My Wellness Journey Ep. 5

As a result of the pandemic our local government called a shut down and closed all "non essential" businesses. Personal Services like massage and acupuncture were not considered "essential". When I had muscle pain before I found acupuncture very helpful. Once the restrictions were lifted acupuncturist reopened, I tried a few sessions to help with the pain and insomnia. The pain would subside temporarily but would return. I was having intense pain bilaterally on my mid-back, there was no reason, no injury or overuse. The Acupuncturist informed me in Chinese Natural Medicine emotions are processed through the kidneys. I was already in Talk therapy so I thought I was on the right track. My councilor suggested some basic 5 point breathing exercises, meditation and yoga for stretching. All of which I was already doing. The Acupuncturist suggested increasing my Vitamin D intake as it helps with kidney pain. She also introduced essential oils to try and help with pain relief. After a few more Acupuncture sessions and additional sessions of Auricular Acupuncture group therapy. The pain continued.

I returned to my doctor, when he did a physical exam to check my kidneys I almost levitated off the table. My doctor ran urine and kidney scans, the scans returned normal, however, the urine test resulted with blood present so he ran a course of antibiotics. Knowing I already have sensitive guts due to IBS-C, as a precaution I also took probiotics. It did not matter, the antibiotics ruined my microbiome and gave me a yeast infection to boot. Bless you Canesten, thanks for being there!

The pain was so intense I wanted to go to the hospital. Regular over the counter pain relivers were not cutting it. Considering Covid going to the hospital had it's own risks. So I called a friend to pick me up a Tincture of Cannabis. It worked, my pain subsided and I slept like a baby, however, it made me very fatigued the next day I couldn't parent, I couldn't adult all I could do was sleep. I later tried it in a smaller dose with the same side effects. It was fatigue on top of fatigue.

I continued to use the gel. Applying the gel twice a day faithfully to the insides of my wrist. I was told it could take 3-6 months so see the side effects. I was committed. Knowing how broken my body was I expected to have to wait on the latter part of that timeline. After 3 bottles of cranberry juice, antibiotics, and a lot of water the severe kidney pain subsided. The pain in my face, neck, shoulders, hips, legs and feet, however, did not subside.