*DISCLAIMER: This is a transcript of episode 12 – Potential Benefits of CBD for Pain on Full Spectrum Living with CBD podcast. Click here to listen to the podcast episode or click here to watch the video.

Ep12_BENEFITS OF CBD FOR PAIN

Meredith [00:00:06]  Welcome back to this episode of Full Spectrum Living with CBD. I am your co-host Meredith here with our hosts today, Jessica and Adriane. We’re talking about a very important topic today, and it’s pain. We are seeing so many issues with pain across the US, really around the world. And we wanted to have a chat today about how CBD plays into that. And Adriane, I know you’ve been doing some research around pain in general and have some great stuff to share with us today. Adriane [00:00:36] It’s amazing. We get a lot of people coming and asking about will CBD help with my pain? And so when you do, you start looking into things. The National Institute of Health actually did a survey here recently, and it says that 23.4 Million Americans, so that’s about 10 percent of the population, says that they experience a lot of pain. Then about 126 million Americans, that’s about 55 57 percent of the population, say that they had experienced some sort of pain within the last three months of when that survey was taken. That is a lot of pain out there. And I know that as you get older you have aches that you didn’t have before or maybe you had a surgery or a sports injury. There’s so many different ways that pain can be introduced into your life. So it makes sense from a numbers standpoint, but it’s really unfortunate because the option that we’re being given today is opioids. And studies there are showing that 46 people a day die from an opioid overdose so we need to really be aware and we really need to push for the fact that cannabis and CBD is actually a great option for those who are struggling with pain. Meredith [00:01:52] Absolutely. I mean it’s and we all know from the media, even experiences in our own families, it’s become an epidemic not just with opioids, but with people seeking pain relief and then looking for other alternatives. And I think it’s really great that you guys are bringing forward CBD as the solution because so many people are looking for options out there like that. So I know you help people with that a lot. That’s one of the most frequent reasons that people are coming to you. So do you have some stories you can share with us maybe about some of your clients that you’ve been able to help? Jessica [00:02:29] We’ve got a lot of reviews that refer to pain relief from our products. But I wanted to backtrack like one second because the number that Adriane mentioned, that 44 did you say or 48 for opioids? Adriane [00:02:45] 46 is what I found. Jessica [00:02:50]  But it’s like 70 some, mid 70 some die daily if you include heroin, which is an opioid. And a lot of people are using that because they’ve started on an opioid addiction from prescription medication. And then, we’ll post the article that we’re referring to where we got some of this information, because I’m not sure this number, I didn’t write it down, but I think it was something like 1,600 per day or some really insane number are seen in the E.R. for complications from opioid use, prescription opioid use. So it’s a really alarming number that I think everyone has seen someone who has been affected by it. I know I certainly have a lot of people in my circle who have been affected by this from prescription pain relief that led elsewhere. So anyways, I just wanted to kind of go back to that, because I think the numbers are even much, much bigger than 44. Meredith [00:03:58] And that’s what’s reported. I mean, I think that that’s always another interesting component too. Is that the data is only as good as the information that’s reported in the beginning. And I mean, we’re just, I think there’s no doubt we all can agree that it’s a humongous, humongous problem. So when you have somebody that comes in or gives you guys a call in there, they’re saying I’m in pain from a surgery or an injury or just honestly, old age, you know? We’re not getting any younger. How does that conversation go or share one of your stories with us. We love to hear those. Jessica [00:04:36]  So I do have some reviews here that I just thought I would mention one or two of them, more of the brief ones. But, we get pain relief all the time. We’ve got one here from Barbara C., it’s on our Facebook page. So definitely check the reviews out, but it just says “I’m amazed. I’ve used three different brands of CBD with so so results and I’ve kept researching and reading your info and decided to buy the four ounce Genesis Blend.” She says “you guys it has helped me within three days. My knee doesn’t hurt anymore more and other pains are much less everyday. Plus, I’m saving money by using your brand. All I can say is thank you so much for being so helpful on the phone calls and e-mails, you rock. I’ll be ordering again.” But that’s kind of the tone of a lot of our reviews. It’s just “it’s helped me so much,”  “I’m able to save money,”  whether it be because our product tends to be more affordable or because they’re not having to take as many prescriptions. I mean, that happens quite a lot. But pain relief is a common theme in our company that we’re getting results with. It should definitely be noted that some people don’t get pain relief and the research on cannabis doesn’t quite indicate exactly why that is or isn’t happening. But I think because of its safety profile and its general effectiveness for reducing pain and inflammation, you’re very likely to get some relief. And so it, I think, ideally would be the better first option for most people to try. Meredith [00:06:09] Because there’s not an addictive quality right? I mean, that is the products that you’re offering. This isn’t a product that I have to later worry about coming off of. Jessica [00:06:21] Exactly. So there’s no withdrawal. And if you were to try it first, I think, I would totally advocate for doing it first for pain relief because you could just get so much more than pain relief out of it. I mean, sleep improvements and potentially blood sugar, blood pressure stabilization and just a ton of other potential benefits that you could get as a side effect instead of constipation, addiction, and brain fog and whatever else. Meredith [00:06:51]  So, Jessica, you were also mentioning that you have folks that come in that maybe have been in a situation where they have been using only a opioids and they’re looking for an alternative. But have you ever had anybody who has said, “hey, I have something that’s coming that I’m looking forward to,” like a surgery or along those lines. “And I know that my doctor is going to give me a prescription for an opioid.” And for one reason or another, they don’t want to go there. And so they’re coming to you in advance of something, knowing that it’s going to happen? Jessica [00:07:30] Absolutely. Adriane [00:07:30] There’s been quite a few actually, whether it’s knee replacement surgery, back surgery, neck surgery, there’s been quite a few that have come in and said that of course, being very honest with their doctor, that this is the direction that they wanted to go. The one that strikes me the most and he’s actually a good friend of ours as well. He was diagnosed with nose cancer. And so he had to have his nose removed from his face. And that in and of itself was a very extreme surgery, a very long surgery. He did not want to take the opioids that were prescribed to him and he didn’t. And he has continued through the removal surgery, but also through the reconstruction. Just being consistent with our CBD extract and in addition to not having to take opioids and suffer from those side effects, he experienced pain relief. He wasn’t in extreme pain. Not only that, the added bonus was through the reconstruction. They were seeing that the nerve endings and the healing process was happening a lot faster than what it would have under normal circumstances. And in addition to that is, I mean honestly, his attitude, anxiety was very low. His attitude about the whole situation. He remained upbeat, so much so that his doctor even wrote an article about it and did this audio blog post. It was really interesting, saying that when this gentleman walked into his clinic for his checkup, he was in one room and next door was a woman who was in a completely different situation, but very high anxiety, very upset by whatever she was having corrected on her face. But in no way, shape, or form was it anywhere close to the severity of what he was experiencing. And so just, you know, even small things like that, smaller benefits, like Jessica said, there’s added benefits to taking a CBD product. It definitely showed with him. Meredith [00:09:26] And so are you seeing that there’s effectiveness for all sorts of different types of pain? I mean, excuse me, like that it’s not just for one type of pain, but people are seeing relief in multiple areas? Jessica [00:09:40]  Certainly. Like in store, we’ve seen all kinds of different conditions that cause pain that have been alleviated. A couple that stand out to me is that we’ve actually had a few people with a very rare condition. I can’t remember what it’s called, but the nickname for it is I definitely remember it’s the suicide disease because it’s just a burning nerve pain. Typically throughout your whole body or maybe in one particular area that is completely debilitating and it is  uncommon as it is, I know of at least three different people who are clients of ours, who take our product and get results for reducing that and just making their life more livable and functional. So even in extreme pain, it can be helpful. And then I think just preventative wise, we know it’s a potent anti-inflammatory. And so a lot of people who are using it for general health or even for something else may find that long term, hopefully, they’re going to reduce their chance of arthritic joint pain and stiffness. Just kind of getting ahead of that by taking it early as opposed to addressing it after the fact. I think that will happen more and more as CBD becomes more used and available. And then from a research perspective, in looking for some articles of research for this podcast, actually it definitely seemed, that the most common types of pain that are alleviated through cannabis supplements are neuropathic pain, an inflammatory condition related pain. So neuropathic I think covers a lot though. It’s just if it’s nerve related, I think you’ve got a good chance of it helping. Adriane [00:11:32]  And so something to also remember is that, well, some will achieve complete pain relief, some just get the edge taken off. And so but that in and of itself is fantastic. So those that are suffering from neuropathy that may see this bell curve of where they’re at a two and then it spikes to an eight and then it goes down to a six. It’s this whole cycle. We had one gentleman that said it didn’t completely remove all his neuropathy, but what it did is it cut that bell off. So instead of going from a two to an eight to a six to a nine and all over the place, he stayed a constant three. And for him, that was life changing. So understanding that it’s not going to numb you like an opioid. It’s not going to be that mind altering or quite possibly, you know, you’re going to take one serving and it’s just going to go poof it’s away, though, for some, that it does. For me and my migraines, it’s a lifesaver. But some people may just see that edge taken off. And so it’s about being present and thankful and the fact that, yes, that in itself is fantastic. Then maybe instead of going the opioid route, you just take a Tylenol in addition to that. Jessica [00:12:45]  Or, you know, I think if you need to still go the opioid route because I think there are people who would need to, there’s a lot of benefits to that combination of a CBD or cannabis extract with a opioid. So it’s been shown through research, which we can link here, and the article I’m referring to. I got this from was really fascinating, but that it can really help you to reduce the potential of needing to increase your opioids over time. So it actually works very synergistically with opioids. So if it doesn’t completely alleviate, you know, I think personally start with cannabis. If it doesn’t completely take care of the issue to a point where you’re functional and I’m not talking like you have a pain level of zero, but you have a moderate pain level that you can function through, then it seems like if it were me, if I had still a significant amount of pain that was limiting, then if I needed to take opioids, I would continue using cannabis because it would help to magnify your overall benefit. They have a greater than a cumulative benefit. So cannabis plus opioids together have been shown to have greater than just the two of them individually with pain relief and then decreasing your chance to need to build up and become tolerant and take higher servings, which is a lot of the problem of why people are leading to opioid use disorder because they’re getting used to it needing higher and higher servings and the physicians aren’t always able to provide those to them. The epidemic we’re in right now. So in combination there, that could potentially really synergize and provide additional pain relief for people who it doesn’t completely address limiting pain for. Meredith [00:14:35] So with this CBD, then, are you seeing that people are able over time to actually either stay at a maintenance level or even reduce their dosage over time and with their pain? Or how do you work with them on that? Adriane [00:14:50] With CBD you mean, reducing that? Meredith [00:14:51]  Yeah. Adriane [00:14:52] I think it really just depends upon the reason and the pain that that they have. So if it’s pain from a surgery, then yes, absolutely, they would reduce because the healing process would have happened. Whether it was a migraine or a headache, then yes, that would reduce. But, you know, arthritic joint pain, severe pain, I think they would probably want to remain consistent on that because again, taking that consistently is going to help with the overall inflammatory response. So it really is going to depend on the individual. Meredith [00:15:22] But it’s great that there’s that flexibility forward for these different use cases, whereas I think traditionally we look at opioids and it’s a blanket prescription, everybody that has the certain surgery gets the same prescription regardless of where they land with it. And I think that’s the basis of our issue too. So it’s nice to hear that there’s the amount of flexibility with CBD. Jessica [00:15:44] And we certainly have seen plenty of our clients who are already on opioids who have been able to reduce the amount that they’re taking or even completely get off of some of them. So there’s an element there of reducing your intake. But like Adriane was talking about, though, you probably need a consistent serving. There’s a good amount of research that says, you know, if you’re taking the right amount of cannabis extract, you probably can just ride that out for a long period of time without needing to increase. So the tolerance buildup is not very likely unless you’re taking too much, in which case a lot of people fall into a trap of it, stops working well. So they take more and they take more and it over stimulates the system more and more and they continue to lose benefits while increasing their serving. And so that’s something to point out. If you’re falling into that cycle of you’re increasing the intake of cannabis and it’s not working for you, it’s losing its benefits, then you may want to consider stopping for a bit and restarting at a much lower serving, much, much lower serving and trying to find the right amount without exceeding them. Meredith [00:16:53] Well, I love that you all are bringing forward an option. I mean, and that’s really what it is. Right? And it’s great that people have the freedom of choice, but it’s fantastic there is an option out there for people to treat their pain differently than some of the ways that are out there that are causing so many issues across the country. So for this episode of Full Spectrum Living with CBD, with Meredith, Adriane and Jessica, I want to make sure you guys can direct people to wherever it is you want them to go. If they’ve got more information that they want to get from this episode, where’s the best place for them to find that? Adriane [00:17:26]  Visit our website, bluegrasshempoil.com. We’ll definitely link the studies so that you can do a little bit more research. Dig in where we got our facts and our stats from. Meredith [00:17:36] Awesome. And like I was saying for this episode, I am your co-host Meredith here with Jessica and Adriane. We’ll see you on full spectrum living with CBD the next time, take care.