Every month our resident CBD and cannabis expert Ruby Deevoy answers your questions in her agony aunt column Ask Ruby. If you have a burning question about CBD or cannabis get in touch: askruby@leafie.co.uk
Dear Ruby
I fell and put a split in my pelvis over 2 years ago and my surgery has been put off 3 times due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I have excruciating pain in my lower back and all down my left leg from my waist to my toes. I literally can’t walk. I have been told by my GP that nothing is going to ease the pain except the surgery which I am waiting for. I told him I was thinking of getting hold of some street drugs to try those all he said was they may not work either. Please advise.
First of all, let me say how sorry I am to hear of your suffering. Chronic pain takes its toll in so many ways and to be told that there’s nothing you can do to help yourself just compounds that.
Until recently, opioids were the go-to prescription drug for extreme chronic pain, however, they all too often provide very little pain relief and really awful side effects (not to mention potential addiction and accidental overdose). NICE guidelines have now changed. GPs are advised not to prescribe opioids for chronic pain. But people like you are being left with no alternatives. Or so it may seem.
However, the good news medical cannabis (which is legal on prescription in the UK) is perhaps the most viable option we have as an opioid replacement. Although cannabis is not a cure-all, and it doesn’t work for everyone, there are millions of people all over the world who attest to the pain-relieving benefits of cannabis. I personally have spoken to numerous patients who have gone from being wheelchair-bound to roller-skating on the beach and actually living, not just surviving. Because of cannabis.
If nothing else, it’s definitely worth a try, as it might be what you need to get you through until you have the surgery you’re waiting for.
I don’t advise you to go out and buy ‘street drugs’, as a lot of the cannabis you can buy illegally is grown using chemicals you don’t want to put into your body. Getting hold of organically grown, high-quality cannabis is essential. It’s also unreliable (both in terms of strain choice, quality and actually being able to get what you need when you need it) and comes without proper guidance on dosage and overall medical care.
Care is the keyword here – that’s what you need, just as much as the cannabis itself. And you can get that from a selection of extremely credible pain experts at one of the many cannabis clinics in the UK.
Although cannabis is technically available on the NHS, it’s near-impossible to get a prescription. But it’s very easy if you go private – just a simple online form, a meeting with your consultant and they’ll take care of the rest. You’ll receive your medical, 100% legal cannabis in the post.
Take a look at Leva – the UK’s first online clinic for persistent pain who can help you gain access to a medical cannabis prescription. If cost is a concern, check out project Twenty21 – a programme that is offering eligible patients greatly reduced medical cannabis treatment, monitored by Drug Science.
I really hope cannabis helps you, as it has for so many others! Good luck.
