“MY DAUGHTER HID MY PAINKILLERS OUT OF EMBARRASSMENT” – WHY ONE WOMAN TURNED TO NATURAL REMEDIES AFTER YEARS OF PAIN

55-year-old Elsie Reed , founder of Halima Yard Remedies, has always been interested in herbs but found her passion growing stronger when she became very ill in 2015 – turning to alternative means as a result.

“In 2004, I began to experience aches and pains all over my body,” she said, “For years I was having problems like a horrible burning sensation in my lower region and spasms in my back – with doctors saying it would subside.

“I became embarrassed to keep going back because they thought I was lying.”

Elsie , who was moving between Dubai and America at the time, was told it was her blood pressure giving her headaches and nothing more: “The doctors look at you like you’re making up stories, so they just gave me pain medication. I was prescribed muscle relaxers, too.

“As soon I got home any day, I would just sleep – I’d be too tired from dealing with the pain and propping myself up on medication that I had no energy to do anything else.”

The turning point for Elsie came in 2015 when she had invited a friend over and saw her daughter hiding her prescription medicine to avoid the embarrassment.

“I must have looked like a walking pharmacy,” she said, “Seeing my daughter hide my medicine broke my heart, as I could see she believed I was so ill and was trying to hide it. So, I threw away the painkillers. But the pain came back with a vengeance.

When she returned to the UK, Elsie was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a long-term condition that causes pain all over the body, increased sensitivity to pain, extreme tiredness and muscle stiffness.

“I thought it was the end of my life,” she said, “Everything from walking to taking a shower would be painful. It made me depressed and stopped me from going out. I was crying to the doctor with every visit – but I knew I couldn’t live my life on medicine after I realised how my daughter saw me. So, I started to do some research and look into natural remedies.

“I noticed that my pain was at its worst when I was happy – and quickly deduced that when I was happy, I drank alcohol. I made moves to stop triggers like this and, by combining them with the use of herbs I had discovered by looking at fibromyalgia forums, I started to see my pain subside.”

A natural problem solver, Elsie decided to go even further with her research and took a class on herbalist medicine – eventually earning diplomas in Herbalism and Natural Cosmetics. She founded Halima Yard Remedies in 2020 – co-owned with her daughter.

Outside the herbal world, Elsie has 21 years of IT consultancy experience and is passionate about helping people, with heavy involvement in community and charity work.