Several years ago, Daryl Carpenter suffered an unknown illness.

He went from an active lifestyle that included coaching youth baseball along with running his own business, to not being able to walk for weeks.

Carpenter, who is lifelong resident of Manteca – he attended all three Manteca Unified comprehensive high schools before graduating Sierra in 2000 – was suffering from Stills disease, which affects the autoimmune system with symptoms similar to that of rheumatoid arthritis.

His pain not only affected the joints but included some excruciating muscle and nerve pain.

Some of his events were so severe that he needed to call emergency services. Since 2015, Carpenter had seen many  top physicians, who prescribed him everything from Nsaids to steroids during that time.

“Nothing seemed to work,” he said.

That’s when Carpenter, who was taking up to 26 medications – “It was depressing,” he said – sought out a holistic alternative to his pain and sufferings.

He went from looking into medical marijuana to researching the differences between CBD and CBG, consulting with people as far as Oregon on his educational quest.

CBD is distinct from CBG in both chemical structure and concentration within the cannabis plants. CBG is the stem cell that produces CBD.

It’s the latter that Carpenter, who also incorporated regular exercising and dieting to his daily routine, found beneficial, in his case – his inflammation went down tremendously and, after one full year of using CBD, experienced no flare ups or missed work (Daryl Carpenter Insurance Agency).

Last February, he opened up Elite Relief at 955 W. Center St. Suite #4 in the Civic Plaza in Manteca.

“We are a CBD shop, we are not a dispensary,” said Carpenter of the family owned and operated business that uses only the best CBD creams, oils and products.

On Tuesday, he had his mother Darla Carpenter and sister Katie Clemons working at the shop with the recently expanded business hours – Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., reopening from 3 to 7 p.m.

According to Clemons, Elite Relief has seen increased business as of late thanks to social media, word of mouth and testimonials.

Carpenter, who is a third-generation business owner in Manteca, made it clear that his shop is not a cure-all but rather an option.

“Every person is different,” he said. “Each has (his or her) own journey.”

Elite Relief offers products for the brain (anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, antioxidant, neuroprotective), stomach (anti-emetic, appetite control), bones (stimulating growth and strengthening bones affected by osteoporosis), eyes (vasorelaxant for glaucoma), heart (anti-inflammatory, atherosclerosis, anti-ischemic) and intestines (anti-prokinetic).

Carpenter also provides plenty of information on CBD and CBG.

“(We) are knowledgeable about every product we sell and we look forward to helping you and find exactly what you’re looking for,” he said.

For more information, call or text at 209.683.4007 or email www.eliterelief209@gmail.com.