CBD oil advice please

[SurferGuy]

Hi All,

I hope you are well 😊

I'm going to give CBD oil another try for my Lupus aches and pains, and also hoping it might work for my horrific Raynauds chilblains and blisters.

I need some advice please from those who take it please. I will of course also discuss it with my consultant - although they have said its OK for me to use in the past, but things do change.

In terms of strength, I was looking in Holland and Barrett's earlier and saw this hollandandbarrett.com/shop/...

Has anyone tried either this strength (and brand)? And what were your thoughts? Or are there other better brands or strengths?

Thank you

[Tiggywoos]

surferguy ! Always lovely to see you pop up on forum !

So sorry you’re struggling and suffering 😣. I remember talking to Holland and Barrett and they were so helpful. They said always best to start with lowest dose ( I didn’t buy any but felt confident with what they were saying )

I have a friend who takes cbd gummies and she says they are really good for sleep but I don’t know about pain.

Can’t remember what meds you are on ? Have they discussed upping them ?

Take care x

[Tiggywoos]

I’d pop this post on SRUK scleroderma and raynauds they often have some great advice with hands and feet x

[SurferGuy]

Thank you Tiggywoos. My experience with the staff there was a lot different as they weren't at all clued up on any of the CBD oil products. There was a buy one get one free offer. But when they bought the 2 bottles out, 1 was the CBD drops and the other was the spray. When I pointed it out to him, he apologised and said they only had one bottle of the oil and that the spray was the same as the drops.

Meds wise - I'm currently having Belimumab infusions monthly, Hyroxy, Prednisolone, Mycophenolate, Ibersertan, Clopidogrol, Artovastatin. I shake and rattle as I walk.

[WinterSwimmer]

I have nephritis and low kidney function so I have to be really careful about what I ingest. I use CBD oil instead of ibuprofen gel for pain but rub it on my skin in strategic places (ie - where it hurts) rather than swallowing it. I think 4% is not very strong. I've been using 5% which works OK - but am thinking of moving up to a higher strength as a money saving gambit, on the basis that I would need to use less of it.

It acts fairly fast when used externally - knees, lower legs, ankles, wrists and hands - and as someone else has said above, has the added benefit that it helps with sleep.

[SurferGuy in reply to WinterSwimmer]

WinterSwimmer, that name simply makes me smile 😊

Just a few weeks before I had these horrible hands and feet about 2 years ago, my daughter and I had planned to go wild water swimming. Alas, that dream has ended... for now 😁

Now, please do explain the strengths to me as it's all confusing to me. I bought a 1200 strength bottle of drops. How would I then translate that into percentage?

[WinterSwimmer in reply to SurferGuy]

Edit - sorry - my original reply was wrong. I thought I knew but when I checked - I was wrong.

[dg70]

Be careful of anything off the shelf if you are on other meds. Take advice from your GP first or Rheumy as many so called 'herbal medicines' can be dangerous for certain conditions or when taken in conjunction with our regular medications. There are so many contraindications to consider. It's often not as easy as off the shelf and take and all is safe. I had calendula cream for bruises and it worked fine. I then though ok calendula tablets thinking all would be ok as I'm always bruising and I was so so sick. Constant vomiting and that was just off the shelf Holland and Barratt. It is always more dodgy when you ingest something as it goes through your liver or kidneys. Holland and Barratt are not medically qualified to answer the questions that you need to ask. You may be fine but beware. They even ask now about any herbal medicines you may be taking if you go in to hospital as they may react with anaesthetic etc, they are not always as innocent and safe as you may think. I was surprised to be asked about any herbal medicines I may be taking as well as my conventional medicines last week when I went in to hospital.

[SurferGuy in reply to dg70]

Thanks dg70 for your reply.

Absolutely 100% agree with you. My Mum takes a lot of medication for numerous health conditions. But she then gets persuaded by family and friends to try out herbal remedies as they heard or read about it from someone or somewhere. And after she's taken some of the recommended remedies, she's reacted in the past.

So me, I'll definitely to talking to my consultant first. They OKd it a few years ago, but my condition is a lot different now as are some of my meds.

I would though like someone to explain how the strength and dosage works for CBD drops.

[Jumper99]

Hi. Sorry to be a bit negative but CBD oil is not supposed to be used if you are on anticoagulants. I checked it with clopidogrel and it says that it might affect the way the clopidogrel works and it might not give you the usual level of anticoagulation.

[SurferGuy in reply to Jumper99]

Hi Jumper thank you so much for your very helpful reply. And it's not at all negative as you've highlighted the possible impact it could have with clopidogrel.

I saw my rhumy today for my Chilblains Lupus and asked the question. They said CBD oil wouldn't impact any of my meds, but as its Clopidogrel, I will ask my neurologist when I see them in a couple of months.

In all honesty, I nor my Nuro are certain I need to be on the clopidogrel or statin, but they're giving it as a precautionary measure due to my Lupus and a suspected but highly doubted TIA a few years ago.

[kali9]

HI, i take CBD oil from Sainsbiry's. The brand is Cannaray, and I use the high strength version. I take it every night to help with sleep but I do not think it has made a difference for my lupus pain. I have tried different brands, but since they do not make a difference to my lupus pain I buy the one from Sainsbury's for convinience.