Many of you are wondering how I got into the kratom world to begin with, and I’d like to share my story with everyone. I intend to do many stories involving kratom and its legality, and I think you need to know where I’m coming from first.
I’m married with three boys, ages 4 to 13. I’m currently a stay at home mompreneur, just trying to help pay the bills and feed the family. My youngest son was born in 2013; my pregnancy and then his birth set off into motion a lot of unexpected symptoms. I struggled very hard with postpartum depression, and my body started showing signs of being unwell. Prior to his birth, I reiterated to my OBGYN incessantly that I needed to be put back on my antidepressant AS SOON AS my son was born, and I was assured I would be. That, however, wasn’t the case.
I had a history of postpartum depression with my oldest son that went misdiagnosed and mistreated for a long time, so I knew exactly what it felt like, and the thought of reliving that nightmare terrified me. The doctor who delivered my son (via C-section) refused to put me back on the antidepressant that they’d taken me off of in the beginning of the pregnancy. When I went to my follow up after being discharged, they still refused to put me back on it. I had to go back and BEG, literally, and finally someone gave me a small dose of it. Small enough that a couple of months later, another doctor in the office said, “That’s a garbage dose, that doesn’t do anything at all,” and then doubled it. I ended up switching back to the doctor I'd had a few years ago, and she’s stuck with me ever since. So, there was that problem.
In addition to the depression, the anxiety began to creep up, as well. I’ve always had some form of social anxiety, but this was so bad that I stopped leaving the house altogether. During the school week, the only times I left the house were to take and then pick up my middle son from school. It was really, really bad. I spent months trapped inside my own head, agonizing over the dumbest things, and I couldn’t get it to stop. I realized the other day that I had stopped really listening to music for at least 6 months; I recognized popular tunes, but was completely unaware of the lyrics. When you’re literally trapped inside your own mind, all you can hear are your own thoughts, your own worries. It’s so isolating.
The things that really sent me over the edge were the physical symptoms. I was in pain every single day. I was getting piercing migraines that lasted for weeks at a time because my neck and shoulders were tense, even when I was sleeping. I began waking up with excruciating pain in both of my hands, wrists, and forearms, so sleeping became nearly impossible. Plus, with all of these symptoms, I was trying to care for an infant and a toddler. There was so much pressure. I ended up being diagnosed with fibromyalgia, generalized anxiety disorder with panic attacks, and bipolar disorder.
I began doing research on my symptoms and how to treat them. I just started googling everything I could think of, including natural ways that I could help myself on my own. Once you have just one doctor that refuses to believe you, you start to realize that sometimes the only one who you can rely on is yourself. In all my research, I stumbled across kratom. Of course, I was intrigued! I spent the next 6 months reading everything I could find on the internet about it. I wanted to know everything there was to know that I could understand, and I did it. I’m so glad I did because it’s changed my life forever.
I’ve been taking kratom off and on now since 2014. It tremendously alleviates my pain, and it also helps me feel better overall. I feel confident, and I feel more like myself than I have in many years, even long before I was pregnant with my youngest. It has helped me so much so, in fact, that I began offering it to friends and family. There are plenty of things I’ve done to ruin my own body, but I would never put anyone else’s body at risk like that. That speaks to how effective kratom really is, and how safe it is. My journey in activism is just now beginning, but my story is not.
If you're interested at an in-depth look into kratom, watch Chris Bell's documentary on Netflix, A Leaf Of Faith.
Tell me your kratom story in the comments below, or email me zebraprintmama@gmail.com, and maybe you’ll be featured in an upcoming article!
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