A Moray mum says medical cannabis has changed her life after five years of debilitating seizures.
Nicolle Campbell, who lives in Mosstodloch, has complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and suffered up to eight seizures a day before being prescribed the alternative treatment.
Now the mum-of-three can go weeks without a single seizure.
Nicolle, 30, said: “The difference it has made to my life has been incredible.”
Mosstodloch mum used to suffer eight seizures a day
Nicolle decided to share her story during PTSD Awareness Month.
She was diagnosed with CPTSD and non-epileptic seizure disorder in 2020 after two years of countless seizures.
CPTSD is a condition where you experience some symptoms of PTSD along with other additional symptoms.
Non-epileptic seizures normally happen due to problems with handling thoughts, memories, emotions or sensations in the brain.
Nicolle experienced a particularly traumatic seizure at work in 2021, where she banged her head and was found by colleagues lying on the floor in the store room.
She was forced to leave her job and had to use a wheelchair.
Nicolle said: “The seizures were so debilitating that I was eventually forced to leave my job because of the extreme exhaustion I faced as a result of the episodes.
“I’ve been in hospital several times because of them as well.”
Seizures continued despite several treatments
Despite prescriptions for diazepam and sertraline, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, one-to-one counselling and group therapy sessions, the regularity of her seizures continued.
Nicolle experienced a mental breakdown in November last year which led her to have to leave home for three weeks due to her health.
She added: “At this point, I was like, I have to try and find something because I actually don’t have a life.
“I’m having seizures and then having to go to bed to sleep off the effects of them.
“I wasn’t living, I wasn’t eating, I was really, really struggling.”
In February 2024, a friend suggested Nicolle try medical cannabis and she came across UK clinic Alternaleaf online.
After an initial consultation, she was prescribed a daytime and nighttime flower to treat her CPTSD symptoms.
‘I’m going weeks without having a seizure at all’ thanks to medical cannabis
Nicolle said: “It’s like night and day. The difference it has made to my life has been incredible.
“After about a week of taking my medical cannabis prescription, my seizures were reduced to two or three times a day instead of eight.
“The longer the treatment went on, the less regular they became. Now I’m going weeks without having a seizure at all.
“I don’t feel anywhere near how I was last year since starting this medical cannabis treatment.”
Dr Anup Mathew, Medical Director and Consultant Psychiatrist at Alternaleaf, said: “There’s still a huge lack of awareness around medical cannabis and how it can be used to treat different conditions, such as PTSD.
“Nicolle’s incredible story is an example of how it has the ability to transform lives for the better.
“If prescribed correctly, medical cannabis can be a hugely effective treatment for many conditions, as well as PTSD and the symptoms associated with it, including anxiety, OCD, insomnia, chronic pain and many others.”
Conversation