Our first personal experience with CBD oil arose when it was necessary to find a way to help my elderly mother-in-law cope with living with dementia.
We had been full-time caregivers to her since she was 81. The first few years were pretty good – all in all. However, we did notice small changes in her behavior that eventually became bigger challenges in terms of keeping her safe and as happy as possible.
Sun downing became a big issue. Every day later in the afternoon, she would get anxious and start behaving erratically. She would be feeling uneasy and more confused than what was considered her normal at the time.
Sleeping became a test of endurance for us. She would be up multiple times throughout the night and we’d have to catch her as she would run down the hallway in the dark. It was exhausting for all 3 of as no one was sleeping. Our days became a torture due to the long nights preceding them.
At one point, the poor thing started to have these seizure-like episodes where she’d be so tense and stiff that we were afraid she’d break something in her own body because of the tension.
We sat by helpless, not knowing what to do for her. We tried prescription sleeping aids, but they only numbed her down so that during the day she was like a zombie sitting on the couch. Her personality dissolving into the medicated state. We knew this was not what we wanted for her.
Finally, after about 3 long years of this downward spiral, we were so desperate that we talked to her doctor about giving her CBD oil. We had heard about all sorts of benefits people were getting from it including but not limited to:
– Better quality of sleep – here we had nothing to lose trying as no
one was sleeping well
– Pain relief – even though she wasn’t in physical pain, we hoped it
would calm her body
– Improved appetite – we needed to keep getting food into her to keep
body healthy
– Calm her anxiousness – we were so afraid she’d hurt herself being
so uncomfortable.
At that point in time, in the area we lived in, CBD wasn’t legal, but it was in a grey area where it wasn’t illegal really either.
After a bit of discussion, the doctor wrote a note for CBD and off we went to the local dispensary. Our first visit to a dispensary was a bit overwhelming. We didn’t want to do something to harm our girl in any way. Conversations with the staff at the dispensary gave us details about strength and doses. The territory was new for almost all of us, but the experiences people with all sorts of issues were having, was quite inspiring and gave us hope. We were told that CBD was harmless and we should not worry about overdosing.
So, we left with a little bottle of CBD oil and were off to home and our first night trying it out. That evening, we prepared our girl for bed and then followed with a few drops of the oil under her tongue.
The rest, as they say, is history. Immediately, that night She had the best sleep in at least 3 years. She slept a solid 12 hours!
This continued and was consistent night after night. And because she was getting sleep:
– Her personality re-appeared. She regained her sense of humor.
– She was able to talk with more clarity and a stronger use of
– Tension in her body dissolved, leaving her so much more relaxed and
joyful.
– Her appetite came back strong as she enjoyed eating again.
We ended up giving her the CBD drops every night just before bed for the next 6 years of her life. It never let us down and was the game changer in our lives. Over time we did notice that we would need to adjust the dosage a bit – either giving her one or two additional drops, or a stronger formula – depending what was available at the time.
Not once did we experience a negative effect from the CBD oil. Because of our experience, we became advocates for CBD Oil and the spectrum of ailments it helps. It is nothing short of a miracle in our books, and over the years as we’ve shared our story, I’ve had others share their stories, whether it be about a little girl with 30 seizures a day who gets on CBD and the seizures stop, right up to the 90 year olds taking it in care centers to control arthritic pain, assist with sleep and appetite, and so much more.
