Fibromyalgia diaries: How my cannabis journey began

In the first instalment of a new series documenting her journey with medical cannabis, fibromyalgia patient Julia Davenport shares how she finally drew a line under decades of opioid use.  

After spending almost my entire adult life reliant on painkillers, I decided in my late 60s that there must be a better way. 

I’ve had osteoarthritis since being a teenager and suffer from joint problems, with several joints replaced as a consequence. I also live with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia.

Anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers have been part of my life since I was 19. Over the years, however, the prescriptions have got stronger to enable me to cope with the pain. 

For more than 20 years, I took a daily dose of cocodamol, a combination of codeine and paracetamol. But when a joint was on its way out and needed replacing, I would take tramadol, which is basically one notch down from morphine.

I’ve tried oral morphine too, when two slipped discs in my neck left me with excruciating pain. 

I eventually reached the point where I was having to take more and more painkillers to have the same effect.

I’d been taking these tablets since I was at school, which can’t be good for anyone, and I wanted to somehow stop. 

At the time, I’d heard a bit about medical cannabis on the news and my husband encouraged me to look into it, although I wasn’t at all keen on the idea at first. 

I may have grown up in the hippie era of the 1960s, but had never tried an illicit drug – which was how I viewed cannabis.

I thought about its bad reputation and its association with all manner of illegal things you can buy on the street.

I had real anxiety about swapping one thing – painkillers with all sorts of side effects – for another, a substance which had been illegal for decades. 

After some persuasion, and a lot of Googling, I was interested. But a new anxiety arose the more learned. It seemed there were genuine concerns about quality standards and labelling of products.  

As someone who is quite sensitive to new medications and their possible side-effects (despite being such an experienced recipient of painkillers) I really needed to know that anything I took would contain exactly what it was supposed to. 

I eventually decided to give it a go – with CBD oil capsules, rather than full strength medical cannabis at first. 

But I chose a product which is effectively pharmaceutical-grade in terms of quality standards, from a supplier in the Netherlands, a nation way ahead of the UK in this area.

I went cold turkey and stopped taking all the opiates I’d had in my routine for so long and switched to CBD. Within three months I was stable. 

I now take a daily dose of four 50mg tablets, which I believe is relatively large. My dosage can vary, however, partly because joint and muscle conditions are weather dependent, and the climate can screw with them dreadfully.

When its damp and cold you have to protect yourself as the inflammatory response kicks in and so I may increase my dose.

As well as the CBD, I also now have a medical cannabis prescription, having seen a private consultant who specialises in pain management. 

This may not be the conventional way to do it, but I tend to use this option when I have breakthroughs or flare-ups and the CBD oil isn’t coping. This tends to be at night. It’s almost like my reserve which I have at the ready when needed. 

I’m now four years into my cannabis journey and am very happy to not be taking opiates. 

I’ve not had co-codamol since I discovered cannabis as a treatment option, and have only taken opiates during and immediately after recent surgery on my shoulder.

Starting this journey was, of course, a leap of faith. But isn’t any new treatment or medicine, given their possible side effects? 

Next week’s fibromyalgia diaries story: To vape or not to vape? 

Julia is in her late 60s and formerly worked in the NHS. Her name has been changed to protect her anonymity.

• “The opioids have gone, and so has my pain”
• “If you’re not going to give us painkillers, we need another option”
• Why former pro-rugby player James Percival swapped painkillers for CBD
• One third of fibromyalgia patients use CBD – study
• Fibromyalgia and cannabis: What does the latest research say?