Research has found that over 80 percent of women will experience period pain at some point in their life, while 40 percent of women report having debilitating pain associated with their period each month. I am one of those women. Since the start of my period as a teenager, I have dealt with cramps so terrible that I'd throw up or lay curled up crying on the floor. As I have gotten older, my pain and bleeding increased, which I found out was due to the fibroids growing in my uterus.
In April of last year, I decided to have the fibroid and polyp causing my excessive bleeding and pain removed. I thought that would be the end of all of my problems, but sadly while the bleeding got better (still heavy, but better), the pain feels worse — leaving me popping 1600 mg of ibuprofen for six days each month. Research says that Ibuprofen rarely causes complications with the liver, but I can't imagine taking that much pain medicine in such a high dose would be good for me.
There aren't many options for dealing with chronic pain aside from pharmaceutical drugs, which got me thinking about cannabis. A couple of weeks before my surgery, I gave Whoopi Goldberg's period pain products a try. To put it mildly, the THC in the product made me paranoid, and anxious and exacerbated the pain.
My body was numb, but the pain of my cramps was amplified. It was a bizarre feeling and an experience I look back on and laugh at now.
Even with the hilarious experience I had with THC products, I wanted to give more cannabis products a try. This time I went the CBD route and gave up my pain pills for my cycle this month, so I could really see what worked. I know that some of you reading this might say that a change of diet and lifestyle will get rid of all of my pain, but that hasn't been my story. I have made some pretty mindful changes to my diet that have helped a lot, but the pain (and sometimes nausea) I feel is still there.
I tried a few products I'd read were great options for women with menstrual pain starting with Foria's Relief Vaginal Suppositories made with organic-certified cocoa butter and 100mg active CBD each and their Basic Tonic on the first day of my period. When I told a co-worker I was giving these a try, she gave a little chuckle and said: "You're willing to try anything, huh?" The answer to that is a roaring yes! As a teenager, my doctor always recommended I get a head start on my pain by taking Ibuprofen a couple of days before my period hit because once the pain starts, it's more challenging to manage.
My cycle is pretty predictable at this point, so I know the days when the pain is going to be worse. The morning it started, and I felt cramps, I immediately inserted the suppository. I had already starting dosing myself with 0.75 ml of the tincture a couple of days before to get a head start on managing my pain — so I'd like to think both products were working together.
Once the cocoa butter suppository was inserted, I could feel a tingly sensation almost immediately, and about twenty minutes later, the pain was gone entirely. I tried the same remedy on my roughest days, and while it did help ease the pain, my uterus was like "we're going to show this little thing who's boss," — and I almost reached for my pills. Instead, I upped my dosage of the tincture and added a new product to the mix, Lord Jones' High CBD Formula Body Lotion. Like the suppository, when I applied the creamy lotion, I felt a tingly cooling sensation, and a few moments later, as my sharp cramps were at their peak, I felt a sense of relief. Every time I felt my body about to give it to me, I applied one more pump, and there was some relief, which was a pleasant surprise.
As the week went on, I gave both Foria's Basic Tonic and Lord Jones CBD Tincture a try. If you're wondering what a CBD tincture is and how it can help with the pain the simple answer is: a tincture is a cannabis option you can take orally, and it is known to help with anxiety, sleep issues, and can help alleviate inflammation in the body, which can help with the pain.
The jury is still out for me on whether I could solely use the tinctures in place of my pain meds since I'm still trying to figure out the right dosage, but I got some great benefits like better sleep and less anxiety.
When my period is doing its thing, I don't get any sleep because either I'm in too much pain to sleep or I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up with blood-stained sheets — so I'm always tossing and turning. The tinctures helped me sleep through the night with ease, which never happens to me.
The Lord Jones Body LotionCourtesy of Lord Jones
The CBD products coming to market are wonderful because they're giving those of us with chronic pain options beyond pain pills. Am I ready to throw out my bottle of 800 mg Ibuprofen? No. But, the topical options like Foria suppositories and the Lord Jones Body Lotion will be a part of my monthly pain management routine because it was nice to have something that worked on the spot that didn't come in a small bottle with my name on it.
My final note about CBD, in general, was something I thought about a lot while trying them — the pricing. The average CBD product starts at about $40 and goes up from there, which is pretty pricey, especially for those of us using products monthly (or even daily) to help with pain caused by fibroids and endometriosis. If the industry wants to make sure everyone dealing with illness and pain can afford to use alternatives then that needs to reflect in the pricing.
All and all, I had a great experience using CBD products and can't wait to try more! What are you all using to help with your pain each month?
Featured image by Getty Images
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The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak