CBD Oil - Holistic Health

My passion for taking a holistic approach towards disease, stemmed from the very personal experience I had as I looked after my grandfather. He was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease that progressively leads you to the shortness of breath. As the disease took its toll consistent visits to the specialists were necessary.

The most difficult part for my Grandfather was going to sleep, as he could be up all night coughing and out of breath. A few weeks in, the palliative care doctors came to assess what was going on at home, including checking how he slept, and whether he was out of breath while showering + more. When the doctors were on their way out, they gave me a bottle of morphine and showed me the dosage, explaining how I should administer the morphine to our grandfather as much as he needed it. The aim now was to keep our Grandfather as comfortable as possible, in his last months, weeks, days, and moments.

I was hesitant administering morphine as I knew the side effects after having used it in the past for an injury of my own. Morphine changes your mood, you lose your appetite, constipation, addicted and feel ‘scattered’ all day. Some of the more serious side effects include mental/mood changes (such as agitation, hallucinations, confusion), difficulty urinating, vision changes, slow/fast heartbeat, severe stomach/abdominal pain, signs of your adrenal glands not working well (such as loss of appetite, unusual tiredness, and weight loss). Despite all this, morphine does work as an instant pain relief, so I didn’t completely dismiss it that wasn’t fair.

Our Grandfather was soon losing his appetite and I was waking up at least 3 times a night to administer a small dose of morphine underneath his tongue. After three weeks, it got to a point where he was asking for it 3-4 times a day. It felt like he was just another powerless human, addicted to heroin. “There were points in the middle of the night where he would look up at me completely out of it, this broke my heart. I felt like we were losing him before his time, we were losing him on a mental state. I believe people should have the choice and or option when terminally ill, to die with dignity and if there is a plant medicine out there that does this it should be legal. I feel very passionately about this issue, it doesn’t only help with people that are suffering pain, but across the board of many illnesses and diseases.

It was at this point that I thought to give CBD oil a go and take the matter into my own hands. I read a few reviews and did my research before taking the step and sourced a bottle. The first few nights were a little touch and go, but by the end of the week I got the hang of the dosage and at what time I would give it to him before bed for it to be effective throughout the night. I was still administering morphine before showers, or when he had to do anything that involved movement like going to the toilet, as those things were very hard to plan. In those instances morphine worked fast and when there’s a rush to the toilet it’s necessary otherwise he would be out of breath which lead to heavy breathing and anxiety. It was definitely a tough process to slowly wean him off the morphine, giving smaller and smaller amounts whenever it was needed.

In the following three weeks, I ended up halving the amount of morphine I was giving my grandfather throughout the day. He would wake up happy, with an appetite and wasn't grumpy all the time. “We had our grandfather back.” My family and I still knew what was ahead but at this time, life felt really amazing, he had his dignity back. The CBD oil substituted the morphine throughout the night. It does take time to find the right dosage, but is totally worth it. Watching a loved one scattered out by "prescribed doctor’s grade heroin" is the saddest thing me and my family had to go through. If you can prolong the well-being, both mental and physical of a loved one, why wouldn’t you?

Watching a loved one look at death down the barrel was a very heavy experience, it made me realize what actually matters in life changing my perspective on a lot of things. At that moment all we were concerned with was spending every last moment with the person we loved, because we knew once he was gone he wasn’t coming back a really helpless and scary feeling really out of our control. We wanted to cherish every last moment with him, and we are so grateful for the positive effects the holistic approach had on his health and well-being.

It was at this point that the fire inside of me was lit, I trellised there are many families and loved ones out there that are suffering from different diseases and illnesses that can be assisted with this natural medicine. Yes we have progressed with pharma medicine over the years and to an extent it does help and it’s needed.

However there are alternatives that assist the patient in conjunction with the drugs prescribed helping the individual and the family not only on a physical level but a mental level also. He also was part of a class that involved different exercises that opened up his lungs, and his diet was also altered to benefit his health in conjunction with the disease. I know people may think this is odd, because marijuana is a DRUG but i just wanted to share this story to shine the light on the benefits of not just specifically medicinal marijuana but just embracing a holistic approach towards our health and well being. 

If anyone has any specific questions about administering it or anything in particular about it all, you can message me through my website or Instagram. If you found this article helpful, it would be really appreciate it if you share it because there are families and people out there that are suffering that have settled and accepted there fate and its not fair for them not to know.