When my bottle arrived, I was still cautious. I massaged a few drops into my knee and hip, then settled onto the couch with a book. Honestly, I was prepared for nothing to happen.

About thirty minutes later, I realized I was shifting my leg without that sharp, breath-stealing catch of pain that usually followed. It wasn’t completely gone, but it was noticeably easier. I sat there, quietly moving my knee back and forth just to see if it was real.

That night was the first time in months I actually slept through until morning. No tossing and turning, no building a fortress of pillows to brace against every little ache. I woke up stunned by how rested I felt.

Two weeks in, everything was changing. I could sit through dinner without wincing every few minutes. I could stand up from the couch without bracing my hand on the table. Even laughing felt easier. Before, a good belly laugh would tug painfully through my side and hip, but now it was just a laugh again, without any penalty.

A month later, I felt like I was living a different life. I was walking down my front steps without gripping the railing, going out for short errands without obsessing over whether I would find a bench to sit on.

I even caught myself moving through the day without planning every motion in advance, because I was no longer waiting for pain to punish me. That realization nearly brought me to tears.