whole and select foods. Cutting out alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, sugar, MSG, sulfites, and processed foods. This worked very well while I was doing this.
Intermittent Fasting (IF). In 2017 I did IF and lost 20 pounds and managed to get off all my insulin injections after two months. Unfortunately, I was unable to keep fasting because I had to cook for others besides myself and it proved too hard for me to resist the foods I cooked for my family.
Keto. This year, in 2019, I began the Metabolic Research Center (MRC) plan and it includes eating lower carb. I’ve now lost 25 pounds eating this way so far, with the support of the MRS staff, the eating plan, and their supplements. I fully believe that eating keto can help me to lose weight and also to reduce my insulin requirements. I am continuing this journey with the MRC plan and support.

Continue reading “You can eat keto too and reap the rewards!”

Improve Your Skin Naturally

Image of women with beautiful skin

Time to Get Serious

Yes, it was definitely time for me to get serious about my skin. At age 65, my skin was not going to get any younger and I wanted to look as good as I could. I had been researching skincare for several years now and learned some of the ways I can keep my skin looking younger. I definitely wanted to improve my skin naturally and I’ve been researching collagen supplements.

Here are some tips to help protect your skin and keep your skin young-looking.

1. Avoid sun damage by wearing sunscreen when outside and avoiding long periods in full sun. Use sunscreen also if you are in front of a screen all day like myself to avoid damage from rays produced by the screens.

2. Don’t smoke. This is easy for me since I have never smoked.

3. Avoid alcohol. I rarely drink alcohol and only occasionally a glass of wine.

4. Keep skin hydrated with moisturizers.

5. Drink plenty of water, at least 8-10 glasses each day.

6. Clean skin and remove makeup every evening, use a moisturizer afterward.

7. Massage with moisturizer daily and rub it in using an upward motion, as though you were pushing your skin up toward your forehead.

8. Eat a clean, natural diet with plenty of veggies and fruits that contain antioxidants. Eat plenty of salmon, pumpkin seeds, lemons, green tea, honey, almonds, olive oil, broccoli, apple cider vinegar, yogurt.

9 Avoid negative facial expressions such as frowning or squinting. Keep up with the smiles and laughter.

I will never have skin like a baby again. Here’s an image of my little granddaughter, Hope. Her skin is perfect now but over her lifetime, it too will sustain damage from sun, wind, and aging unless she is careful.

Hopefully, my daughter will teach her how to protect her skin from damage while living in the tropical rain forests of Papua New Guinea as a missionary baby.

Continue reading “Improve Your Skin Naturally”

The Healing Power of Water

Water and Your Body

If you could see your body the way a health scientist does, you would discover that not only is up to two thirds of your body composed of water but that 20 percent of your blood is water, that 73 percent of your brain and heart are comprised of water, 83 percent of your lungs, 79 percent of your muscles and kidneys, your skin comprised of 64 percent water, and your bones are comprised of 31 percent.

Thinking about water in that way makes the importance of hydration seem valid. After all, if a doctor were to ask you, which body part do you want to cut short of water, your heart, your liver, your brain, your blood, your skin or your bones, you’d shout back at her, “none of them! They all seem pretty vital to me! Keep in mind the healing power of water.

Functions of Water in Your Body

The functions of water within the body are many, I’ve listed a few below:

Water is the essential building blocks of cells.
Water, through perspiration, is the primary regulator of your body’s heat,
Water is the primary component of saliva, which helps you digest and metabolize food.
Water lubricates the joints within your body.
Water surrounds your brain, spine, and organs and serves as internal shock absorbers.
Water is used by the body to eliminate toxins and waste through the urinary system.
Water carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells.

Continue reading “The Healing Power of Water”

Trying the Metabolic Research Center Diet Plan

Metabolic Research Center Program- what is it?

This program has been around for 35 years and touts being a science-based diet program that provides customized meal plans, science-based supplements and lots of support. They offer consultation, education, guidance, and medical supervision.

All clients of the Metabolic Research Center get a recommended supplement and a set of recipes for their diet program. They suggest exercise but it is not required.

They have locations all over the country – there are 3 centers in Arkansas where I live. Fortunately, Bentonville MRC is only a few minutes from my home.

Why I Decided to Sign Up

Image of woman holding out loose jeans at the waist I had read and been researching this program for a while now. It is a form of low-carb dieting which is not too strict and provides lots of support with twice-weekly visits and weighing at the center, food education classes and fitness classes. They offer a special MRC cookbook, a list of suggestions for staying on the plan when eating out, a line of specific supplements to help support your eating plan and a lot of encouragement and personal support. They also have hormone tests and DNA testing help fit you into a specific eating plan.

I had been reading some of the numerous success stories and how happy their clients are with the program. Yes, it does cost, but occasionally they have specials. I signed up during one of these specials and got $100 off the signup fees. I chose the 17 week program. They guarantee if I follow the program, I will lose between 2-5 pounds each week. So that would between 34 and 85 pounds for me.

I must admit the idea of losing up to 85 pounds in a little over 4 months really appealed to me.

My Progress

The first week I was on a “preconditioning plan” where I had a list of meats, veggies (unlimited) and certain fruits and fats to choose from. I was also told to try and drink 95 oz. of water each day. The hardest part was drinking that amount of water since I usually do not drink a lot of water because of incontinence issues. I lost 2 pounds that first week. For the second week, I was given a new food plan called the Balance level 1 plan. It consists of 3 meals a day with 3 protein supplements during the day. I purchased 4 supplements off the plan which I take before each meal.

The plan provides a list of protein, carbohydrate, and vegetable foods I’m allowed to eat plus a list of dairy and fats and extras to include in my eating. All of the food on my list is natural and whole – both cooked and raw. Weirdly, I can eat fruit but not onions. I love having the natural fruit, but I’m finding I do miss onions. I’m into week 4 now and getting used to the plan and the water. Week 2 I lost 3 pounds. Week 3 I lost 5 pounds and reached my first goal of 10 pounds lost. I was very happy to reach that goal. That’s 10 pounds in 26 days for me. I was very happy to reach that goal and my husband is happy for me to be cooking more vegetables and good meat meals.

I will be following this plan for 119 days. If I could lose 4.5 pounds every 26 days that would be 45 pounds I can lose. Maybe more if I can stick with the meal plan, water intake, and supplements.

They also suggest exercise 3x a week but it is not required. So far I’ve only managed that for one of the weeks. I’m hoping to do better but I have to be careful because, with my fibromyalgia, it doesn’t take too much for me to overdo and then “Pay” for it the next few days and can’t work out at all. My plan is to try water walking and exercise 3 times a week.

As for my Diabetes

So far my diabetes has responded somewhat. I still have high numbers most mornings, but I’m noticing that my numbers after lunch seem to be dropping. Also, I’m using less of my Novalog (fast acting insulin). On this plan, I’m eating fewer carbs and especially much less sugar. (no cake, cookies, pies, etc at all). I’ll be curious to see if my BGL readings go down as I continue to lose weight.

Unique Components

The program consists of:

Eating Real Food
Personal Coaching
Metabolism Boost through specialized supplements
DNA Testing

Cost

The cost of the plans is several hundred dollars for various lengths 17 weeks, 24 weeks, 6 weeks, etc. Plus cost of a variety of supplements they suggest individually. They also include a year of maintenance support after your plan weeks are concluded.

Conclusion

The Metabolic Research Center Program can work but is a little costly (depends on what value you put on your health and appearance). Costs include:

1. Several hundred for the plan weeks $300-900

2. Supplements – average $10 each week

3. A kitchen food scale (a simple one will work fine) The one I ordered and use is this one:

4. Cost for gym or exercise equipment (although walking can be your free exercise – since I’m in a wheelchair most of the time, this it out for me).

5. I have a special water bottle that I use to help me drink my allocated water each day. It holds 25 ozs of water and I try to drink 4 full bottles each day. This is the one I use:

6. A new wardrobe after you lose several sizes – LOL!

You can set up your consultation with a center near you. Their website is:

https://www.emetabolic.com/

Comments

I love to get questions and comments from my site visitors, please leave yours below -Shirley

NOTE: this post contains affiliate links, which, if a link is clicked on and a product purchased, I receive a small commission (with no increased cost to you).

CBD oil for chronic pain – I did and “My Pain Is Gone”

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Can CBD oil help with chronic pain?

I can only say that I’ve read many testimonials that indicate CBD oil has helped many suffering from chronic pain. I am one of those it has helped.

My Story

I’m Shirley Dawson and I am 64 years old and retired. I am in a wheelchair, have diabetes, degenerative discs in my low back and have lived in daily pain for years. I have suffered from low back pain since I was in my mid-30s. Before then, I lived the life of an athletic person. I played softball and volleyball and coached both sports also. I loved to play racketball and pretty much any sport. I spent my entire 20’s playing or practicing a sport every night of the week and also playing on weekends. I did the diving for a ball and catching it in softball and the diving and rolling in volleyball. Yes, I had scrapes and bruises frequently, but they were gone in just a few days and my body seemed to take everything in stride.

But then, in my 30’s I married, got pregnant and gained weight for the first time in my life. In my 7th month of pregnancy, I began to have low back pain. It was severe, sports were out and pretty much any activity that required bending or lifting. For the first time in my life, I was overweight and in lots of pain.

I gave birth to my daughter by C-section due to scar tissue from a previous surgery to remove a fibroid tumor. I had to carry my pillow around to hold against my tummy for a couple of weeks. I was left with a terrible looking scar down my abdomen. I still had the low back pain even after I recovered from my C-section. The pain was such that I could not hold and carry my infant around very long and I had severe pain when I would lean over to put her in her car seat or crib. I couldn’t exercise and gradually began to gain more and more weight.

That was not all I had going on. My daughter was a poor sleeper and for the first 8 months of her life, I got almost no sleep at night. I returned to my work two months after her birth and I was tired all the time. I remember one day on my way to work thinking “how can someone live with this little sleep? I also found I could no longer wear the contact lens that I had worn since my late teens. My eyes would water constantly and I could hardly hold them open. My doc tried a different brand and they didn’t work either. So I was back to wearing my glasses all the time – bummer!

Another interesting thing happened to my body during this time period. Before my pregnancy, I had never been able to wear a watch because something about my body would stop them after a few days. After my pregnancy, I found that I could now wear a watch without breaking it. I know my body chemistry had changed somehow.

My doc would give me muscle relaxers and send me to PT for my back but nothing seemed to help much. I would get a little better then suddenly the pain would come back full force. This went on for years.

I would find that my body has sensitive spots – that were very tender to the touch. I would ask my husband to rub my shoulders because they hurt but then I could not bear the pressure when he would massage my shoulders. My arms and legs would hurt, like a deep muscular pain but I couldn’t figure out why. If I poked myself, it was a sharp pain.

I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and then full diabetes in my 40’s and I also had a hysterectomy. Another abdominal scar and I lost my belly button – lol!. These scars didn’t help me in trying to get a healthy core to support my back. I was also diagnosed with a blood condition which made me a stroke risk as I produce too many platelets and they are abnormal. I started a chemo drug daily to suppress my platelet product. I still take that drug every day.

I decided to go to a neurosurgeon about the back pain. After a multitude of tests, including an MRI, the doc said he would have to do rods and screws and plates and with my uncontrolled diabetes and my blood clot risk, he didn’t recommend surgery for me. He said I could end up even worse than I was. I certainly didn’t want that. My pain and the wheelchair was bad enough.

I developed a hernia along the scar line on my abdomen. So I quit trying to do any situps or anything to make that worse. But it grew larger and larger and finally, I decided it had to be fixed. I saw a surgeon about it and he said he would put in some mesh to keep me from getting another one after he removed the very large hernia. I made sure he and my oncolgist talked about my clotting risk before I scheduled surgery. My oncologist had a blood study run on my blood and thought I would be more at risk to bleed than throw a clot. So they agreed I could do the surgery. I stopped my blood thinner and chemo meds and had the surgery done.

After surgery, I was very disorientated and itching all over. I was given large doses of Benadryl for the terrible itching but my disorientation continued. It was discovered that I did have a stroke during or after the surgery. I had no paralysis but I was very confused, could not do math or multi-task and I didn’t drive well – I would run stop signs. Thank God who must have been watching over me because I didn’t kill myself or anyone else.

I had a new doctor now, a neurologist who I saw regularly and who put me on a special blood thinner that would both thin my blood and make my platelets less sticky. I got better over time and a year after the stroke I could do better math and some multi-tasking again. Today I feel back to normal with my math and thinking skills except for when I am extremely exhausted.

Yet More Heath Issues

In the fall of 2014, I had a severe case of vasculitis on my legs and feet that turned into huge ulcers. They hurt a lot, these were diabetic feet and leg ulcers that doses and doses of prednisone were not helping. The pain was bad, even unbearable. The nights were so long and full of pain. I didn’t sleep, I had no pain pills because the docs refused to prescribe them. I saw 4 different docs, a general physical and 3 dermatologists over a 4 month period. The ulcers got worse and bled and oozed requiring bandaging. I had to use a wheelchair to get around. The same chair I am still using. I feared amputation – the great fear of lots of diabetics.

The diabetic nerve pain (neuropathy) was like electricity running from my feet all up my legs. I prayed at night for God to bring me home. I even considered suiciding a few of those long painful nights. But I would never do that to my family. Then I was referred to a wound center and Thank God for that, the doctor prescribed even more prednisone and then started debriding the wounds regularly. This was very painful but I was a pro at pain by then – the doc was surprised I could handle the debriding as well as I did – he said I was one tough lady. But the truth was I had learned to take a great deal of pain and he gave me hydrocodone pills to take before coming to my appointments. The wounds started healing and 3 months later I was released and left only with scars on my legs and feet.

So that’s me at 64. I’m still in a wheelchair. I still have those bad discs in my low back, a bad hip and sciatic pain that runs down my left hip to my knee that can be excruciating and I can’t straighten that leg completely out due to the pain. My fibromyalgia (actually diagnosed by a rheumatologist who prescribed tramadol and Cymbalta for me for the pain) continues to give me lots of pain. In fact, the pain this last year had gotten so bad I rarely slept more than 2-3 hours at night. Naturally, I was tired all the time. Plus the meds I take, almost all have the side effect of fatigue. (Metformin, Neurontin, Hydroxyurea, and 3 different insulins). I’ve tried physical therapy this year, increasing my doses of Tramadol and extra strength Tylenol and hot jetted tub baths and stretching. While the PT helped my range of motion quite a bit, the pain was still there. I go to a chiropractor weekly and sometimes it seems to help a little.

One month ago

Then one month ago I was in a bad flare-up of pain, I hurt so much I never slept because there was no position I could get in either my bed or my recliner that was the least bit comfortable. I was praying for relief and posting on my facebook page for my friends to pray. In fact, I prayed for God to fix me or just go ahead and take me home as I was useless in my life here. Life was just one big pain. When my husband would ask me something, I could not concentrate because of the pain I was in. I couldn’t sit at my computer or anywhere very long. I would get in my walk-in tub and have jetted baths several times a day, hoping to relax my muscles so I could sleep for a little while. I started increasing my doses of Tramadol and took as much extra strength Tylenol as they allow in a day. I found some pain pills left over from dental work and took them. But nothing lasted very long.

THEN

I found a box of hemp/CBD oil I had ordered months ago but wasn’t sure if I should take it because I thought it was like “weed” and would give me a high. I opened that box and the bottle of CBD oil and took 15 drops that morning, evening and the next morning. On day 2, I went to sit in my recliner and realized that it didn’t hurt and also, I could stretch my left leg out with no pain. I was shocked. I sat there for a few minutes and then thought to myself “MY PAIN IS GONE”. I could feel no pain at all in my body. It was years and years since I had felt this way. I was totally amazed. I continued to use the oil drops and purchased a few different brands to try. I found CTFO Health 300mg CBD oil drops (you can sign up as a customer free and get wholesale pricing) and they seem to work better for me. While it does wear off and sometimes my pain does return, I take more drops and wait and soon feel better (within 30 minutes). I feel like I have a new life. That I am not defined by my pain anymore. I think clearer than I have in years and I’m sleeping better. I rarely have the sciatic nerve pain down my leg as I did before, so I can sit for longer periods of time.

While I’m still in my wheelchair, I can stand up more to reach my kitchen cabinets and I’m using my walker more (when I only have a few steps to go – like to the car or even into a restaurant that I can park near the door.) I’m hoping that I will be able to strengthen my leg muscles again and walk more and I plan on starting swim exercise again now that I can get to the pool once more.

CBD Oil Research

I’ve started research hemp and CBD oil and I’m finding that while FDA is really not recommending it for specific conditions, there is lots of anecdotal evidence that it helps many people.

I worked for the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for 33 years and of course, I went to the FDA.gov website to start my research. I came across this Article from August 3, 2018, which states:

Another important consideration is the need to identify a method to consistently provide a given dose of a drug. When the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reviewed the clinical use of marijuana, it identified the problems associated with obtaining consistent dosing using smoked products and recommended that clinical trials involving marijuana should be conducted with the goal of developing safe, alternative delivery systems:

“If there is any future for marijuana as a medicine, it lies in its isolated components, the cannabinoids, and their synthetic derivatives. Isolated cannabinoids will provide more reliable effects than crude plant mixtures. Therefore, the purpose of clinical trials of smoked marijuana would not be to develop marijuana as a licensed drug but rather to serve as a first step toward the development of nonsmoked rapid-onset cannabinoid delivery systems.” read the full article here.

Life Now

Since I discovered the benefits of CBD, life has improved, the pain returns sometimes, but its not as severe and I have something I can take for it, which gives me hope.

Comments

I welcome your questions and comments, please leave yours below.

-Shirley

Note: this page may contain affiliate links, which, when clicked on and a product purchased, I receive a small commission (with no extra cost to you).

I Love to Share my CBD oil experience

CBD Oil Really Works for Me

CBD Oil has become a great passion of mine. I began using it and found out it made my sciatic pain go away. Now my hip feels regular most of the time and there is no pain shooting down my left leg any more. Whenever I start to get that feeling again in my hip, I take a few more drops of my CBD oil and a little while later, I feel good again.

I became a CTFO associate and I now help others by promoting and selling this great brand of CBD oil products. I use several of the products myself and love them.

If you have pains you haven’t been able to get rid of, you might try some CBD oil yourself. You can even become an associate like myself. I’m sharing my site where you can shop or sign up as an associate below

Shop and Sign up Free

Shop here at my shop

Sign up as a CTFO Independent Associate here. Pick me (Shirley Dawson) as your enroller please. I will be available to answer your questions.

Comments

I welcome your questions and comments. Please leave them below. Also, please share this post with your friends that may be interested also – Shirley

Note: This page contains affiliate links, if you click on them and purchase items, I will get a small commission – at no extra expense for you.

Now I understand the debate on using marijuana for pain relief?

Legalization of medical marijuana

That debate for the legalization of medical marijuana has been going on for years and I never really understood it. I’ve never used recreational drugs and am not in favor of it or anything that messes with your mind. I don’t want to experience a “high” or be “out of control” of myself in any fashion. So I haven’t been following the debate very closely and figured I was against it.

But the idea of having something that will help many who live with pain (like our vets and those with chronic illnesses) does strike a cord in my heart.

My mom lived with the daily pain of crippling rheumatoid arthritis for most of her life. I remember hearing her moans and exclamations of “Oh God” and “help me Jesus” coming from her room across the hall from me each night. And there was nothing I could do to help her. I also have a brother in law who has to deal with the pain of Lupus in his life. There are friends of mine who also deal with daily pain in their life.

I have fibromyalgia and degenerative discs in my back and use a wheelchair almost all of the day because I can’t walk due to pain in my hips, legs, and back. I also can’t sleep well because there is no comfortable position I can find in my bed or my recliner.

I move from bed to recliner many times each night and finally fall asleep around 3-4m out of sheer exhaustion. I awake tried and in pain every morning.

My docs have never responded to my requests for pain pills for relief – just advised me to use Tylenol and Tramadol and the prescribed Cymbalta (which provides a little relief for fibromyalgia, but not enough for me to sleep or do normal daily tasks). I think they are under pressure to NOT prescribe pain meds due to potential addiction.

My personal feeling is:

“which is worse – pain so severe you are suicidal

or possibly becoming addicted, which is treatable?”

Trying Cannabis Hemp Oil

A few months ago I had ordered some cannabis “hemp oil” to try and a small bottle came in but I set it aside and pretty much forgot about it. I had been reading about its benefits for cancer patients. It has no psychotropic effects and a lot of anti-inflammatory benefits.

I was desperate

My personal pain has been on a severe flare-up for the past couple of weeks, such that I was becoming desperate for some relief. I started taking more extra strength Tylenol and Tramadol each day, but I was afraid to take too much. I continued to take my one dose of Cymbalta each day. I even found some leftover pain pills from my husband’s dental implant surgery and took those. Nothing was helping – I was in severe pain!

I tried stretching my hip muscles (to help any pinched nerves which can cause my sciatica) and taking hot jetted baths in my step-in tub 2-3 times each day. The stretches were very painful and I dreaded doing them. The baths felt great and relaxed me sometimes enough to sleep a while. I tried alternating hot and cold on my hips and back (using heating pads and ice packs). The ice seemed to help just a little.

Finally, I was even thinking that I wished God would just take me home as I was useless and I could really not even concentrate because of the pain. When my husband would ask me something – I had to stop and think about what he was saying and suck in the pain so I could answer back. My mind felt fuzzy and I didn’t want to talk or think about anything very hard.

How much does it hurt?

I remembered being in my dermatologist office a few months ago with vasculitis eruptions on my legs and feet that were turning into ulcers. He asked the standard question “on a scale of 0-10, how much pain are you in right now?”

I thought, “I can’t remember when I had no pain, I hurt all the time – a lot, so what do I tell him? So.. I just told him 6-8 to say something. But its true when you have been in daily pain, its hard to remember what it feels like to have no pain at all.

How one little bottle can mean so much

Then I found the little bottle of hemp oil I had purchased months ago and thought

“what the heck, why not try it!”.

My Pain is Gone!

I drank my first dose (15 drops) in a small glass of unsweetened tea. I used it again later that day and the next morning. On day 2 around mid-day, I went to my recliner and found out I could straighten both legs. I had not been able to do that in over a year because of the pain running down my left hip and leg. That was amazing!

I began to use the hemp for pain relief – taking a few drops a few times each day and I’ve found relief that is so amazing. I can use my walker again and stand up to put clean dishes in the kitchen cabinets. I feel so good, that things I have been putting off recently I’ve been doing again. Such as walking a few more steps each day, standing up to unload the dishwasher, etc and getting my own glass from the upper cabinets. I go to the garage and wipe off my new to me Beetle convertible even. I’m amazed and so happy. My mind and thoughts feel much clearer and I can sleep many more hours each night now. I no longer have to request prayer in the middle of the night from friends on Facebook. I post “happy” and “feeling great” posts instead.

I totally credit the hemp oil and CBD oils I’ve been using for this amazing relief from my pain. I truly believe the anti-inflammatory and relaxation effects are responsible. I feel like I have more energy each day. I’m starting to reduce some of my other meds, like my Cymbalta and my tramadol.

Best Hemp and CBD Oils

My research shows that the following hemp and CBD oil products have great reviews and have seemingly helped many with their pain and better sleep. Just read some of the testimonials. The products can be ordered for wholesale prices by just signing up as a customer and then placing your order.

Check out some testimonials and my own here:

Check out my personal website to purchase these great CBD products by:

CLICKING HERE to purchase.

Become an Associate like myself

If you find these products work for you, you can join as an associate and sell to your friends and family who are seeking pain relief like myself by:

CLICKING HERE to sign up.

Conclusion

I have become a believer. A believer that using hemp for pain relief really helps with my pain and inflammation. I’m finding that CBD oils will do the same.

Comments

I love to receive your comments and questions. Feel free to leave them below and I’ll get back to you soon. – Shirley

Note: this article includes affiliate links, which if you click on and purchase something, I receive a small commission – with no increase in cost to you