Publication date: 13th November, 2022
Watching her son take a cocktail of strong painkillers and medicines every day, battle anxiety and not able to sleep, Bev Harrow felt helpless.
Geordie, now 18, was just a young boy at the time, suffering an array of medical conditions, from cyclical vomiting syndrome, which meant enduring being violently sick every 10 minutes for days at a time, to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
As he grew older, his health complexities grew too, with diagnoses of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Raynauld’s, Scoliosis which is being treated by wearing a body brace 22 hours a day, ASD Asperger’s and life threatening allergies.
The health issues made for a tough journey for Geordie, often missing school because he was too ill to go, or enduring lengthy stays in hospital.
“Geordie was a desperately ill little boy and it was devastating to see as a parent,” Bev, 53, said. “He missed about 50% of school because he was so unwell.
“He was in so much pain that he could barely function and his cyclical vomiting syndrome dictated his life. We couldn’t plan a holiday, even a day out, as we didn’t know whether he would be able to get out of bed.
“At one point he was destined for a future as a disabled adult, requiring full time care. This is bad enough for an adult but for a child is truly overwhelming.”
However, these days Geordie has turned it around. Now a young man, he has achieved A grades in all his Highers and is currently undertaking an HND course in Software Engineering. And the teenager has high hopes of embarking on a university degree course in 2024 and will hopefully leapfrog into third year.
And it’s all thanks to Bev’s amazing discovery of the wonders of CBD (cannabidiol).
CBD is a compound found in cannabis. However, it doesn’t produce the ‘high’ that the plant is known for. Instead, it is thought to help with an array of health difficulties, from anxiety to weight loss. It’s a phrase many of us are familiar with, with CBD being used to infuse all sorts of products from drinks to sleep sprays.
Bev’s son is now “solely powered by CBD and living his best life” she says. He no longer needs strong painkillers like amatripyline, naproxen and gabapentin or the cocktail of meds he used to take to protect his stomach.
“I’m so happy, relieved and proud all in one go. Geordie’s future is bright and his success, his triumph over adiversity, continues to shine like a beacon of hope,” Bev said. “He’s doing amazingly well.”
Geordie’s CBD journey began when Bev heard about it as an alternative treatments and started to collate research from across the globe in a bid to help her son.
She read about CBD balms and, one day, decided to try making her own, mixing CBD with essential oils for a non-pharmaceutical option.
In 2016, the former construction company director created her first balm, Buzz Off, to help with Geordie’s severe allergy to wasp stings.
And before long, she developed other healing balms for other ailments.
Geordie used to wear painkilling patches on his feet, but was allergic to the latex which made them stick on. So mum-of-three Bev thought a balm might be a better option.
Before long, she had a whole collection: Buzz Off for stings, Soothe for his eczema and the scrapes and burns caused to his fingertips due to Raynauld’s, Relax to help him with anxiety and get to sleep and, a year later, Ninja – the most powerful CBD balm on the market – to help with inflammation and pain.
“It was because of Geordie that I started making the balms,” Bev said. “As a mum, I just wanted to do whatever I could to help him feel comfortable.
“I just made them for Geordie initially, but would give them to family and friends to try if they had an ailment.
“The feedback meant I ended up turning it into a business, and in 2019 I launched Herbal Health.”
The company had a successful first year, but it was in 2020, during lockdown and after the deaths of Bev’s parents, that things really took off.
“This was a time when people were anxious, had trouble sleeping, or getting to see doctors for ailments, so many turned to us as an alternative pathway,” Bev said.
Herbal Health now has over 25,000 followers, from royalty to Paralympian athletes, using Bev’s balms to help with a range of health issues, from pain driven conditions to anxiety and sleep disorders.
As well as for people, she’s developed a hemp oil range to help pets too.
And Bev says the feedback from her customers is all the assurance she needs that her products achieve results.
“We have social media chat forums where people tell me what they’ve been using the balms for and how they’ve helped – and for many people they’ve been life changing,” Bev said.
“For me, it’s not about the money, it’s about helping other people in the same way that the balms have helped Geordie in any way that I can.
“The difference between him a few years ago and how he is now is just amazing. All I want for my son is for him to be happy and enjoying life and he certainly is just now.
“Geordie is always going to have health difficulties and pain, but if we can manage his symptoms with CBD instead of powerful drugs with side effects, it’s just better all round.
“If he’s happy, I’m happy…and if I can make other people’s lives more bearable then I know I’m making a difference.”