Paul’s story: From stigma and fines to safety and peace of mind

Can you tell us a little about yourself, please: how your health issues began, and how they affect your daily life?

I’m Paul, and I am based in Merseyside.

My primary condition is back problems relating to a car accident, but I also have had surgery on my leg, and have some issues with my elbow. About 15 years ago, I was travelling back from work through Birkenhead Square. It's usually really busy on the way home. 

Suddenly a car hit us from a side road, side on, and I was thrown sideways. Typical me, not just a normal whiplash, I got a sideways whiplash! So I went for an X-ray because I had pains in my back and they told me that my vertebrae had been compressed. All the fluid had been squeezed out of one side and flattened. 

There was no coming back from that. Surgery could have caused me to be paralysed for life. They could only put a collar around it to stop it squeezing again. But when they take the collar off it all opens back up, there's no cushioning any more. 

If I move in a certain way, it pinches the nerve in my spine, and that sends pain all the way down to my toes and fingers. It leaves me with internal bruising around my hips and lower back, which eventually travels down my legs. I can feel it over a few days and then it dissipates, but it takes over a week to go. That’s agony, especially at night. 

Before the accident, I had a little bit of pain in my shoulder. I used to do a lot of plastering, a lot of painting and decorating, so you get a lot of upper body wear and tear anyway. But after the car accident, I couldn’t do any of that any more. 

I had to change my occupation altogether. I became an office administrator. So, one extreme to the other. Sitting down, not lifting, just doing mundane tasks every day in an office. I did that for eight and a half years.

I also couldn’t really ride my bike properly. I’ve only just been getting into cycling the last four or five years, with the grandkids getting me back into riding. The back pain has been excruciating. It did affect my mood and lifestyle quite a bit. I used to do a lot of camping, outdoor fishing, sea fishing, climbing up and down steep cliffs. I’ve not been fishing for seven or eight years now. 

As for the cycling, I’ve only just been starting to get back into it. I’ve actually got three bikes in my living room now. I’m getting back into it because my grandkids are into it. I like going out with them. 

Have there been any other prescriptions that were part of your pain management before you found legal medical cannabis?

I’ve been on all sorts to be honest. I’ve been on tramadol for 15 years. They’re not nice tablets to take. The only thing I haven’t been on is the co-codamol, but I have been prescribed Naproxen, and a whole list of other pharmaceuticals really.

I really don’t like taking them. I’d be coming home from work like a zombie, going to bed straight after tea, waking up super early, taking my meds, feeling like a zombie again, going to work, coming home. I did that for over eight and a half years. 

I don’t really remember much of it because of the medication. I must have been okay on a day-to-day basis because they kept me on, but I had to leave in the end because of medical issues.

I’ve just had to try and manage what I do. I try not to lift anything too heavy, not overexert myself, because that will pull my back out. And if that happens, I’m not good for a few days.

When did cannabis first come into your life, and what role has it played?

I’ve used cannabis recreationally on and off since my early teens. I was introduced to it at school. Before my accident, I did a lot more activities, fishing, cycling, more hobbies. Using cannabis recreationally helped me connect to my hobbies. 

I built a 26-foot-long greenhouse at the end of my garden out of scrap wood. It’s still there now, 15 years later. I grew plants, fruit, and veg. I kept fish, kept birds, I’ve got cats, dogs. 

And then, after my accident but before beginning treatment with Releaf, self-medicating with cannabis has continued to help me be more involved with my hobbies than I normally would have been physically able to be.  It has also made me more aware of my own pain management. 

I realised that it was helping with my pain, long before I received a legal prescription. 

So, how did Releaf come onto your radar, and what made you look into it?

A friend of mine referred me to you. she’s a lovely lady. She just said, “Have you tried Releaf for your back problems?” I hadn't, but I’d seen the adverts popping up on Facebook. 

My first thoughts were, “Are they for real? Is this legal? Am I going to get the police knocking at my door every five minutes?” 

Being a gardener, I did cultivate my own cannabis for a while. The police came through the door one day, took everything away. But they left one or two tiny cuttings in the bath with all the rubbish they’d smashed up. I put the cuttings on a windowsill in a plant pot. Three days later, the police came calling again, armed police this time, and said they were looking for someone who had robbed a post office in Liverpool. 

They saw the two tiny plants, and I got over a £1,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, a criminal record, all for two little cannabis seedlings.

So I knew it was time to go down the legal route. 

Does carrying your patient card give you the peace of mind you were hoping for?

Yeah. I carry it with my phone everywhere I go. If I have a problem, there you go. 

I don’t rub it in people’s faces, but if I’m in public and I need to medicate, I’d use it. I have never been asked for it by the authorities in public, but it gives me a real sense of peace of mind.

If the police come knocking on my door now, I’m in my own home, using my vape. I’m not smoking it. Everything’s legal. Happy days.

What was the Releaf sign-up and first appointment process like for you?

It’s so simple. Dr Bernardo is a lovely bloke, he first interviewed me. We chatted about all my ailments, problems, pains and aches, and after he had checked my medical history out thoroughly, he accepted me straight away. All the staff are great to deal with. 

It’s convenient and easy, just order your medication online and it arrives in the post two days later. It’s just fantastic. Why they didn’t do this 20 years ago, I’ll never know.

How does it compare to other healthcare you’ve received in the past?

I’ve had a chiropractor on my back, I’ve had specialists look at it again. All they can do is prescribe painkillers. Now I just have a couple of flower sticks a day and it relieves the pain. It doesn’t cure the core issue, but it relieves the pain and the aches in my back and leg. 

It is fantastic. I wouldn’t go back.

Before the surgery on my leg, about four years ago, I hadn’t even thought about medical cannabis. 

I had a cholesterol blockage in the artery at the top of my leg. I went in for a bypass, an arterial bypass. When I woke up, the surgeon said they’d been able to do a stent. They open up the artery, clean it out, then sew it back up. 

But it didn’t work, the blockage just moved further down. I had to go in again for the same procedure. Since then, I’ve got sciatic nerve damage in that leg, probably caused by the way they manipulate your leg while you’re under.

The medical cannabis seems to block that pain. It doesn’t stop it, but it turns the tap down for me, and that’s all I wanted, just relief from pain. For muscular and nerve pain, in my case, it really does help.

What changes have you noticed since moving from street supply to a prescription?

I wouldn’t go back to buying off the street, that’s for sure. With medical cannabis, I know what I’m getting. And it works. The price is about the same. I go through 30 grams a month, about a gram a day, that’s manageable.

You know exactly what you’re getting THC percentage-wise with a prescription. Off the street, it could be sprayed with fentanyl for all we know. 

The stuff I get from Releaf is so much better. I really like what I have been prescribed, both for daytime and in the evenings. The daytime flower option doesn't leave me feeling lethargic or anything - it actually really helps me get going on days when the pain is a little worse. And the nighttime flower option helps me wind down and relax, and get a great sleep. 

And I’ve got my Omura vape, it’s all set up ready to go for me.

The first one I got didn’t work very well, so I sent them a little message and a couple of days later they sent me a brand new one free of charge. It’s the convenience that I really like. The preloaded flower sticks are brilliant. They’re all loaded, not too hot, not harsh, the flavours are lovely.

The pain relief's pretty instant as well. My leg doesn’t ache as much once I’ve had my morning meds. My elbow’s not aching as much.

What does daily life look like for you now?

There’s so much more freedom than before I began treatment with Releaf.

My wife, unfortunately, broke her leg on a trampoline with our granddaughter. She smashed the bottom bone into the top bone in her knee, and it can’t be repaired. So I’ve just recently converted the garage into a granny flat. I did a little bit of plastering, a little bit of painting and decorating. I’m not feeling much pain to be honest, a little achy but not in pain. 

She’s over the moon. It’s all decorated, and she’s moved in, no more stairs. Life’s a bit better. My wife’s happy. She’s got a broken leg that can never be repaired, but we’re okay. We would have had to pay someone else, and it would have been so costly. For me to do it all myself, it’s don,e and I did it. It’s amazing.

When anybody comes around, the first thing she says is “Come and see my garage!” You open the doors, wow. She’s over the moon.

I wouldn’t have been able to do it prior to being on Releaf. Definitely. Even the thought of it would have made my backache. Plastering is strenuous, painting can be very laborious, and painting ceilings is just annoying. I wouldn’t have been able to do it beforehand. No chance.

I've also been able to do a little bit of painting in the kitchen. Beforehand, we would have had to pay someone. I'd rather do it myself.

My garden is next on the list, it’s overgrown. I’ve got cabbages, potatoes, peas, a fig tree, and an apple tree. My garden’s not even that big! We’re planning on doing raised beds to make it easier, not bending down as much. We’ve got all the bricks ready. 

It’s another project I wouldn’t have done before, but we’re excited to get on with it with the kids. We’ve collected loads of shells from the beach. I’m going to plaster the wall and stick all the shells into it, a project with the grandkids. I love it.

I love growing anything really, say peppers from seed. Just to grow a chilli pepper from nothing, even if you don’t eat it, you’ve done it yourself.

How has cycling fit back into your life recently?

It’s been the combo of my grandkids pushing me to go with them, and the fact that my wife looks after her mum, and she lives 4.2 miles away. I cycle to her house every other day. That’s about 8 and a half miles round trip on my push-bike. I got it down from 40 minutes to 26 minutes each way over the last year, now that I’m on regular Releaf medication. It saves me the £4 on the bus journey also. 

It has really reignited my passion for cycling, now that I am back doing it at regular intervals. I can just go out and do a four-mile ride, go and have tea with my wife, do a little bit of vacuuming for her and come home. I’ve got two mountain bikes and my pride and joy, my racer.

Does it feel like treatment is helping you be the granddad you want to be?

100%.

 It’s improving my quality of life, totally. I’m getting out more, seeing my grandkids more. If I didn’t go to my wife’s, I wouldn’t really see them much. I love it, especially the summer holidays. We’ve got an 8 by 4 foot pool in the garden, and we all jump in.

And finally, how open have you been with people around you about being prescribed?

Everybody knows. I’ve been open about it. I told my doctor for over 10 years that I smoked cannabis. Now I’ve told them I’m on medical cannabis with Releaf, and they’re all fine with it. 

Even when I had teeth out last week, I told the dentist I’m on blood thinners and on cannabis. She said, “If you need to take your medication, there’s a room here for you, sit there for a minute if you need to and puff away, you’ve got your licence.”

I’ve got my Releaf medical cannabis card, so there’s nothing wrong with it. There’s much less stigma. It used to be behind closed doors, I’d be having a smoke, now I don’t need to. The only place I wouldn’t medicate is around children, I’d go to a private area.

If you would like to learn more about medical cannabis treatment options for the conditions mentioned in this Patient Story, please see medical cannabis for chronic pain.