‘I’ve virtually cured my 20-year battle with anxiety and back pain with CBD oil’
Karen Barr says taking CBD oil has enabled her to quit her antidepressants.
Karen Barr is one of those who swear by it – claiming CBD oil has helped her enormously in her 20-year battle with anxiety and back pain.
I asked the 49-year-old from York how it’s helped her, and here we examine the research on cannabis and pain, as well as what proof there is it can help with anxiety.
‘I’m a different person’
Karen says she’s suffered from chronic back pain brought on by pregnancy and childbirth and spent years struggling as an office worker sat for long periods in front of a computer.
She’s tried a nerve block injection in her spine – considered a temporary fix – and has regularly taken painkillers.
“It’s a struggle using the vacuum and I’m now a carer and it hurt to push clients in wheelchairs,” she explained.
Karen had also been plagued by panic attacks since her early 20s, when her body would go into “fight or flight” mode causing her heart to race, sweating, shaking and sensations of shortness of breath.
“The panic attacks came on without warning like a smack in the head with a hammer,” she said. ” It felt like I was going to die. I can’t pinpoint any reason for my anxiety at all. When I was younger I would have panic attacks every day, it was hell.”
Karen said that while the frequency and intensity of the attacks settled somewhat, she never really got a grip on overcoming them. Instead, she took paroxetine, a type of antidepressant known as an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) – for 18 years.
While these pills can in rare instances cause serious side effects such as suicidal thoughts and chest pain, Karen said she generally suffered no problems. However, while the NHS says paroxetine is safe to take for a long time, it does warn being on it for more than a year has been linked to a small increased risk of getting diabetes.
“I was just keen to get off being on an antidepressant for that long,” said Karen. “I didn’t like that I needed something unnatural to make me feel calm.”
I still feel a little anxious but I haven’t had a a panic attack yet
Karen Barr
Karen read that CBD oil is said to help with both pain and anxiety and decided to give it a go. She’s been taking a supplement made by Power Health – the five percent potency version made from hemp seed oil – every day for four months. She noticed a difference within a week.
“I can whizz through my four-bedroom bungalow with the Hoover now,” she said. “I have so much more energy. I’ve virtually cured my 20-year battle with anxiety and back pain. I still feel a little anxious but I haven’t had a panic attack yet. I feel like a different person.
“My family have noticed a difference too because I’m normally quite cranky and can sometimes take out my anxiety on them.”
Courtesy of inews.co.uk