Woman with functional neurological disorder ditches her wheelchair for rollerskates thanks to medicinal cannabis
- last year
A woman with a rare disease says she was able to ditch her wheelchair for rollerskates thanks to medicinal cannabis.
Jane Hinchcliffe, 44, struggled with chronic pain from an early age which led to a prescription of codeine at the age of 15.
After a series of misdiagnoses, Jane was eventually told she had a functional neurological disorder (FND) in 2021 which caused her intense pain and muscle spasms.
The disorder affects how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body and symptoms can include loss of motor control, sensory issues and attacks or seizures.
After a bike accident in 2014, Jane's previously active lifestyle took a hit - leaving her couchbound and using a wheelchair.
With the long list of pharmaceutical drugs not working and causing her significant side effects which led to her body weight doubling - from 9 stone to 18 stone in just a year - Jane was desperate to try something new.
She decided to try a slice of medical cannabis cake at a festival which left her "astonished" at how effective it was for her pain.
Jane then researched the idea of a medicinal cannabis prescription.
She discovered Lyphe Clinic where, after running through her medical history, doctors were able to legally prescribe medical cannabis as a treatment.
Jane, who now runs her own business selling legal CBD, from Hull, East Yorkshire, said: "It's brilliant that I don't need the wheelchair anymore, people just ignored me before.
Jane went through a 30-year span of misdiagnoses - which included 'growing pains' and 'fibromyalgia' - before finally being diagnosed with FND in 2021.
Her active lifestyle - which included running, cycling and walking - was halted when she fell off of her bike in 2014 and cracked her knee, leaving her in a wheelchair.
She was prescribed a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs to control the pain, including opiates, amitriptyline, diazepam, and laxative medication.
She said: "All I did was crack my left knee on the pavement.
"It seemed to heal well but then got worse and the pain was intense.
"I wasn't able to run anymore. I used to do that a lot and I had to reduce it."
In 2019, Jane was given a "wake-up call" when attending Green Pride - a festival dedicated to changing the laws around cannabis - in Brighton, East Sussex.
She said: "Having travelled all the way from Hull, I had taken a bottle of morphine with me that I'd been prescribed, saving most of it for the day as I had to travel alone in my wheelchair on the train.
"Once I had arrived, I decided to try a slice of medical cannabis cake containing a set amount of THC.
"I was astonished to find that I didn’t need the morphine I was prescribed as the medical cannabis was incredibly effective for my pain.
"This was a real wake-up call for me on the positive impact medicinal cannabis can have when taken correctly."
Jane Hinchcliffe, 44, struggled with chronic pain from an early age which led to a prescription of codeine at the age of 15.
After a series of misdiagnoses, Jane was eventually told she had a functional neurological disorder (FND) in 2021 which caused her intense pain and muscle spasms.
The disorder affects how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body and symptoms can include loss of motor control, sensory issues and attacks or seizures.
After a bike accident in 2014, Jane's previously active lifestyle took a hit - leaving her couchbound and using a wheelchair.
With the long list of pharmaceutical drugs not working and causing her significant side effects which led to her body weight doubling - from 9 stone to 18 stone in just a year - Jane was desperate to try something new.
She decided to try a slice of medical cannabis cake at a festival which left her "astonished" at how effective it was for her pain.
Jane then researched the idea of a medicinal cannabis prescription.
She discovered Lyphe Clinic where, after running through her medical history, doctors were able to legally prescribe medical cannabis as a treatment.
Jane, who now runs her own business selling legal CBD, from Hull, East Yorkshire, said: "It's brilliant that I don't need the wheelchair anymore, people just ignored me before.
Jane went through a 30-year span of misdiagnoses - which included 'growing pains' and 'fibromyalgia' - before finally being diagnosed with FND in 2021.
Her active lifestyle - which included running, cycling and walking - was halted when she fell off of her bike in 2014 and cracked her knee, leaving her in a wheelchair.
She was prescribed a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs to control the pain, including opiates, amitriptyline, diazepam, and laxative medication.
She said: "All I did was crack my left knee on the pavement.
"It seemed to heal well but then got worse and the pain was intense.
"I wasn't able to run anymore. I used to do that a lot and I had to reduce it."
In 2019, Jane was given a "wake-up call" when attending Green Pride - a festival dedicated to changing the laws around cannabis - in Brighton, East Sussex.
She said: "Having travelled all the way from Hull, I had taken a bottle of morphine with me that I'd been prescribed, saving most of it for the day as I had to travel alone in my wheelchair on the train.
"Once I had arrived, I decided to try a slice of medical cannabis cake containing a set amount of THC.
"I was astonished to find that I didn’t need the morphine I was prescribed as the medical cannabis was incredibly effective for my pain.
"This was a real wake-up call for me on the positive impact medicinal cannabis can have when taken correctly."