Medical cannabis has given me my life back after MS made me want to hack my legs off

A multiple sclerosis sufferer was in such excruciating pain she wanted to cut off her legs with a chainsaw, says cannabis has changed her life.

Alexandra Fisher was diagnosed with MS in 2014 and had to quit her job as a part-time sports coach that year because of her pain.

The 51-year-old from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, became dependent on a wheelchair after the NHS prescribed medication to relieve her chronic pain.

But after being given medical cannabis in 2021, Ms Fisher claims she can now walk her dog again.

She is also less dependent on her chair and feels a huge improvement in her mental well-being.

But after getting medical cannabis in 2021, she claims she can now walk her dog (pictured), be less dependent on her chair and feel a huge improvement in her mental well-being

She was forced to quit her job as a part-time sports coach that year and was dependent on a wheelchair after a succession of NHS treatments failed to relieve her chronic pain.

Ms Fisher, who was also diagnosed with fibromyalgia in the 1990s, said: ‘My pain is now finally something I can hold as a constant irritating niggle rather than, ‘Oh my God, my legs are in fire.”‘

Her pain still peaks at an eight or nine out of ten when she does “too much” – but claims she now averages a four, which she described as “tolerable.”

She said, “It doesn’t make me want to break my legs in half or chop my legs off with a chainsaw, which I’ve threatened on many occasions.”

Unlike recreational cannabis sold on the street, medical cannabis is grown and processed according to pharmaceutical standards.

Certain types are legal in Britain following a landmark decision in 2018 , but very few patients have been able to obtain a prescription. Doctors are reluctant to prescribe it on the NHS.

Medicinal cannabis is usually supplied as an oil or spray containing cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis that causes the ‘high’, although some formulations of medicinal cannabis contain both CBD and THC.

In 2014, Ms. Fisher, who lives with her partner and stepdaughter, was approved for an experimental cannabis spray called Sativex as a result of her MS.

However, her local NHS trust was not one of 39 in Britain prescribing and funding the treatment – which costs a whopping £500 a month when prescribed privately.

But in 2021, Ms. Fisher, who is back to work as a scholarship administrator at a local school, received a private prescription for 30g of medical cannabis from Lyphe Clinic.

It only costs £150 per month, which equates to savings of £4,200 per year compared to Sativex.

She uses an e-cigarette-like vaporizer to ingest the medicinal cannabis, rather than smoking it – which doctors advise against.

Before using cannabis, Ms. Fisher had tried medications including gabapentin, pregabalin, diazepam, and tramadol, but none relieved her pain.

Ms Fisher added: ‘I can go to concerts again and not just exist within four walls.

“What cannabis has given me back is the ability to participate in life again, even if only part-time.”

Medical cannabis was made legal in the UK after parents of two boys suffered from severe epilepsy campaigned for its legalization.

Billy Caldwell’s mother was forced to break the law by importing THC-rich cannabis oil to try to reduce her son’s seizures, while Alfie Dingley’s mother temporarily moved to the Netherlands to gain access to it.

It was revealed in June that some 9,000 patients in Britain now have medical cannabis prescriptions, mostly from private providers, for conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Users believe that smoking or inhaling vaporized cannabis can help reduce symptoms, but experts say clinical evidence is lacking.