Educating through experience: How Hollie uses medical cannabis to manage her chronic pain

Can you tell us a bit about your health journey, and the conditions you’ve been diagnosed with?

I was diagnosed with quadriplegic, spastic cerebral palsy when I was very young and my parents didn't know whether I'd be able to walk or talk…this is why I’m in a wheelchair.

Then, in my adolescence, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, which is my main cause of pain. 

I've been coping with chronic pain in my legs since I was probably about 18. It gives me restless legs, which is the only way I can describe it. It's involuntary movements, muscle cramping, and tingling sensations that aren't there.

And, it ruined my life. At one stage, I couldn't function. I wouldn't get out of bed. I just wanted to sleep all the time, because sleep was my only escape. 

When did you decide to start looking into alternatives, like medical cannabis treatments?

I started using cannabis recreationally when I was 19 or 20. I noticed my muscles were more relaxed, and I was just more relaxed in general. The way I describe it to people is that I just feel mellow, rather than always being in a constant fight or flight mode. 

I started my treatment with Releaf three months ago and now, my pain levels have gone down. 

I was living at probably four out of 10 pain level, and now sometimes I don't even notice if I'm in pain or not. It's had an immensely positive impact and given an amazing boost to my quality of life. I've been able to go out, I've been able to do more things. I've just felt more alive. 

My sleep has improved as well. I used to never get a good night’s sleep at night at all, because I'd be in pain. Before Releaf, I got probably three hours of undisturbed sleep a night, and then after using the prescribed oil at night, I have been able to get six hours, which I've never, never had in my life. So it's been amazing. The benefits outweigh anything else. 

And, what was it like to receive your Releaf Starter Kit?

I loved receiving my starter kit! It was amazing. I just remember opening it and being so excited for this next step in my life. I love using my vape outside, which means I go outside more. I get to enjoy the sun while I'm vaping. 

It's pain relief; it's anxiety relief; it's sleep. 

It's improved my mental health so much. It's kind of been a dream come true. It's like something I thought would never happen for someone like me. The NHS wants you to have epilepsy, MS, or nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy [to receive a prescription for medical cannabis]. I have chronic pain, and, for me, that’s not been addressed. They need to speed up on that. 

But that's why I came to Releaf, and I'm just really enjoying it so far

How do your friends and family feel about you being a medical cannabis patient?

My parents are from a different generation so at first they didn't understand it, but the fact that I've got a prescription makes them much happier, and that makes me genuinely happier. So it's just great.

There's definitely a stigma, and that is something I've struggled with. But, the difference is now I don't have to hang around with illicit market cannabis dealers. 

I don't want to be associated with that. I want to be Hollie. I want to be my own person. I want to be myself. Releaf has allowed me to get hold of what I need without breaking the law. With Releaf, the prescription arrives in discreet packaging, which I love. It's also smell proof, which is great, because my parents do not enjoy the smell. 

Honestly, when I speak to my dad about it, he says to me, “I'm okay with it now because it's been prescribed.” That's all I need to know! I'm just happy that other people are happy for me and can see the benefits, but also know that I'm doing it safely, that I'm not around bad groups of people. That's not me. 

Now you’ve got your health on track, what kind of career path interests you?

A long time ago, when I just came out of school, I applied to be a primary school teacher. I then had to pull out because I couldn't commit that time to university because that was about the time my conditions arose. 

So, my endometriosis, my chronic pain, everything kind of blew up. Ever since, I've just been doing voluntary work with children. I'm very much a believer in helping the next generation of people become better people. I've worked in youth clubs, I've done voluntary work in schools, and I've done quite a bit. I'm hoping that's in the future for me, but we’ll have to wait and see.  

When I meet people who can't do certain things, I always want to push them and make them believe in themselves more. I've had to have a hell of a lot of determination and tenacity in my life to get to where I am today. 

I could have quite easily given up, but I didn't, and that is kind of the story that I'm trying to tell through social media, through ambassadorship, through all of the stuff that I kind of get myself into. It’s just about being that inspiring face for someone.  

Can you tell us about your work on social media?

I do quite a lot of posts about chronic illness awareness, disability awareness on social media, mostly on Tiktok. I've been doing it since lockdown. 

Lockdown was a really difficult time for me. I went through quite a few changes with life itself. Obviously I have a physical disability, and that means I have to have 24-hour support. Through lockdown, I had less support. I just wanted to kind of vent my frustrations and I did one video. It's literally one video of me in the rain, just lying down in the rain, and it got over 500,000 views.

And, how do you think medical cannabis will be able to help you in the future?

I'm just looking forward to being able to go out and about more because I can get out of bed now. I can get in the car and go for a drive. That's my favourite thing to do. I go out with my support worker who will drive for me. I will sit there singing along to my music while we're driving along in the sunshine and just love life. I just hope that I can start building my life again and basically rewriting myself. 

This is a new chapter. This is my Releaf chapter. This is Hollie becoming the person she wants to be. 

I'm just excited about what all that could mean. It could mean going out to more events and things because I can do that now. I can be in public and not get too uncomfortable. I have the energy to do more physical things with less pain. I enjoy using the gym, which is improving my physical health, which is, overall, improving everything.