Skip to main content

Who am I?

Hey there, welcome to my blog. My name is Sian, I’m 28, I live in Scotland and I have a chronic illness called M.E.  What is M.E.? M.E stands for myalgic encephalomyelitis. It is also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).  How long have I had ME?  I developed M.E 2 years ago at the start of September. I was about to start college to study beauty therapy and the day before I had a headache. Ok, no big deal, everyone has headaches. By the evening it had developed into a migraine (you know, when you can’t stand the light, or sounds, and you feel like you’re going to throw up). I didn’t think too much of it and hoped it would be gone by the morning. Well, it didn’t go. In fact, I had that same migraine constantly for 6 months straight.  What did you do?  I got on with it. I started college the next day, and I attended every day I was supposed to until I couldn’t handle it anymore, which was Christmas 2016.  What ...
Post a Comment

Dysphagia, Love CBD and Indica

I've recently had problems with swallowing; I can be eating or drinking and suddenly my body forgets how to swallow.

I have been experiencing this late at night for a few months, but last week it leaked into the day, too. All three meals for two days were a real struggle. We use around fifty pairs of muscles and nerves to swallow, and it's mostly just an automatic thing, except for me it wasn't. I would try to initiate the swallow movement, but the food/drink wouldn't go down, and it would also block off my air supply, so I was unable to breathe. I would also not be able to swallow saliva.

We went to see a GP as it was really distressing and I was becoming scared to eat, everytime I tried it would feel like my heart was in a vice, and that I was not going to be able to breathe again. I then started to have anxiety about eating or drinking anything, and I kept breaking down crying. 

My GP has sent a referral to the upper GI (gastrointestinal) clinic in the hope that they can find the cause for what is happening. I'm relieved to say that the daytime difficulties have gone, I am able to eat with no anxiety, and I'm no longer choking. I am, however, still having the problem at night when I am in bed, so I will wait to see the GI doctors. 


I have wanted to try the indica strain of CBD oil for some time as it is meant to have a calming effect, it can ease anxiety and help with sleep problems. I have posted about CBD oil previously, and which companies I have tried, and Love CBD was one of them. They are the only company I can find that sell an indica vape, so contacted them to ask if they have any current offers, or if there will be one approaching, they replied and offered me a 20% off voucher for any of their products. I had mentioned that their 250mg spray hadn't had any effect on me, and so they offered to send me a bottle of 250mg indica e-liquid worth £19.99 for free! I didn't expect this at all, so I was surprised, but graciously accepted.

The next day a parcel arrived from Love CBD. Sadly, they had sent me the wrong product; it was a bottle of their 250mg oil which I had previously tried. I emailed to inform them of the mistake and offered to send it back, but they said I could keep it as a gift, or pass it on to someone, and that the e-liquid would be with me the following day. I have passed the oil on to someone else with M.E. in the hope that it may help them. 


I have used the CBD three nights in a row, and there has been a massive improvement. I've gone from not sleeping until 2/3am, to falling asleep around midnight. I use the vape just before I go to bed, and it gently relaxes you and you can feel your muscles unwinding. About an hour later I start to feel tired and begin yawning (which hasn't happened in months) and I slip into a deep, but peaceful sleep. I didn't wake up today until after 9am. 

It holds up against anxiety, too. I had an episode of anxiety this evening, and having taken a puff of CBD, I feel calmer and more relaxed. 

You only have to have one or two inhalations of the CBD for it to work, so the bottle will last for quite some time. The next product of theirs that I want to try is their sativa CBD vape, as this is supposed to be invigorating and gives you an energy boost. 

Tonight, I'm going to try using the vape and no sleeping tablets to see how it holds up, but at the moment, I am thrilled with the results, and will be recommending it to everyone who has trouble sleeping or suffers with anxiety. I have doubted the claims of CBD being a 'miracle cure' due to the products I had tried having no effect on me, but I believe that is because the dose was too low, but I'm not willing to spend more money on something that might, or might not work. 

For now, I am very happy with Love CBD's customer service, and their indica CBD really works! You can find the indica vape that I am using here. 

Thanks for reading.  
That ME Girl 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My appointment with an M.E. nurse specialist

Keith is the only M.E. specialist in Scotland, and I am lucky to be within his catchment area of Fife, where there are estimated to be about 300 people living with M.E., so he is severely stretched.  Denys and I met him last year as my local M.E. Facebook group are involved in promoting his service and campaigning for more specialists to join. I was referred to Keith in December 2017, and yesterday I finally saw him. It turns out my neurologist sent the referral to the wrong place so it floated around the system for a while.  The appointment was more a get to know you session, he asked whether I have suffered from illnesses like TB, glandular fever or Lyme disease, as these can sometimes trigger an intense immune response and can lead to someone developing conditions like M.E., but I don't seem to have had any to have any of these triggers. He asked about family health and whether anyone suffers from an autoimmune illness as there is evidence to suggest this co...
Post a Comment
Read more

Posted Missing

I have backed away from social media recently because my health hasn't been great; I've been mostly bedbound since Wednesday.  You know what I miss when I'm stuck in bed... the little birds in the garden. Over the summer I started watching them and learning things about them. Since then, I have seen quite a variety of birds coming to the garden to enjoy the food and shelter we provide, we even saw little chicks playing and bugging their parents for more food.  There are about 30 house sparrows which seem to live in the bushes, they are the most vocal and demanding of food. They love chirping and cheeping and being generally noisy. When their young fledged I often saw them flapping their new little wings and squeaking wanting to be fed.  They eat from a mixture of hanging feeders and ground feeders. Different species have different preferences on how they like to be fed, for example blackbirds won't (or very rarely) use hanging feeders or anything too h...
Post a Comment
Read more

M.E. awareness week and Millions Missing

As this years M.E. awareness week comes to a close, I feel quite sad to be taking off my 'M.E. awareness week' t-shirt. I have been proud to walk around this week trying to raise awareness: I may have been a bit shaky on my feet at times, but at least I was on my feet, which sadly not everyone with M.E. can do. Just a year ago, Denys and I were at an outdoor event and my health was very bad. I was unable to walk, I was using my walking stick to literally hold myself up until I collapsed on the grass and sobbed. I had to rest for several hours before I could eventually pull myself up and begin the slow shuffle back to the car. He said that we might need to get me a wheelchair, and although I had been thinking the same thing for a month or two, I broke down and cried.  Here I am a year later, most days I can walk without my walking stick, and for this reason, I have been proud to walk  with my M.E. t-shirt on. Last year I was unable to do anything significant for Mi...
Post a Comment
Read more