#KratomSavesLives: On Page with Holly
On May 30, 2018 the Right to Try act was signed into law. This law gave patients who have been diagnosed with a life-threatening diseases or conditions the option of participating and access to clinical trials of unapproved treatments.
Clinical trials provide a product’s safety to use and how it can effectively be used to treat or prevent a disease. Often people who enroll in these trials have tried current treatments that have either not worked or their bodies were unable to tolerate what they had been given.
This act that was signed into law gives people the ability to act on their hopes that something could enhance or even save their life but why is it that we even have to put something that seems logical…save a life at any means into law? And why is the Right to Try act only for circumstances of life-threatening diseases?
Today we have on page with Holly from Tennessee who was kind enough to tell me her story and journey with Kratom.
In the month of September 2018 a life altering event brought Holly’s world to a stop. One evening after a long shift and very little sleep Holly nodded off at the wheel and swerved head on into another car. Holly’s injuries were so severe she was taken to the nearest hospital via helicopter. Barely escaping death, Holly flat-lined twice on her way to the University of Tennessee hospital. Her injuries were a broken thoracic T2-T5, broken femur in two places, lower right leg, both feet crushed, 8 fractured ribs and a hernia strain.
The following two months would be spent in a hospital bed hooked up to IV fluids and a cocktail of pills: Morphine, Oxycodone, Neurotin, Trazadone, Ambien and a handful of anti-depressants. After two months in the hospital Holly was sent to do the remaining of her recovery in a nursing home.
While at the nursing home Holly was mostly bedridden and medicated to the hilt. As she began recovering physically she was still on pain meds but it was beginning to take a toll on her mental quality.
Me: When it came to your recovery regimen did your doctors discuss with you the various methods to deal with your pain?
Holly: At first I had no say. In the hospital I was hooked up to an IV and a feeding tube so I really wasn’t in the position to have that conversation.
Me: When was it that you decided that the prescribed pain meds weren’t working for you?
Holly: When I started physically getting out of bed and moving around at the nursing home I felt like a zombie and didn’t like how I was feeling.
Me: So how did you come across Kratom
Holly: I did a search online for natural alternatives to pain killers. I didn’t want all that in my system.
Me: How was it getting off all those pain killers?
Holly: The withdrawal was one of the hardest parts of my recovery. When I began taking Kratom it worked right away and took the edge off of my withdrawal symptoms of quitting my pain meds. Because I wasn’t struggling with crazy withdraw symptoms I was able to focus on my physical therapy with a more positive outlook.
Me: So today what is your pain management routine?
Holly: The only prescribed medication I take is an anti-depressant Amitriptyline and I take Kratom 3-4 times a day or as needed and I also have Akuamma which I take a couple of times a week when the pain is at it’s worst.
Me: What strains seem to work best for your pain management.
Holly: I’ve been taking reds and yellows but as of recent I’ve been starting to like the greens.
Me: Lastly, what is some advice that you would give someone looking to try Kratom?
Holly: Research all you can other than just Google. AKA has interesting reads as well. It’s definitely something to look into if you want an alternative to prescription pain meds. It also helped my withdrawal symptoms from the meds Morphine and Oxycodone. It’s a great mood booster as well. It’s not for everyone but it does help me with my pains and mood and it isn’t a respiratory suppressor.
Holly is one among many of the unique stories I have heard regarding how Kratom has saved and changed a life. An organization NORML has been working to reform marijuana to legal status and today we still continue to fight to keep Kratom legal as it should be.
The Right to Try Act should not be limited to life-threatening illnesses because the reality is there are people from every walks of life struggling to have a normal day. When a normal day is pain filled then we begin the discussion of quality of life.
The physical and mental well-being is not a one definition fits all, for many it is understood that being able to live a healthy and productive life whether economically, environmentally, educationally, and mentally should be a right and not a law. Even though DSHEA exists it does not completely protect the Complementary and Alternative Medicines that are have been around for ages and the new discoveries coming out. It took 13 years for the FDA to decide on GMPs and is going on 20 years to finalize NDI guidance. I can’t imagine someone who has gone thru what Holly has and I can’t imagine telling someone that Kratom is no longer an option but if you wait 20 years maybe we can determine if Kratom might be accessible if you qualify for the reasons we believe Kratom can be used.
