An abuse survivor has told how medical cannabis saved her from PTSD brought on by her childhood ordeal.
Karen Julia, 44, said the drug had “given her life back” after using it daily for just three months. She suffered delayed-onset PTSD in 2012, when she was 34, which left her struggling to sleep.
Karen, from Glasgow, said: “I feel like a different person. I’ve never felt better.” As well as being astounded by the relief it gave her, Karen was surprised by the lack of side effects.
She said: “I thought medical cannabis would make me feel high and negatively impact my work but I actually feel a sense of calm.” Post-traumatic stress disorder affects one in three people who have had a form of traumatic experience.
Wedding photographer Karen said: “I’d been made homeless at 15 and successfully divorced my parents after a lifetime of neglect and abuse. At the time, I focused on getting myself through school and found solace in photography. It wasn’t until years later that the past trauma started seriously impacting my life.
“I was like a ball of adrenaline and would be wide awake at the slightest sound at night. It had a profound effect on my personal and professional life. I was exhausted and struggling to work.”
Like many PTSD patients, Karen felt standard prescriptions of antidepressants were merely masking symptoms rather than treating the condition. She also tried an eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing treatment that eased her symptoms but didn’t help her sleep disturbances.
After almost a decade, she was beginning to lose hope but, after having respite from maximum-dose CBD oil, she decided to try medical cannabis oil. The oil can be legally obtained on prescription via private clinics in the UK but only after exhausting a range of NHS first-line therapies and treatments.
Last month the UK Medical Cannabis Registry presented 20 new research papers at the International Cannabinoid Research Society Conference, covering conditions including PTSD. In the US a study published in April data revealed that over 12 months all 150 participants reported a fall in PTSD symptom severity and were 2.57 times more likely to recover than patients not using cannabis.
Another trial, where cannabis products were administered at individual prescription doses over 90days to 14 veterans with PTSD, found symptoms reduced by 47percent. Incredibly, 71per cent of participants achieved PTSD remission by the end of the study.
Karen said: “My sleep is so much better than it has been for a decade. I no longer have headaches or feel groggy. Even my skin and concentration improved. I have fresh hope for the future. It’s still early days but my life is already so much more fulfilling.”
Psychiatrist Dr James Rucker, of Harley Street specialist Sapphire Clinics, said: “The emerging research with cannabis shows it dampens down this part of the brain.”
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