Note to readers: This is part of our CBD For All series, where we share moving and inspiring stories of how real customers use our products. We sat down with a handful of customers who shared how Lazarus Naturals helps them feel healthier and more present in their daily lives. These are real stories from actual customers (not actors), but they did receive store credit in exchange for sharing their honest stories and experiences with CBD.
For Matt and Katie, managing health is a collective effort. They try their best to take advantage of the good days, spending them scuba diving, fishing, crabbing or deep sea fishing. Chances are, if Matt and Katie have a free day and feel healthy, they’re on or in the water.
But there are days when one or both of them battles debilitating pain. Katie deals with an autoimmune disease, chronic migraines and other symptoms on a regular basis. Matt was diagnosed with scoliosis a decade ago while serving in the military. His back pain is routinely so severe that he can’t sleep. He spent four years traveling with the Marines, until he was medically discharged when the pain became too much.
Matt works as an electrical foreman by day. On the weekends, he’s a boat captain and deckhand for commercial and tourist fishing boats. That means lots of twisting, pulling and, ultimately, pain for the Oregon coast native.
“You may see me jumping around like this, but I know tonight it won’t be like this,” Matt said. “At night, if my back’s really bad (Katie) will take and apply muscle gel or the balm to my back. And as soon as I put on the muscle gel, in about 30 minutes after rubbing it in… (the pain) slowly subsides and I’ll be able to fall asleep.”
Beyond the water, Matt and Katie’s shared interests include using Lazarus Naturals products for regular pain management.
It’s a welcome relief for Matt, who for years tried at all costs to avoid the opioids and high-dose painkillers frequently prescribed to him by doctors.
After seeing the success that Matt had with his back pain, Katie turned to Lazarus Naturals topicals on a particularly painful day.
“I have used every single migraine med that there is,” Katie said. “I have a lot of occipital nerve problems that come along with the migraine — so I’ll just put that [Lazarus Naturals Muscle Gel] along the occipital nerve, and it’s just a miracle. It’s the only thing that’s ever worked.”
Katie’s migraines can come on quickly and become overpowering. That’s why she keeps Lazarus Naturals balms in random locations around her home and in her bags, for relief whenever she needs it.
“I keep both the Lavender and the Relief and Recovery in my backpack at all times,” she said.
The couple knows there will continue to be days where they are struggling. But with the help of Lazarus Naturals, they hope to be able to manage the pain so they can spend as much time on the water as they can.
“Lazarus Naturals has impacted my life in the best way possible,” Matt said. “I know that if I don’t need the muscle gel or the salve that day, I don’t have a withdrawal from it, which is awesome… it’s just as needed.”