“A lot of people think that if they take it, it might come up if they have a drugs test in work, or they’ll spend their whole time lying on the sofa listening to strange music.” – Wendy, Birkenhead
Cannabidiol, or CBD, has seen a lot of press attention recently, with headlines ranging from miracle success stories and niche product spotlights to concerned words of caution and cynicism.
In fact, public curiosity in CBD is at an all-time high. According to the Cannabis Trades association UK, the number of cannabidiol consumers in the UK grew from 125,000 in 2017 to 1.3 million in 2019.
This growth is being fed by stories of successful medical CBD use, such as Billy Caldwell’s, as well as the general growing cultural hype around all things CBD. Recent years have seen Kim Kardashian hosting a CBD themed baby shower, the UK’s first CBD-infused restaurant opening, and even CBD pet treats hitting the market.
You can now also easily buy effective and certified CBD products online, in corner shops, and even on the high street.
There are a huge range of independent scientific studies pointing towards CBD’s medicinal properties and the MHRA themselves officially acknowledged its potential as a medicine in 2016.
But despite these positive steps, the long history of stigma associated with cannabis and its derivatives mean that there are still some lingering negative connotations around CBD. Mostly, people think it gets you ‘high’, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
This misconception is bound to fade as more mainstream awareness is developed, but we wanted to do our part by showing that CBD users are just normal people, sometimes looking for relief from chronic pain, illnesses, or mental health conditions.
We think that sharing people’s real experiences with CBD is an important part of building awareness about its potential, so we sent out a call asking CBD users in the North of England for their stories. The response was great, and we ended up meeting and interviewing 5 regular CBD users to get an insight into how exactly it helps make their lives easier.
While we were there, we took photos of our interviewees before and after they took their daily dose of CBD to try and showcase what a ‘regular’ CBD user looks like (normal)a and what taking CBD does to your appearance (nothing). showprove that taking CBD truly doesn’t affect your appearance.
“I take the CBD and then you know, half-hour later I go ‘oh, I haven’t fixated on it that much’. Whether it’s chilling my mind out or chilling my body out or both, I don’t really care, it makes it better” – Lucy, Kirkham
Before After
Lucy, at her tattoo parlour, Odditorium Tattoo Studio in Kirkham. Lucy uses CBD for anxiety and chronic pain.
It’s 10 am on a drizzly summer’s day and we’re at Lucy’s tattoo parlour on Kirkham high street. She hands us each a big mug of tea and starts to talk about why she takes CBD every morning before starting her day.
“I had depression for a time, but anxiety’s always been my bigger deal,” she says. She’s fun and bubbly and you almost can’t imagine her feeling anything other than happy with her bright pink hair.
After turning to her doctor for help, she, like most people, was prescribed pain and neuropathic medication. “I’d take these drugs they were giving me, and yeah, I didn’t feel sad anymore, but I didn’t feel happy either. I just felt nothing. I sort of forgot how to have fun.”
Q: How do you feel after taking a CBD dose, can you describe any of the changes you may feel?
A: Mornings are some of my worst times. I always wake up feeling a bit rubbish and it’s when I’m at my most anxious as well. So, first thing I notice when I take it is that my mind shuts up a bit. And then… I can often feel quite nauseous in the mornings – I’m not really sure if I do feel nauseous or if it’s just my brain telling me that I do – but it settles my tummy. Then I can have breakfast – I can’t have any food until I’ve had my CBD. It sorts of just sets me up for the day you know. Like this morning – because I didn’t have any, I didn’t feel my best… Like, I’m fine, I’m good, but normally I’ll take it within 20 minutes or half an hour of getting up.
Yeah, so I notice that my mind chills out. I chill out. Silly things – like I notice a lot that my shoulders are up here when I’m walking (Lucy gestures towards her ears and neck) – and I can feel that relax a lot more. I can probably say that my pain’s worse in the morning because I’ve been idle all night. My neck can get very sore and I notice that once I’ve taken my CBD those muscles just ease a little bit. It doesn’t rid me of the pain completely, but it definitely helps.
How did you hear about CBD and what was the reason behind finally giving it a go?
I found other people online who had been taking it, I found a really useful forum on Facebook. It was great that people were sharing all of their experiences, and I thought, ok so let’s give it a go. So I tried it, tried a few different companies until I got the type, strength and company that seemed to work for me.
I was very cynical – I am quite a cynical person so it’s not like I thought this is definitely going to work, which for me, I don’t think it’s a placebo effect. Because I was like mmm… it might work… – and it did, so you know, here I am.
“And it’s legal as well – you know you’re not doing anything wrong by using it, which I think takes a lot of pressure off a lot of people.” – Andy, Newcastle
Before After
Andy at his home in Newcastle. Since being diagnosed with Graves’ disease he’s had to put his MMA practice on hold. He takes CBD to help with anxiety and depression.
Andy was forced to put his passion for mixed martial arts on hold when he was diagnosed with Graves’ disease two years ago. Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease that attacks the immune system and thyroid gland. Andy tells us that he has an overactive thyroid which made his heart rate increase. He went from being in great shape, training 2 hours a night, to walking up a flight of stairs and finding his heart rate at 170bpm.
Following his diagnosis, Andy went through a bad time with insomnia, anxiety and depression.
He was then given anti-depressants and medication to help him go to sleep, which shouldn’t have happened at all because it interfered with his Graves’ disease medication. That’s when Andy started looking into CBD.
Q: How do you feel after taking a CBD dose, can you describe any of the changes you may feel?
A: Honestly, I’ve put like 15kg’s on, I’ve put quite a bit of weight on which I’m working to get rid of, but even with the extra weight I feel a lot more energetic, I feel a lot more confident. Being out and about I was always kind of confident… but… it gives back my confidence and sort of pulls away those feelings of anxiety and depression on really bad days.
Since being taken off anti-depressants I can say I’ve replaced the anti-depressants with CBD. It’s helped me manage my sleep patterns; it’s helped me manage my diet. It’s helped with the down days, it’s given me back the energy to start spending more time with people.
Because Graves’ disease attacks your muscle mass, I constantly felt week and I couldn’t be bothered to do anything… don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t cured everything, but for me, and as cringy as this may sound, it’s a way of life now. I don’t have to rely on prescribed medication over the counter.
Q: Have you had bad or mixed reactions when you’ve told people you use CBD? Do you think people associate it with marijuana or cannabis?
A: I’m really close with my partner’s family and I was nervous about telling them because they started commenting on how much brighter I was looking… At the time I didn’t really know all that much about it, other than it worked. So immediately they thought it was like smoking cannabis and I was like ‘no it’s not.’ Once I explained what it was and what it does, they were like well… ‘if it works it works.’
I’ve told people and they’ve been so intrigued about it and asked a million questions about what it was and what benefits I got and then I’ve had people who are like… yeah, that’s a load of bullshit there’s nothing that can give you that many benefits.
“I have to stay relaxed – I have a medical condition which means I can’t get stressed… which is awesome” – Daniel, Bolton
Before After
Daniel, dad of two, outside his favourite Pasty shop in Bolton. Daniel takes CBD to help ease the symptoms of Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.
Daniel’s lived with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy since he was sixteen. JME is a form of epilepsy that causes him to have mini seizures and blackouts. He tells us mornings are the most difficult for him. He has to get up early every morning to let himself calm down and wait for his ticks to stop.
It developed during his teenage years and he had his first big fit when he was nineteen. He tells us that he tried CBD after hearing about it through his mum and it helped with how he felt in the mornings, but after a recent big fit, Daniel’s been given much stronger medication which he hopes to ween himself off of.
Q: How do you feel after taking a CBD dose, can you describe any of the changes you may feel?
A: Just the same as I normally do. The main benefits are in the morning. Throughout the day I feel normal anyway, unless I get tired during the day then I might start getting ticks again.
The ticks in the morning, the ticks are not that much of an issue – what’s part of it is called tonic seizures which are the blackouts, which is what I noticed a reduction from with CBD. The CBD relaxes you; I get a better night’s sleep with it – in the morning’s I’m a lot better off, probably because I’ve had a better night’s sleep.
Q: How did you hear about CBD and what was the reason behind finally giving it a go?
A: My mom has fibromyalgia and she’s taken CBD for years for her fibromyalgia. So, I looked into it and that’s when I came across people using CBD to reduce seizures and things like that and I thought I’d just give it a go.
“You spend all your time trying to rearrange yourself, so things don’t hurt, and you take tablets that often don’t help or just make you feel horrible.” – Wendy, Birkenhead
Before After
Wendy at her home in Birkenhead. Wendy is a primary school teacher and mum of a young family. She started using CBD for pain in her lower back.
Wendy who’s a primary school teacher and a mum of two tells us that before she started taking CBD oil, she’d wake up in the morning and her whole body would be stiff. Getting dressed and putting her shoes on would hurt and gradually as the day went on things would start to loosen up.
With the work she does, she finds herself having to bend down a lot. At times she wouldn’t be able to stand back up again, her back would seize up and she’d have pain in her legs. She found herself unable to do any exercise and eventually started feeling down about her situation.
Since taking CBD she doesn’t need to take any pain medication anymore. Like Lucy, Wendy’s pain medication had adverse effects. It made her feel drunk and enhanced her allergies, causing her face to swell up.
Q: How do you feel after taking a CBD dose, can you describe any of the changes you may feel?
A: I don’t feel any different in myself, but I don’t experience any pain throughout the day. Unless I’m walking along and the road is uneven, but then it would just be like sudden pain rather than a constant pain all day long. I don’t take it and suddenly feel different but if I forget to take it, I notice my back starts to ache a bit and I imagine if I stopped taking it, it would go back to how it used to be.
Q: How did you hear about CBD and what was the reason behind finally giving it a go?
A: I was just trawling through Facebook one day and somebody was selling it, and they were selling it for a lot of money – it was like £50 for a tiny bottle – but I bought some, just because I thought… I’ll just give it a go, and it worked. I’m always up for trying anything so I bought it and it didn’t work instantly but I just woke up one day thought my back doesn’t hurt.
“My mum, she’s bought some of the dog biscuits… so the dogs don’t go wild when they hear the fireworks… but the jury’s still out on that one, I need to see that for myself, but, you know, if it helps it helps” – Michael, Hexham
Before After
Michael, dad of two at his home in Hexham. He has also put his MMA practice on hold and uses CBD to alleviate pack pain while he waits for surgery.
Michael from Hexham is a machine operator who works continental shifts; which he explains, are either twelve-hour days or twelve-hour nights. He’s got two stress fractures in the lower parts of his back and working 12-hour shifts is not helping he tells us. He has two kids and a passion for mixed martial arts, but since experiencing persistent pain has had to put his practice on hold while he waits for surgery.
Like Lucy, Michael uses CDB in the mornings to keep his worries at bay. “I struggle most days from early on,” he says, “I lose sleep because I get quite worried about how I’m going to get through the day.”
Q: Why do you take CBD, what does it do for you?
A: Well mostly it settles me down, I get quite worked up about whether I’m going to have a hard day or not. When I get back from work, I find it very difficult just to sit down so I have some CBD then and it helps me relax and switch off. I use it when I train as well, it helps with my recovery.
Q: How do you feel after taking a CBD dose, can you describe any of the changes you may feel?
A: It seems like all the problems I’m going to have in the day, work wise and to do with my back aren’t that big of a deal anymore. A lot of the problems that I’ve had with my back is that the muscles don’t relax and when I’ve had my vape in the morning or the evening, I kind of relax a lot more. I’m not as tense.
I sleep a lot better. I get a bad back during the night, so I wasn’t sleeping too well before. If I’m having a bad day with my back, I’m not as snappy with the kids. Sometimes when I’m having a bad day with my back, I’m quite irritable, CBD really helps with that.
I did find when I was competing my bruises weren’t hanging around as long, my recovery was a lot better. The late-onset muscle soreness was knocked down a bit.
Q: Have you had a lot of stigma from people going ‘oh no it’s not for me because of marijuana or cannabis’?
A: All the time, I live in a small town, a lot of people have uneducated opinions… I used to use some full spectrum stuff and it stunk of cannabis and I used it in my vape – I’ve gone through a lot of bother at work with it and I’ve tried to explain to them and honestly, it’s like talking to a brick wall.
Please note: This blog post reflects historical data predating recent changes in cannabinoid laws, medical cannabis regulations, and some of our best CBD product names, strengths, and formulations. These historical blogs remain as a reference post our website update, but they might contain outdated information. Discover our updated CBD and legal cannabinoid products for the best CBD experience.
