Alistair lived in a small village on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and, until a few years ago, worked in senior management roles for large national companies. However, following a difficult journey with his health, which began following a motorcycle accident when he was just 17, Alistair relied heavily on codeine to manage his symptoms. Read more

Anthony has lived with gastroenterological problems for 25 years, with symptoms significantly affecting his everyday life. Now retired and living in Cheshire, he has tried a range of prescription treatments, over-the-counter remedies, and restrictive diets to manage his symptoms, but nothing seemed to provide long-term relief. Read more

Sonia lives in Plymouth, Devon, with two of her children and her cat, accompanied by the occasional canine visitor who she looks after for friends. This, in addition to working nights in a factory, means that Sonia needs to be able to function effectively, which she feels she was unable to do when taking prescribed medications for her epilepsy. Read more

After suffering an injury a few years ago, which left him with chronic pain in his left arm, Alex had become disheartened by the lack of efficacy and side effects he had experienced with conventional pain medications. Working in trauma orthorpaedics, he had come across several people who had tried medical cannabis to manage their pain, and when a friend mentioned Releaf, he decided to explore the option for himself. Read more

When you couple ligament damage with arthritis, the resulting inflammation and pain can be almost relentless. James felt it in both knees, every time he climbed the stairs, every time he knelt on a job, and even just when he tried to keep pace at work. Read more

Phil Lofty, a veteran of 16 years with the Royal Signals, has struggled for many years with anxiety and depression, as well as chronic pain from arthritis and undergoing a knee replacement. Having initially dismissed the possibility of securing a medical cannabis prescription, he was relieved and surprised to discover the benefits that medical cannabis could offer him. Read more

Ryan works in a plastics manufacturing factory in Lincolnshire, where he is also co-parenting his son and daughter. Since recovering from an initial cancer diagnosis a few years ago, he has been able to enjoy golfing, going horse riding with his daughter, and go-karting with his son. Read more

Natalie lives with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and an anxiety disorder, which, as for many people, worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the years, Natalie has tried several treatment options, which, while effective in lowering her anxiety levels, were often associated with intolerable side effects. Read more

Carol Hawkes has suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic pain since a traumatic surgery fifteen years ago. While she has been prescribed several types of medications to manage the pain, she was never able to find a solution that worked for her without impacting her life and well-being. Read more

Some say that nurses make the worst patients, but for us Jackie has been a dream - and her very real transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. Now using prescribed medical cannabis oil to manage her fibromyalgia symptoms and restless leg syndrome, Jackie is able to enjoy the things she loves like long walks with dogs, and she has even been able to take up a new hobby: open water swimming. Read more

For Shane, mental and physical fortitude have always been part of her life. She grew up in a family of weight trainers and competed in bodybuilding, which pushed her body to the limit. Read more

Being diagnosed with Tourette’s in your 40s is not something any of us ever expect to face. For Matt, it arrived totally out of the blue during the isolation of COVID, reshaping his health, his work, the way he saw himself, and his ability to be comfortable in social situations. Added to the arthritis and anxiety he was already managing, it became a turning point that pushed him to explore alternative, holistic treatment options. Read more

Like many, Adrianne has lived with ADHD all her life, but the path towards an actual diagnosis was anything but straightforward, and only came a few years ago. Read more

For Steven, Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR), fibromyalgia and a gout-like condition ensured every day was filled with pain. As a retired school teacher, business owner and former carer for his parents, Steven said he’d lived ‘a rich tapestry of various experiences’, but at 71 he found himself having to say goodbye to hobby after hobby. From DIY, to walking, to gardening, Steven found himself struggling to keep up with daily life, let alone with the things that made his heart sing. Read more

For Louise, life changed forever in April 2022 when she discovered a lump on her chest. The next two and a half years were a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, surgeries, aggressive treatments, and a host of unexpected setbacks that affected not only her health and wellbeing, but also her wedding, which had to be postponed due to surgery complications. Read more

Tory had always been able to manage with life’s hurdles and complications. As a long-serving police officer, she’d seen a lot, heard a lot, and felt a lot - but her mental health eventually started to falter during a painful divorce. Turning to her GP, Tory was prescribed antidepressants, but they left her feeling like it was impossible to connect with herself, let alone those who relied on her at work. Read more

Have you ever been forced to work through an injury? To just grin and bear it? This is a decision that thousands of people in the UK face every day. For so many of our patients suffering with chronic pain, taking months off work to heal from work injuries was never a realistic option. Read more

John is a retired medical doctor and pharmacist living in Leeds. Over the course of his long and varied career, he worked across the NHS and private sector, taught at two universities, and specialised in clinical research and clinical trials.  Read more

Meet Andy, a long-term Releaf patient who has found positive health outcomes through medical cannabis treatment for not just his rheumatoid arthritis, but also found that it helped ease the complex set of health issues that followed.  Read more

Brandon is a 27-year-old who has faced the challenges of anxiety, autism, Asperger's syndrome, and ADHD throughout his life. For many years, he felt isolated, and his conditions often prevented him from engaging in social circles and made him a target for bullying. Read more