Fibromyalgia and medical cannabis – “I’m happier, healthier and a better mum”

Charlotte Finn, patient coordinator at Zerenia Clinics UK, shares her journey with fibromyalgia and medical cannabis.

Charlotte’s journey with fibromyalgia began at the age of 21 during a difficult pregnancy with her daughter in 2012.

Ten weeks into her pregnancy she found herself unable to walk due to SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction) which led her to needing a wheelchair, leaving her bed-bound for most of the time. She began taking codeine for the pain and by the time she got to full-term she needed daily blood thinning injections to prevent clotting.

Charlotte was advised by specialists that her pain would subside after giving birth to her daughter, however, this was not the case.

After several months of tests, MRI’S and excruciating pain, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome. 

Going from a fit and active young woman to being a new mum and disabled, unable to carry on with the lifestyle she had once known, was devastating, and heightened by a long-standing diagnosis of depression since her teens. 

Fibromyalgia affects people in many different ways. For Charlotte, her main symptoms include widespread chronic pain, joint pain, costochondritis, disturbed sleep patterns, fatigue, brain fog, muscle and joint stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, migraines, headaches, depression, and anxiety. 

Before Charlotte found medical cannabis, she spent years cycling through various medications, each bringing its own side effects and added complications in attempts to find something that would  relieve her pain, mental health issues and allow her to have life worth living. 

The medications she tried included: Sertraline, amitriptyline, sumatriptan, naproxen, pregabalin, codeine, co-codamol, Targinact, meloxicam, gabapentin and paracetamol. 

Simple things such as rolling over in bed, getting out of bed and getting to the toilet seem like impossible tasks when you are living your life in chronic pain. 

“For many years I struggled to be able to take my daughter to school, I couldn’t take her to the park and push her on the swings, simple pleasures in life that were once kept out of my reach,” says Charlotte.

In 2020, after losing her part-time job due to being unable to physically get into work anymore and suffering a nervous breakdown, Charlotte found herself desperate for another way to manage her health.

She began researching, learning, and developing a better sense of herself, alternative medicines, and therapies. This ignited a newfound passion for Charlotte and led her to complete courses in holistic health, herbalism, the endocannabinoid system (ECS), understanding autism, counselling skills and medicinal cannabis. 

In 2021, Charlotte found PLEA (Patient-Led Engagement for Access), a group of like-minded patients who have dedicated themselves to help the many. With their support and guidance, she began her medical cannabis journey and received her first prescription.

After trying other medical cannabis clinics Charlotte found herself at Zerenia Clinics UK. She was so overwhelmed by the compassion and understanding they had of her condition that she decided to join the team as a patient care coordinator. Her role sees her help others who feel left with no alternative treatment options find the relief they deserve.

“Medical cannabis has given me a new life,” says Charlotte.

“For me, it has allowed me to ween off all the tablets and rely solely on my medical cannabis medication to treat both my fibromyalgia symptoms and mental health. Without the added side effects and now having a pain relief that works for me as and when I need it, I can walk my daughter to school, I can clean the house, I am able to work.”

She adds: “There is no miracle cure, I still have pain flare-ups at times of stress and some days are harder than others, but I am happier, healthier, and able to be the best mum I can be to my daughter now. That means the world to me, and it is thanks to medical cannabis that I can.”

Zerenia Clinics UK offers FREE eligibility assessments for new patients. For existing medical Cannabis patients, Zerenia offers consultations at half the cost.

Visit zereniaclinic.co.uk to contact one of their patient care coordinators today to find out how.

For more information contact a member of the team. Call: 0204 515 0797. Email: info@zereniaclinc.co.uk

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