Woman, 26, left suicidal by endometriosis says medical cannabis 'saved her life'

Saff Khalique
-Credit:Reach Publishing Services Limited


A young woman who left feeling suicidal by severe endometriosis claims that medical cannabis saved her life.

Saff Khalique, 26, was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 25 after enduring agonising pain throughout her teens and early twenties. However, she was initially told it would take 'years' for a formal diagnosis.

She experienced dark thoughts and said her mental health hit rock bottom. Endometriosis UK estimates that around 1.5 million women in the UK, or about 1 in 10 women of reproductive age, have endometriosis.

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It typically takes an average of seven years for most women to receive a diagnosis. Endometriosis is often mistaken for or misdiagnosed as IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).

Initially, Saff was given a chemically induced menopause to help alleviate the pain, but the unbearable discomfort left her feeling suicidal. However, she then discovered medical cannabis on Reddit and now uses it to manage the debilitating pain she experiences during her periods and the anxiety she feels around her medical appointments.

The Royal College of Nursing defines endometriosis as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, which induces a chronic, inflammatory reaction. The exact prevalence of endometriosis is unknown but estimates rangefrom between two and 10 per cent of the general female population but upto 50 percent in infertile women.

While some women with endometriosis experience painful symptoms and/or infertility, others have no symptoms at all. Saff, from Manchester, found herself relying on opiod medication such as tramadol and codiene for relief for her symptoms, but taking the medical cannabis has meant she no longer needs it - and said it's allowed her to "feel like a normal person again".

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Even her family have noticed a change in her moods and it's allowed her to become a lot more sociable than before. She had first seen the use of medical cannabis on the endometriosis subreddit in 2023, but didn't think about it seriously until 2024 and wating to find other ways to manage her pain.

"It wasn't until visibly seeing other people with endometriosis use cannabis to help with their pain that I began to explore options available in the U.K. Part of what held me back were taboos on the subject and whether it would actually work for the cost," she told the Mirror.

Saff, 26, turned to medical cannabis to help with the pain
Saff, 26, turned to medical cannabis to help with the pain

However she said it came to a point where the pain outweighed the cons and said: "I came across the UK medical cannabis subreddit when looking for clinics and Alternaleaf was the best reviewed by patients on that forum, so I set up my consultation and ended up starting my journey with medical cannabis in April 2024."

The effects of the medical cannabis were huge, and Saff said it's now a "vital" part of her daily living. "I am so glad I have tried and found the strains that work best for me with the help of the Alternaleaf pharmacists because without medical cannabis I would have been out of work for a lot longer than I have been over the last six months. If I were no longer to have access to it my quality of life would be non-existent."

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She also noted how it had allowed her to come off tramadol and codiene, and "helped with nausea and fatigue, quite often just making me feel like a normal person again."

Before she had discovered the medical cannabis, Saff was offered a chemical menopause after experiencing severe symptoms. "This essentially turns off your ovaries and ovulation stops and you don't have periods, and you take it monthly, I was recommended it for 6 months. I was given estrogen HRT to help with menopause symptoms such as hot flushes."

Saff suffered dark thoughts and said her mental health was at an all time low
Saff suffered dark thoughts and said her mental health was at an all time low

The choice to go through the chemical menopause was offered to give her body a break from periods while also exploring other causes for the pain. She explained: "I had heard about the chemical menopause from other young people with endometriosis talking about it online, which made it a less daunting prospect for me. I was informed it wouldn't affect my fertility and would give me a break."

However she didn't respond well to the HRT, suffering heavy bleeding and migraines. "On top of the hot flushes and mood swings and depression, and feeling like the Mirena I had inserted during surgery was behind this I was tired of the process and given another pill to try.

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"This ended up causing migraines and I stopped all hormonal methods after that as I was tired of feeling like a guinea pig and having zero control over my emotions. It was the best decision I made that year for my mental health." She noted how it helped ease her anxiety and overall mental wellbeing.

"At the moment, I’m really trying to focus on getting my health back to a baseline as none of my conditions are optimally managed at the moment," she shared. But while she has started to see her health improve with medical cannabis, she noted how endometriosis has left her with other chronic conditions as well as a stunted career and life developments.

Saff was also given a whole range of painkillers - but they came with their own implication
Saff was also given a whole range of painkillers - but they came with their own implication

Saff currently has an undiagnosed cardiac condition which showed up a year after her surgery, and believes there is a link between the "chronic physical stress people with endometriosis experience".

"Endometriosis is not just a bad period, it is not just a gynae condition, it is a whole body inflammatory disease that changes and ruins lives because of late diagnosis and treatment. I displayed symptoms at age 16 and I didn’t receive a proper diagnosis until age 25," she said.

While the medical cannabis isn't given through her GP, it is prescribed to her by specialist doctors at Alternaleaf, which is a UK based medical cannabis clinic. To be eligible for a prescription, all patients must provide evidence of an eligible condition and demonstrate that they have tried at least two traditional treatments before medical cannabis is considered

Now she shares her health journey over the last six months and wants to help raise awareness of hidden disabilities through her social media accounts @browngirlendo. "My aim of creating the series and my account was to find more people of colour with endometriosis to connect with.

"I quite often felt unseen as majority of the women I saw in the news or suggested to me online were all white and whilst we experience similar levels of physical pain and medical misogyny there a cultural taboos/barriers and racial discrimination that add to another layer of the endometriosis experience."

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