What is CBD and will it help

CBD comes from hemp, the “poor” cousin of marijuana. It has all the medical benefits without any of the “fun” (high) stuff.

Why do people use CBD? There are many reasons and conditions that CBD actually helps with. We are finally able to do the medical research, since the 2018 Farm Bill was passed. CBD works with our bodies, naturally.

We have something called an “endocannabinoid” system. Just a few years ago, doctors thought we had these receptors in our brain. With recent research, we have found that we have thousands of these receptors in our brain, spinal cord, lungs, liver and kidneys. When you take CBD (cannabidiol) it meets the endocannabinoid system, they kiss, they love each other, and they make you feel better, naturally.

Does it cure everything?

Certainly not! We are finding that it does more that we ever thought it might, though! The “biggest” things people use CBD for are inflammation, pain, and anxiety. We know it works on pain and inflammation firsthand. Frank (my husband) had brain cancer. (He's fine 10 years later, no, CBD did not cure him, doctors and surgery and radiation did that).

After all the medical stuff was handled, he was constantly in pain, and living on hydrocodone and gabapentin for all the nerve damage that was done during the surgery. We were at the emergency room every few months for excruciating pain in places there should be nothing to cause such pain. This is called “ghost pain”.

About 3 years after the surgery, we went to a new neurologist, because his other one had retired. This guy said “are you using CBD?”. We'd never heard of it. On the way home, we stopped to buy gas, and inside they had CBD on the counter. We bought some. Yeah, we know, never buy stuff from the convenience store without researching first. It just seemed like it was meant to be! This stuff was awful- green, thick, slimy, and tasted like a combination of lawn clippings and dirty sock water. We didn't know any better, so he kept taking it.

Within 2 days he was off hydrocodone. Within 2 weeks he was off gabapentin. We have not been to the emergency room with ghost pain since- about 7 years now!
We ordered the next CBD online. It didn't taste as bad, and it wasn't slimy!
So, we researched. Bought several different ones. Found one that didn't have ANY flavor, no bitterness, and wasn't slimy!

I am well aware that we humans have something called a “placebo effect”- means we can convince ourselves something is helping when it actually does nothing.
Dogs don't lie, because they can't. Our 10 year old German Shepherd had hip dysplasia (arthritis, basically). He was having difficulty going up and down stairs, and spent a lot of time, just lying in one place. I started giving him CBD. Did it cure him? Nope. However, it did make him much more mobile, and he was not whining going up and down the stairs. We love our pets, and seeing them suffer hurts us too, so this was great! 6 months later, we opened a store.

When we know a thunderstorm is coming, we give CBD to the dogs, it helps keep them calm.

We know it works for PNES (non epileptic panic seizures), because we witnessed it ourselves. We know it helps with arthritic inflammation and pain, because me. We know it works for diabetic neuropathy because Frank. There are some advantages to being old- we can try it on ourselves!

If you want to see “real doctor” research, here is a study that shows how and why CBD helps with arthritis:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41419-020-02892-1

Here is study that shows it does help with anxiety disorders:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178124003342

Then there is this fabulous study that shows that CBD helps with PTSD: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-20625-005

The best part, they are now tentatively suggesting that CBD allows PTSD sufferers to take that traumatic memory, and put it back in memories- you don't forget it, it just isn't “traumatic” anymore!!!

What about sleep? Yup!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6326553/

If your sleep is affected by anxiety, CBD can help.

CBD helps your pets with pain, inflammation, and anxiety disorders.

You have seen ads on TV that say it cures tinnitus? Sort of. In people who have anxiety caused tinnitus it might help. What about curing cancer? Probably not, BUT studies are underway to see whether CBD can help with metastasis, like they believe it might, which is reason enough for me! Weight loss? Possibly. When paired with data on diabetes, it has been found that CBD may affect the “cytokine storm” that is a part of ketoacidosis, preventing it!!!! So, it may help regulate insulin NOT because it cures anything, but because it stops one of the sugar metabolisms, and aids in glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity!

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10582612/

Chemotherapy side effects (nausea) and appetite” Yup!

There's more, but those are the “biggies”.

CBD on the US market comes in three types:

1. Full spectrum- pressed from the hemp plant, and may contain up to .3 percent THC. You won't get high, but you can fail a drug test, so please know what you are getting! 

2. Broad spectrum- all the terpenes, and “adjunct” stuff that is wonderful in the hemp plant, minus THC. If you are drug tested, you will pass, unless your company tests specifically for CBD- please ask your HR department! Find it here.

3. Isolate- still CBD, but none of the terpenes or additional stuff in the plant. This could sound ideal, BUT read some more.

The CBD comes in many forms

1. oil -(commonly called tincture)

2. gummies- usually a sugar based,

3. Capsules- yup, pill form

Oil metabolizes more slowly, you should feel the effect in about an hour and a half. Take it twice daily- morning and evening to keep it in your system. Great for any “chronic” conditions.

Gummies are a sugar base, so metabolizes more quickly- feel the effects in 20 minutes or less. Great for “situational” pain and anxiety- I will be working out in a few minutes; I have a business meeting where I have to talk; I will be driving in a big city with overpasses and crazy drivers.... You get the idea. Lasts about 4 hours and is gone.

Capsules. I like them, just make sure you know what they are- full spectrum, broad spectrum, or isolate.

I have mentioned “isolate”. It is great. I prefer broad spectrum. Why? If I hand you a bowl of hot water with a lump of beef in it, and say, “here's your soup”, technically, it is. I am pretty sure you would be a bit miffed that there were no spices, no carrots, no onions, beans, whatever you normally have in your soup. That is terpenes. If you ever knew anyone, back in high school, who used “the real stuff”, some of them were couch locked zombies drooling quietly in a corner, and some of them were energizer bunnies, organizing, cleaning,, creating music... We thought that was because of the strain. Kinda. Each strain has different terpenes, and it is the terpenes that make the difference. We have been able to study that difference over the past few years. We have formulas for “calming” (helps you sleep or relax without being tired, and without that “drugged” feeling when you wake up). We have a morning “wake up energy” formula. Also a mid day “focus” formula.

Our “normal” tinctures just have a robust variety of terpenes naturally found in the hemp plant, and I like that!

Please note two things when buying CBD (if you do not get it from us). 1) 80% of hemp in the world is grown in China, where there are no particular protections for pesticides, heavy metals, nor mold mitigation. Buy American! 2) Please remember your math classes from elementary school, no matter how long ago that was! There was something called “rounding”. In math, it is legal to “round down” if your fraction is less than half. So, if something has .3% THC, I can state it has “no THC”. It is less than ½ percent, so, yeah... Make sure you read the label, and see how much is actually in it- the label is supposed to say, perhaps with a little asterisk and some very fine print! Ours is certified zero!

If you have any questions, ask us! We read a lot! We want to know what our stuff helps with and what it doesn't help with. We have probably had customers who had a condition similar to yours!