Real patient voices: Managing medical cannabis and work

At Releaf, we get asked a lot of questions about medical cannabis - and a high volume of these are related to work and employment. ‘Will medical cannabis affect my work?’, ‘Am I allowed to use medical cannabis at work?’ and ‘Do I have to tell my work that I’m a medical cannabis patient?’ are three examples that quickly spring to mind.

And while we have previously answered these questions in FAQ style blogs, we like to share insights and experiences, as well as educational content, to provide a well-rounded picture of the regulations, and the realties of medical cannabis use in the UK. 

So, for this week's edition of ‘Real Patient Voices: Medical cannabis and me’ we wanted to shine a spotlight on some of the testimonials we’ve collected from real medical cannabis patients here in the UK, who touched on how their treatments affect them at work. 

If you’ve been thinking about exploring medical cannabis, but how your employer may react, or how your focus may be impacted is something you’ve been concerned about, we hope that these first-hand accounts help you gain more insight into the day-to-day realities of using medical cannabis, while working in a professional environment. 

Daisy: Professionalism, PTSD, and plant-based treatments

Daisy was one of the first patients to share her patient story with Releaf. 

As a Chief Social Worker and health and addiction specialist, she felt passionate about sharing her journey with medical cannabis to help reduce the stigma that still unfortunately exists in some professional environments. 

While Daisy lives with a number of conditions, the primary reason she approached Releaf was for support managing PTSD. Suffering panic attacks and severe depression on a daily basis, conventional treatments just weren’t meeting the cut, and Daisy began self-medicating with cannabis. 

She found her symptoms were calmed, but encountered some issues at work when they found out how she was managing her health. So, she turned to Releaf to do things completely above board. 

When we spoke with Daisy, she told us:

“A situation arose where some of my colleagues found out about how I managed my own conditions and I got reported. I knew a prescription for medical cannabis would make me ‘legitimate’. Deep down I thought, why am I getting stigmatised for something which is legal? I’m taking it for my conditions, so I decided to go down the medical route….

I had a look at various medical cannabis clinics and what they did, and I liked Releaf the best just in terms of what the clinic offers. They’ve got a patient platform that works when nobody else’s does - and I've worked in the NHS for donkeys’ years, all their computer systems are broken - whereas the Releaf platform is really easy to use. The information is good, the communication is brilliant - especially when it comes to speaking to admin staff about stuff like getting my follow-up scripts. Plus, the doctor I saw was just lovely.…

I've got a 30 year career. I've published nine textbooks. I run my own business and have done so for nearly 15 years. I was an NHS executive director, the Mental Capacity Lead for the College of Social Work - and I am a medical cannabis user. And those two things work together. If anybody doubts that, just look at me…”

To read Daisy’s full account on how she uses Releaf medical cannabis for PTSD symptom management, head over to our patient stories page. 

Lisa: Fighting against fibro pain with medical cannabis

Although Lisa was only formally diagnosed with fibromyalgia six years ago, she’s been living with the condition for over a decade. 

With firbo pain affecting both her personal and professional life, things felt unbearable and inescapable for Lisa. The conventional treatment options she was prescribed weren’t only addictive, they caused her to experience really unpleasant side effects, and with this came extreme health anxiety. 

For a while even getting out of bed was a challenge, and Lisa as though she was trapped in a revolving door of pain and panic. That’s when she decided to look into alternatives, and turned to Releaf last year. Since then, Lisa says she’s managed to find a fibromyalgia treatment option that doesn’t impact her work, but does make a big impact on her symptoms. 

From increased sleep quality and real relief from pain, to a calmed state and better focus, for Lisa medical cannabis has been transformational. 

During her interview, Lisa also spoke about her work: 

“I’m a project manager, I've been with the same firm for 23 years, having worked my way up from the bottom. I'm lucky to say that I love my job, and I love the people I work with. It's a high-pressure job, and as I have worked my way up the ladder, the work pressure has only increased (but I wouldn't have it any other way)....

I am three years into my most recent project now, and it’s about to wrap up. I honestly don’t think I could have done it without medical cannabis….

I was a little worried about how to approach the subject with work. We do drug testing, and I wasn’t sure if I legally had to disclose it, but I thought it was best to be open. So I told my boss and a few other co-workers, and they have been totally fine with it….

I’m really lucky to have a hybrid role where I mostly work from home. On office days, I’ll still dose in the morning like I normally would. I always give it at least an hour before driving, just to be safe, but I’m perfectly capable of driving on my daytime flower. It doesn’t impair me at all. In fact, it helps me focus and make better decisions generally.

I don’t medicate during the day when I’m in the office, as I often manage to stay pain-free for most of the day, which is a huge change from when I was on pharmaceutical painkillers. 

To be able to take a bit of my medical cannabis in the morning and be pain-free all day with no other medication is incredible. It’s usually only when I am on my way home from work that I start to feel the pain again. When I get home, I take a small vape of my evening cultivar and level out. It’s amazing to have that kind of control over my pain…..

Don’t worry about the stigma. You’re doing this for you, not for anyone else. It’s perfectly legal, it’s prescribed, and the benefits have been far greater than even I was expecting.”

If you’d like to find out more about medical cannabis treatments for fibromyalgia pain, or read Lisa’s success story in full, head over to our condition and patient story pages. 

Ryan: Persevering through pain with medical cannabis

To round off this edition of ‘Real Patient Voices: Medical Cannabis and Me’, we’ll hear from Ryan, another Releaf medical cannabis patient using alternative treatments for chronic pain management. 

After suffering from three slipped discs and encountering trouble with his knees, Ryan became well versed in the world of pharmaceutical pain medications. From Gabapentin, Tramadol, Pregabalin, to facet joint injections, Ryan says they worked to a varying degrees, but due to concerns surrounding their long-term use, things were starting to feel unsustainable. 

It was a friend who first suggested that he look into medical cannabis, and although he brushed it off at first, Ryan says a short time later medical cannabis patient testimonials caught his attention on social media. By this point, Ryan’s pain was affecting his life, his work, and his passions. 

So, he took a leap of faith, signed up to Releaf, and, hasn’t looked back since. 

When we met with Ryan, he told us:

“At the end of June, I went to a garden party at a local pub. I don't ever remember being much of a dancer, but now it seems like I have more moves than Michael Jackson. That is something I'd never dreamed of doing a few months ago. 

Eight months ago, if I even just turned sharply in the wrong way, I’d hear a crack, and I’d be suffering for days afterwards. I’d lie in agony for days waiting for expensive chiropractic appointments to become available. 

I can't put into words how happy I am that I can now do things that I haven't been able to do for years….

I work for my family’s taxi company and, unfortunately, I spend eight hours a day sitting at a desk. Before I discovered medical cannabis, someone had to help me get up from my chair at the end of my shift. I couldn’t move. 

But, since I started with Releaf, I can now get through my eight hour shift without a problem - I can even get up and go for a walk afterwards. In fact, I used to wear a knee brace every day and I don’t use that any more. 

The productivity in my work has definitely increased as well. I'm able to focus on tasks much longer without the pain becoming unbearable. It's improved my mood and, generally, my quality of life. It’s fantastic.”

Ryan’s patient testimonial on how medical cannabis helps him with chronic pain is available in full on our patient stories page, head over to read his full account. 

Curious to know more?

If this blog has inspired you to find out whether you too could be eligible for medical cannabis, or has made you curious to learn more about how to access legal cannabis treatments here in the UK, Releaf is here to help. 

Our team of excellent patient support coordinators are here to guide you through every step of the journey, while our triage team evaluate your suitability for medical cannabis, prescribed cannabis oil, and THC containing vapes. 

If eligible, you’ll be invited to book in for a consultation with one of our expert doctors, so that they can get to know you, your symptoms, and your day-to-day activities, responsibilities, and lifestyle before designing your very own, bespoke medical cannabis treatment plan. 

Assess your suitability for medical cannabis here today. 

Releaf - let’s rethink healthcare.