PAIN MANAGEMENT - IS CBD OIL THE ANSWER?

Summer is almost here again, which for me, lately, is not really something I look forward to.  If you have followed my blog before, you may already know that I am a brain tumor survivor. If not, well, now you know. 

As a result of the craniotomy (brain surgery) I had in 2013, I ended up with what people call "barometer head."  Basically, when the weather changes, I get thrown for a loop! "Weather changes almost always cause changes in atmospheric pressure. So, my headaches or migraines are caused by  changes in the weather, which are officially called barometric or pressure headaches or migraines. Also, because our sinuses are filled with air, any change in that pressure can affect headaches. Barometric pressure headaches tend to occur after a drop in barometric pressure.  When you first start suffering through this, it is hard to gauge when the headaches will actually occur. (NOTE: If you happen to be suffering from headaches as well, I recommend that you start a journal. Write down when you get a headache, how long it last and what weather pattern was occurring on that day (before or after your pressure headache.)

So, although I was born and raised in Florida, and I love it, these last few years have really been an adjustment. As fun as summers have always been my whole life, especially, after having kids, lately, I tend to dread this time of year. The headaches increase for me during the summer because of the rain and humidity and then my pain is compounded by flare ups of my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. I know I sound like a mess but for the most part, I am really not. I am just in search of a way to keep things under control, especially when summer rolls around.

So, why am I writing about all this?  Although I could sit here and kvetch, what I am really looking for is recommendations and some constructive input - homeopathic, organic remedies to alleviate these symptoms. I had been reading up on something called Migraine Magic, that helps alleviate migraines by spraying yourself with a mist or using a roll-on your head and I am seriously considering ordering this, simply because I have read such great reviews on that product. However, I feel like I need something that will help me treat my overall symptoms.  Sure, I take vitamins, but when real pain hits, I need something stronger and I don't want to continue to take OTC's (over-the-counter) pain relief medicine. I have tried a lot of different supplements over the course of the last few years but I need something different and effective!

For the most part, I am a happy, healthy mom, working on my writing, my side hustle businesses and network marketing.  However, when those "mama said there'd be days like this" hit me, well, I just feel like I want to shut down the whole world! Realistically, that is not an option, so hence my willingness to try something new.  People have suggested essential oils, acupuncture, yoga and more. I know a combination of all those things would probably be helpful as well but I have been going down a different route of research lately.

A while back I ordered an Anti-Aging Cream with Apple Stem Cells from a company called Hemp Genix and I loved it! "This cream helps to prevent age related skin degradation, along with the regrowth of healthy skin cell formation." They combined 30mg of pure CBD oil to provide natural healing properties.  Now, you must be wondering what does anti-aging cream have to do with my headaches and pain symptoms?  Well, because I loved their cream so much and I got a lot of compliments when using it, I started reading about the company, which lead me to my research on hemp and CBD oil. CBD is short for Cannabidiol.

This is what I found out from their website:

"Cannabidiol called CBD for short, is derived from hemp, which is the male cannabis plant. CBD hemp oil from this plant may contain trace amounts of THC, but WON'T get you high at all. It is just one of over 85 cannabinoids presently identified in the cannabis plant and is the second most abundant cannabinoid in marijuana after THC. In hemp, however, THC is only present in trace amounts, while CBD dominates the plant’s makeup. CBD interacts with our naturally occurring systems, but is non-psychotropic, it doesn’t cause a high. This makes it a safer, less controversial alternative, while still offering significant health benefits.

CBD hemp oil is produced using high-CBD, low-THC hemp, not at all like medicinal weed items, which are typically produced using plants with high groupings of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Since hemp contains just follow measures of THC, these hemp oil items are non-psychoactive."

So, why do I think CBD oil might help me?  My research online has lead me to many articles but basically, what I learned is that "CBD may prevent the body from metabolizing anandamide. This is a compound associated with pain regulation." And regulating my pain is most certainly something I need! Maintaining high levels of anandamides in your bloodstream, may reduce feelings of pain and also, CBD is known to limit inflammation within the body, which may also help reduce pain and other immune-system responses, like for people who have rheumatoid arthritis or other auto-immune diseases. 

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cannabis has been used for nearly 3,000 years in alternative medicine. Some of these uses include the management of pain, neurological symptoms, and inflammation. 

So the other day I was doing all this research on CBD oils and other options to find pain relief and my teenager overhears me discussing it with a family member and later tells me, "Yea Mom, you should try smoking pot. Try it." (as she laughs,) She tells me a lot of people she knows are "vaping."  (Geez, now I need to go do more research! LOL!)

Now, while I don't care if other people smoke pot, this is definitely not something I want my kid doing (smoking pot or weed or whatever the correct terminology is,) this is simply about me finding an alternative method to manage the pain when it hits me. Actually, I would prefer before it hits me!

I have certainly learned a lot in my research about CBD oils and hemp.  Vaping CBD oil is one of the preferred methods to ease side effects for many people who suffer from things like all types of cancers, stress, anxiety, joint pain, seizures, inflammation, sleep-apnea, high blood pressure and the list goes on.

I was curious...

How I should use CBD oil if I opted for this method. 

What I learned is that CBD oil is taken via vaping or ingestion. Oral CBD is less likely to cause side effects, so as a beginner I may want to start here. You can put a few drops of the oil under your tongue, or you can  take CBD capsules, or even eat a CBD-infused treat.  

Next question...

Will I get high from CBD oil?   

 

CBD oils are made from marijuana, but they don’t always contain tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC). THC is the component that makes users feel “high” or “stoned” when smoking cannabis. Conclusion is, CBD oil doesn’t have psychoactive properties.

Hmmm, decisions, decisions...

Now, in all seriousness, if you are reading this and can relate or if you have tried an alternative method for pain management, especially CBD oils, I'd love to hear about it.  Any recommendations, suggestions. (Serious comments only please.)

Thanks for joining me on my journey (quest) to find pain relief!




Sources:

Hemp Genix
Healthline 
Made by Hemp
CBD Oil Review



FYI - CBD does not cause a high, unlike THC. The reason why CBD is non-psychoactive is due to its lack of affinity for CB1 receptors. CB1 receptors are found in high concentrations in the brain, and are the pathways responsible for the psychoactive effects of THC.

HOW I AM ALLEVIATING MY MIGRAINES

It has been almost three months since I have not had a migraine or a regular headache for that matter. It may not sound like a lot of time to you but to me, it is huge victory. For those of you who do not know my back story, I am a brain tumor survivor. In 2013, I was diagnosed with a lemon-sized tumor, a meningioma, that thankfully was benign.  Nonetheless, I still had to have a craniotomy (brain surgery) to have the tumor removed.  I also had the beginning symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis according to my blood tests.

As a result of my craniotomy and much to my disappoint, I began to have more headaches, and more migraines after surgery than I did before surgery.  I found out from  my support group for Meningioma survivors, that they call it "Barometer Head," a term I learned about the hard way.  Apparently, after surgery, the barometric pressure affected my head in all kinds of horrible ways.  At first I couldn't figure out why I kept having headaches so frequently if I no longer had a tumor.  I had a titanium plate placed in my skull but was told that should not be a factor.

Later on in my research I learned this:

The International Headache Society identifies seven triggers for weather-related Migraines:

1. Temperature changes
2. High humidity
3. High winds
4. Stormy weather
5. Extremely dry conditions
6. Bright lights and sun glare
7. Barometric pressure changes   

Dr. Steven Graff-Radford, DDS, the director of the program for headache and oro-facial pain at the Cedar-Sinai Medical Center, offers an explanation: “Barometric pressure changes might affect the pressure in the brain or the way the brain blocks pain, but it’s not quite known. What’s quite clear, however, is that overcast, cloudy and rainy days produce more Migraine headaches,” he said. 

So basically, I learned to deal with it and my summers in South Florida became quite dreadful with the constant rain and change in barometric pressure.  Sure, I would take the occasional Advil, which I am really not supposed to have because I only have one kidney (but that's a whole other story you can read about when I finish my e-book!) but for the most part, I would just "suck it up" and deal with it.  

However, there were some days when the pain was so unbearable I just had to go to my room and curl up in bed in the dark and quiet and let it subside.  It really was not fun at all and quite depressing to think, that I had a craniotomy to alleviate the swelling in my brain only to have constant headaches.  In the next few years, it got worse instead of better. I had a follow up MRI and thankfully there was no re-growth of my tumor, so I knew it wasn't that, but the headaches & migraines continued.

Early on in 2016, a friend of the family had talked to me about a natural product made from Purple Rice, that comes from Thailand, called PXP. He said that he was giving to his whole family.  He told me that he, his wife and his daughters started their day off with this supplement every morning and it made them feel great.  I thought that was great for them but how was this going to help me?  As time passed, my husband, who had a kidney transplant years earlier began taking this product. I also started to hear more and more stories about other people who were taking PXP and had lowered their blood pressure, cholesterol levels and even some stories about people who had diabetes and it helped them as well. I was hearing stories but still getting headaches. In the meantime, I was going online and doing research, reading about it and trying to learn more about what this so-called, "super-food."  One thing I love to do and am very good at, is internet research!

Finally, around March 2016, I told myself I was going to make a serious effort to try the PXP since I had read so many good things about it and at this point my husband was taking it too, and his blood pressure was getting so much better, so why not? I decided to go with the best line in the product chain and chose the aflaPXP Royale.

At first, I wasn't too sure how I was going to take it since it comes in powder form and I prefer just to pop a vitamin, but this was not an option with the PXP. Should I drink it straight up? Should I put it in my oatmeal? Should I mix it in my food? I tried it in a large glass of water, then I tried it in a smoothie form but then I was told by my friend that the best way to take it was in its concentrated form.  

I decided to just take the recommended teaspoon of PXP and less than a 1/4 cup of really cold water and just mix it up and drink it.  My husband does the opposite. He boils the water and drinks it like a tea.  Different strokes for different folks, right?

Anyway, I did this religiously every single morning. Sometimes before my coffee, sometimes after.  I found that it really did not matter whether I had coffee first or not, so being a coffee-lover, I opted to keep drinking my cup of coffee first in the a.m.  Actually, to be honest, the FIRST thing I do every morning, is drink water, then coffee, then PXP.

A week passed, two weeks, no headache. Three weeks, a month, two months, no headache. This was rare for me.  Then as May started a huge storm was coming in with lots of rain, thunder and everything else that always made me cringe. Not only were there storms rolling in it was also that "lovely time" of the month for me, which usually would be the "kiss of death" for me in terms of PMS and migraines, but this time NO HEADACHES!  I could not believe it. Barometric changes and PMS and I had no headaches or migraines!  How could I not share this amazing news!  Especially with those people who are also migraine sufferers.

Not only had my migraines subsided but I was not even getting a regular PMS headache! And my early symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis were gone.

As we head towards the end of May, I gladly write my testimonial for PXP and though I may sound like an infomercial to some of you, all I can say is that, this nutritional supplement has helped me enormously. I no longer have to take Advil or Excedrin Migraine or hide away from my children during a migraine attack.  I do not fear rain and thunderstorms, I can actively participate in life without having a headache 2-3 times a week!

This does not necessarily mean I will never get another headache again in my life but it does mean that alfaPXP Royale has brought great relief to my migraines, it has helped me with PMS symptoms, which were dreadful and has helped alleviate my rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. And the added bonus....it is helping me lose weight and feel better. about my overall health.  

So now, not only am I a huge fan of PXP, I have become a Personal Development and Health Coach, in an effort to help others.  I will advocate and spread the news about its wonderful nutritional value and continue to write about all the positive life-changing stories I hear about as it relates to alfaPXP.

Little by little I feel like I am rebuilding my health and the best part is, I got rid of my migraines!