Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had really bad, horrendously painful cramps. This year, a doctor told me I probably have endometriosis, which is a condition of the uterine lining that can only be diagnosed for sure through a surgery where they go in and actually check. I don’t want to do that right now.
In some cases, a hysterectomy can end up being the recommendation. I don’t want to do that right now, either.
Before I found out about pot suppositories, I’d tried everything for my horrible periods—Advil, Tylenol, ibuprofen. Nothing touched the pain. We’re talking almost 26 years of these horrible cramps. So much pain that when I was young, I would miss school, and now that I’m an adult, it’s hard for me to work on those days. There are literally people on disability because of this condition. It’s crippling pain. Especially the first day or two of my period. And the worst, for me, is at night. I just don’t sleep. I just lie there wanting to cry.
I was reading articles online one day, and they led me into the world of CBD oil, CBD bubble baths, and the thing that really gets people’s attention, CBD suppositories.
I live in Montana. There’s a dispensary near me, so I went over to see what they had. It turned out a woman owns the place and she was working that day—which was the greatest thing ever. Because most men don’t even know that this is something that can help us.
I told her everything, and she was like, “I’ll hook you up.” She just knew.
Now, to be clear: I’ve started with CBD suppositories. That’s what I’m using now. I mean, not right at this moment. But that’s the product I’m using. They’re different than THC suppositories, and you can legally buy CBD suppositories almost everywhere. Supposedly, THC is stronger, but in Montana I’d have to get a “green card” for that.
The advice the woman at the dispensary gave me was to do all three things: a syringe of CBD oil tincture orally, the CBD bubble bath, and a CBD suppository.
But the suppository alone was a fucking miracle. I’m talking 26 years of pain, and now I put this thing in my butt, and that first day of my period is pretty good.
The suppository is a tiny, bullet-shaped thing, about the size of half a pinkie, kind of like something you might get for hemorrhoids. You keep them in the freezer, they’re white, and inside is this CBD stuff. You can do them vaginally, but the woman at the dispensary recommended doing it anally. For some reason, that’s thought to work better on those muscles—and for me, it has. Also, I don’t like the idea as much of having it in my vagina. I don’t know why. Maybe I’ll try it next time.
Anyway, it’s really easy to put it in, and it doesn’t hurt at all. I’m not an anal person, and it just slides right in.
Once the suppository is in, I was told I should lie down for 15 minutes, just to let my body relax. I have two kids, so that’s always a nice thing anyway. And then all of a sudden—it’s not like BOOM, but subtly—you just feel better. You feel relaxed in there. Those muscles that are causing me searing pain—like constant little contractions all day long—they just relax. Soon it feels kind of how it does when I don’t have my period.
It’s life changing. I really wish I’d known about this earlier. I will do this for the rest of my life, and I’m telling everyone I know. And I’ve learned in the endometriosis groups I’ve joined online that there are lots of women in a lot of pain like I am, and this is changing their lives, too. A lot of them talk about CBD suppositories and encourage other women to use them. It is changing women’s lives.
Plus my mood is so much better. Because when you’re in chronic pain, you are just crabby—you’re angry about it.
And the alternative, for some people, is using strong pain medications, which can come with a lot of downsides. I had some hydrocodone left over from my cesarean section, and I tried that with my period. It just messed me up. It didn’t work as effectively and I would feel high. With the CBD suppository, I don’t feel different in my brain.
Using the suppositories, for me, has had zero side effects. No downsides. I don’t even feel high, so I can keep on parenting and doing my normal things. For me, it feels like the edge just gets taken off. You have edges, and it smooths them. Whereas when I get high, it more than smooths them. I feel like I’m in a different plane, a little disoriented: I feel high.
With these, I feel more normal. I smoked weed for 10 years; this is a different thing. It’s not like getting stoned. It’s like true pain management without the side effects.
The ones I get last about four hours, and they cost around $50 for 10 of them. I use all of them over the course of my period, which is not the most cost-effective, but if you’re in pain, you don’t care.
The only other thing I would say is that people should go into using CBD suppositories with reasonable expectations, because it’s not like a massive pain pill. It’s just a relaxer. It just helps.
But it needs to be everywhere for all women and uterus-havers. It’s a game changer.
It’s a gateway suppository.
As someone with endo, I can’t recommend having laproscopic surgery enough. I also implore you to visit a doctor who will take an ultrasound of your uterus and ovaries. While you are right about needing laproscopic surgery to diagnose endo, if you have endo that is severe enough you it is possible to see evidence of it on the ultrasound. Endo is more than just period pain, its sticky legions that can push and pull and twist and in rare cases, even strangle your reproductive organs. For years, when regular gyno’s explained endo to me they always acted like the surgery was not worth it, and told me that even if I had the surgery to get the diagnosis that endo cannot be cured. That wasn’t true. I found myself a doctor who specializes in endometriosis (shout out to the amazing Dr. Pendergrass in Portland, OR. Look her up!) My doctor was able to see signs of extreme endo just by ordering an ultrasound for me. I had a large endometrial cyst on one of my ovaries, and my uterus and cervix were visibly mishaped and unnaturally pulled the the left side of my body. Surgery later confirmed that this was caused by my endo literally pulling and sticking my organs together. No wonder I was in so much pain. But must importantly, and skilled surgeon/doctor is not going to perform a lapo and then sew you up and give you the diagnosis. A skilled doctor will perform the lapo and then cut every piece of endo that they can see and safely get to out of you. Absolutley no doctor is going to perform a hystorectomy without your consent and it deffinetly should not be the go-to solution to endo. Back in my mothers time, the only way to remove endo was burning it with lazers, but that is no longer the case. Gynecological surgeons who are skilled and special in endo are now able to use a minimally invasive robotics surgery to not only cut out endo legions, but to cut them out by the root so that there is a decreased chance of them growing back. My doctor also gave me a progesterone based IUD to prevent regrowth. (Progerstone prevents endo growth, while estrogen promotes it, so pay attention to what hormones are in your birth control). While it’s true that I could potentially need another surgery years down the road, I wouldn’t trade my surgery for the world. I was diagnosed with stage 3 endo and at the time of my diagnosis Dr. Pendergrass removed all of it. Beyond freeing me from my unbearable menstrual pain, she freed me from other constant pain I didnt even realize I was living with, she potentially saved me from needing a hysterectomy down the road, saved my ovary and left It intact, and gave me my life back. My endo surgery was the best decision I ever made. It’s important to remember that the painful periods you are experiencing are more than just pain, even though you can’t see it, the pain is there to tell you that something is wrong and that your reproductive organs are being compromised. I’m glad CBD is helping to manage your pain, but I implore you to seek freedom from your endo.