Jackie’s story: Sleeping, swimming, and walking again thanks to prescribed cannabis oil for fibromyalgia

Can you tell us about your primary condition and what pushed you to pursue a Releaf prescription?

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia many years ago. It's the sort of condition where the only real treatments for it tend to be medications that cause a lot of side effects. I just wasn't keen on the side effects of the traditional medications, so I basically just soldiered on taking things like paracetamol, codeine, ibuprofen, and all these different analgesics.

The fibromyalgia was one problem, but then I had a huge issue with restless leg syndrome. If you don't know anything about restless legs, it sounds like your legs just twitch a bit, but it's not like that one bit - it's far more debilitating to the point that it would exhaust me.
 
So, as soon as I'd start to get tired, my legs would just move uncontrollably, and it would just be a completely involuntary thing. It also affects my arms, and it would just get worse and worse and worse, and then the insomnia would kick in as well. So I'd have pain from fibromyalgia, involuntary spasms from my legs and arms and then real problems with sleeping as well. 

I looked into medication for restless legs and found the main treatment in this country is drugs that they use for Parkinson's Disease, and I really didn't want to go down that route because again, there are a lot of side effects, and you get to the point where you take so many, and then it stops working.

I just didn't want to go there, medically, everything seems to come with an assortment of different side effects, which I thought, ‘no, it's just not worth it’.

What was day-to-day life like for you before joining Releaf?

To be honest, it was getting to the point where I was exhausted. I just wasn't sleeping - I’d be awake all night, and then obviously in the day I just didn’t want to do anything.

I'm the sort of person that likes to be on the go all the time - I'm quite active. I love going out with the dogs, I love swimming and cycling and all sorts of different activities, but I just didn't have the energy any more. 

On top of that, the day-to-day stuff:  I just didn’t have the motivation to do anything, I was just too tired. I had to give up working full-time because of my health, as I wasn't able to do it any more. I was a nurse and worked 12-hour shifts - I was just finding it impossible, there was just no way I could do it. 

I went on nights at first, thinking I'd not be running around quite so much. There's a certain amount of downtime on a night shift, but then my legs would start twitching and spasming, and I just couldn't keep still. I would avoid sitting by anybody because I was quite embarrassed by the way my legs and arms were moving.

Normal day-to-day life was affecting me so much that I had no enthusiasm, motivation or energy to do anything. 

And when did medical cannabis enter the picture?

My husband has MS, and he mentioned medicinal cannabis. It wasn't something that I'd really looked into before, but the more I looked into it, the more I thought, ‘that sounds ideal for me really’, and indeed it is. It's worked a treat, to be honest. 

The restless legs aren't an issue now at night. I can get off to sleep and stay asleep, which is absolutely wonderful. Best of all, I don't take any analgesics any more, and that is what  I find incredible. 

Things are now considerably better just from 0.2 ml of cannabis oil in the evening. It's working a treat.

How did you find Releaf?

I looked online, and Releaf popped up. The online consultation sounded very straightforward, and I thought the price was reasonable. I just thought, ‘yeah, this ticks all the boxes’.

I'd read about different places, but I didn't want to have to go anywhere, like into Cardiff for a consultation, so having one online made it really easy. Every time I've emailed anybody, they've always responded quickly. The consultations are very straightforward. 

For me, everything’s been absolutely fine, there’s been no problems at all: but I also feel that if there were any issues, I could just email or ring, and I would be listened to, which is lovely.

Have you noticed any day-to-day differences since starting Releaf treatments?

At the moment, it's all working out really well with a fairly minimal dose really. It’s made a massive difference. I start my day by thinking, ‘Right, what am I going to do today?’.

I've taken up open water swimming, which I think is incredibly brave, and I've joined a gym because I'm on a bit of a weight loss journey as well. I'm doing quite a lot of exercise. I’m also taking the dogs for long walks around the countryside, and I'm also a dog walker and dog sitter. 

I've got a dog that lives across the road who needs quite a bit of exercise, and I'm able to walk at his pace, which is quite fast, for about an hour, which for me was unheard of before. I could never have done it - I would have been in bits. 

It’s quality of life. All the things that I love doing I'm now able to do, whereas before it was like too much like hard work. Everything was too much like hard work.

Open water swimming is impressive! Can you tell us a bit more about that?

I've done it once so far, so I can't say I'm a regular, but it is something I'd like to continue doing. I like swimming, and I’m not the best swimmer, but I do love being in the water. 

If you go to a leisure centre at this time of year, it's full of children, and they're all leaping in and diving around and screaming and generally being rowdy. Then on the other side you've got people who can swim properly, who are really going for it, and I’d just get in the way, and it's all a bit embarrassing. 

So, I just thought, ‘wild swimming - I'll give this a try.’ 

I went to a place fairly nearby and thought, ‘well, I'm not getting in anybody's way. I can go on my own time, at my own speed’. I just felt absolutely invigorated afterwards. I thought, ‘this is better than any anti-depressant’ because of the way I felt when I got out. I was so proud of myself. I was so happy. 

I’d always thought that going in freezing cold water seemed to be a bit diabolical, but actually I can understand why people do it. This is the sort of thing I'd like to take up really and then do a lot more of.

Have spoken to friends or family about your cannabis treatment?

Just my family really, and they've been very supportive because they know how many issues that I've had.

The final straw, just before I was given my Releaf prescription, was I had trapped my obturator nerve. I'd never heard of obturator nerves but believe me, when they get trapped they really aren't funny - the pain I was in was horrific. 

None of my family really wanted to see me like that. 

Having the cannabis has helped no end, it’s got rid of the pain and helped me to sleep, so I think everybody - not that I've spoken to many people about it - but everybody I have spoken to about been really supportive and thought, "Wow, yeah, that's a great idea." 

It's just nice to see me back see me back to normal and see glimpses of what I was like before which is rather nice.

And what are your hopes for the coming months?

I'd been on anti-depressants for a long, long time, about 16 years, but I've managed to wean myself off them now, which I'm very, very pleased about. 

Now I’m able to get back into doing all sorts of different things and different activities. I'm really keen on the whole exercise thing, and I want to take up cycling again. I haven't done that for a long time. 

Finally, if someone asked for your advice on medical cannabis, what would you say to them?

I would 100% recommend it. 

I don't want to take analgesia. I don't want to be taking things like pregabalin and gabapentin. If you look into some of them, there are concerns they might cause dementia, cognitive impairment, and all sorts…

It just sounds too risky. I think you have got to hang on to all your cognitive ability for as long as you possibly can, you know…

I'm 100% happy with the service that I've had and certainly with the product. I mean, it's been a game changer - it's just changed my life completely…

I just think anything that is going to help as much as the medical cannabis does, it has got to be a good thing, and it can help so many different symptoms and conditions - so there's no reason not to try it really. 

For more information about medical cannabis treatments for the conditions mentioned in this Patient Story, please see medical cannabis for fibromyalgia.