Natalie’s story: Overcoming anxiety and PTSD with the “beauty of medical cannabis”

Could you tell us about your condition and how it has affected you?

I suffer from severe social anxiety disorder since, probably before, but after COVID, it became too much. I also suffer from C-PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, due to life events. I developed PTSD and a strong anxiety disorder that I brought with me through life experiences - relationships, work - and that was part of the issue I didn’t discover until my late 40s. Now I’m 49 and fully aware of these issues. 

What was your experience with other treatments?

When I had my last psychiatric assessment, I found myself astonished because the psychiatrist recommended me to triple my sertraline treatment, which I can’t do because I’m allergic.

Propranolol has been prescribed for when it’s too much - just take a bit when there is a specific anxiety trigger. But if I take it longer than a few days, I have side effects and can see it immediately in my skin. I get skin rashes. That’s where medical cannabis is really helping me, because I can reduce those chemicals that are not good for me in the long or short term. 

When did you find out that medical cannabis was available in the UK?

I wish I had learned about it earlier. If I had known about it last year, I wouldn’t have wasted 12 months. I’ve been going through premenopause. I struggled in the past year and was also always trying to quit smoking, which was the anxiety counterpart - it was the refuge when I felt anxious.

My GP introduced me to medical cannabis and said, for my case, I should consider it. He suggested I consider medical cannabis for quitting smoking - but it was a combination of things. I did my research, I found Releaf, and my life since I started around six months ago has changed. 

What has been your experience with medical cannabis treatment?

I can’t be grateful enough. Thanks to the medical cannabis, I could be there for my family. Recently, I’ve been facing some huge challenges, and I was aware I needed to keep my mind straight. I needed to be the rock of the family.

I might not need to take it for all my life, but in critical moments, I wish I had known about it earlier. It’s not like becoming high. You know when you have drugs that you’ll be like up in the clouds - it’s totally different. It grounds you. For me, it has a clearing and grounding effect. I basically quit smoking without noticing because there wasn’t that anxiety inside myself. 

How have you found the Releaf clinical care from your doctor and from our support team?

I think it’s amazing. The presence, like something is for you, caring for you because you need to care for others. I know Releaf is for me. I have my regular appointments with the doctors who review my prescription, and they are there for me. This is my moment, the time I care for myself so I can perform with my family and with my work. It’s like a lifeboat but with a smile, without stigma, without thoughts of consequences. 

How has medical cannabis impacted your working life?

It’s life-changing for me. I’m a creative person - I do artworks, illustrations. Now I can focus on that even in hard times. 

It makes me, what I say is normal, or what I perceive as normal. When I need to do something and get it done without second thoughts or worries - all that brain chatter just stops. I do the job as I should, without self-sabotaging anxiety that doesn’t belong to my temperament or character.

Has it helped in any other areas of your life?

Yes, definitely. By reducing the overall levels of toxic anxiety and brain fog, I could gain clarity on my professional life and how to grow my small business as a creative individual. Similarly, it helped me going through a very critical family situation, whilst my father was severely ill with an aggressive form of blood cancer. He suffered for over a year, and the weight on everyone’s mental health was very heavy.Only recently, he passed away in great pain. I am currently supporting my mother in the process of grief, and medical cannabis is helping me with emotional self-regulation and in taking the most sensitive decisions around family matters. 

Have you encountered any challenges or any stigma since becoming a medical cannabis patient?

My husband is very positive about it, thank goodness. But the stigma is more around the family. When I had the issue with my husband this couple of months, I was very open with the doctors - “I'm taking medical cannabis for my issues” - and they were very fine with that. On the other side, with my family, it's still very unknown.

My personal thinking is that everyone should try it before trying anything else because most of the illnesses I feel come from within us, and all the anxiety. We need to tell our bodies it's okay, and the body will do its work.

Do you plan on travelling with your medical cannabis?

I did. I downloaded my request for travelling abroad. It was easy, super easy. Because of my father’s condition, I was visiting him in Italy a few weeks ago. I had it the same day. I printed it, put it in my bag with my drops, and I scanned it at the airport. 

So yes, I went to Italy, I brought my medical cannabis drops with me with a proper certificate, and I didn't have any issues at all travelling with it. It was a big relief in all senses because now I know I can still use it when I'm travelling. 

What are your hopes and plans for the future?

Well, definitely keep going like I'm doing now, establishing new routines and very clear goals. Obviously I hope that, in the future months, things  around my family will become a bit easier and go  back to full-time work.. Obviously, I need to be there for my mother and for my husband. 

My  plan in regard to medical cannabis is to keep it up while reducing the other chemical treatments because there are too many side effects for me. 

I'm a big supporter of your work because I think many people, even if unaware of it, could really benefit in a natural and non-addictive way. This is the beauty of medical cannabis. For me, it has been life-changing in the most positive way. I have to say thank you.

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 post-traumatic stress disorder.