Jodie Connor was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008
Jodie Connor started using medical cannabis and claims it has transformed her life(Image: Jodie Connor)
A woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer before suffering from “chronic pain” claims medical cannabis has transformed her life.
Jodie Connor, 54, from Knowsley, told the ECHO how some nights she couldn’t sleep as horrific pain consumed her body. The pains and lack of sleep began around six years ago when she started menopause, following a ten year battle with breast cancer.
The Reiki practitioner said: “I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and for ten years I underwent intense treatment. I went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, I find it surreal looking back on it.
“Although thankfully I got through it and they [the treatments] were successful and I got the clear, the treatments led to lupus and premature menopause, resulting in chronic pain, anxiety, and severe insomnia. I had years of lasting on two to three hours of sleep per night, lots of pain in my joints.“
Due to her breast cancer, Jodie says she couldn’t have Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), which is the usual treatment for menopause. Jodie tried to manage the symptoms herself and exhausted all the options from her doctor until the pain got “too much”.
She said: “I was in lots of pain and discomfort. It got too uncomfortable with my work but I didn’t want to take pain medicine because that comes with its own problems and with my work I try to encourage natural remedies.
Jodie says she can now go out and gets at least five to six hours sleep per night(Image: Jodie Connor)
“I have always been self employed. I had gone from being so active and healthy and busy to losing my hair, putting weight on and not being in control of my life. It felt like I was kind of on a hamster wheel living from appointment to appointment.
“It was a huge change from the life I was living before. I’d gone from having to go through all of this cancer treatment to then having to experience the problems with menopause, I didn’t realise how badly it would hit me. I wouldn’t wish the pains I experienced throughout my body on anyone.
“At the time I was trying to live my life, I was trying to rebuild my business after having cancer, but running on two hours of sleep was so hard and then covid hit, I lost all the work I had built back up because I had to isolate myself. I was locked in the house by myself.
“I had gone from building my business back up to losing everything again, it was really hard for me. I try to be positive and cope and manage by myself but it’s hard. It affected me mentally, I started to struggle with my mental health and it all got too much.”
Jodie says the lack of sleep was becoming a “huge problem” that started to impact her job and everyday life. It went on for a few years until someone suggested using medical cannabis after spotting an advert on TV.
She told the ECHO how she booked a consultation with Releaf, a service which prescribes medical cannabis to people who are eligible, then in July 2024 she got her first prescription and hasn’t looked back since. She said: “I’ll always be grateful to the NHS because I’m still here after 17 years but I always try to use more natural remedies than medicine.
“Sleep was an issue but I didn’t want to be addicted to sleep tablets or antidepressants so once I got in touch with Releaf it just sounded a much better option for me.”
Since starting the prescription Jodie says she now manages to sleep and feels more positive in her life. She said: “I’m now able to live my life closer to what it used to be, I’m more in control, I’m not trying to catch up on sleep, not in constant pain all the time.”
She added: “I wouldn’t look back now, I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and people have worried about it when they hear the word cannabis but it’s not street cannabis – it’s a measured dose and I have some of the flower when I’m settling down for the night after work and it eases any pain I’ve been experiencing and it relaxes me so I can sleep at night.
“It helps me drift off into a nice sleep, then wake up nice and early in the morning. I use it every day. I can also now do daily exercise whereas before I couldn’t because I was in too much pain.
“A lot of the menopause symptoms have eased off, I’m not as anxious and each night I get at least five hours of sleep, which is a huge improvement from the two to three hours I used to get before.
“People say to me they can see the difference in me, I’ve got more energy and I’m finding things to look forward to rather than being stuck on a hamster wheel. I’m excited to get my business back up and running again, I’m looking forward to the future.”
The NHS states that “very few people” are likely to get an NHS prescription for medical cannabis. It says: “Currently, it is only likely to be prescribed for children and adults with rare, severe forms of epilepsy, adults with vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy and people with muscle stiffness and spasms caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). It would only be considered when other treatments were not suitable or had not helped.”
The health service adds that private doctors on the General Medical Council’s specialist register are legally able to prescribe cannabis-based products for medicinal use. It says: “Specialist doctors, whether working for the NHS or not, will receive support and guidance on the evidence for the use of cannabis-based products for medical use, and the circumstances in which they may be prescribed. Prescribing by both private and NHS providers will be monitored by local controlled drugs accountable officers.”