April 2017

Jo Allen has fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that has a broad spectrum of related symptoms including fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and reduced physical function. Its nickname is ‘the invisible illness’.

Jo has got some pain relief in recent months from CBD oil, which comes from a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis.

She puts drops of the oil under her tongue three times a day and also uses a vape pen, saying it’s “the only thing that I found that works for my pain, especially my hip pain”.

“I can take that and within about 20 minutes I’ll know whether I’ve got to reach for the morphine-based drug or not and a lot of the time I actually don’t have to go for that which is huge to me.”

"To look after my own son for a day means that I am completely out of action for at least a day. In bed, in agony, having to take all of the CBD I have, all of the morphine derivative medications that I have, anything that I can get my hands on, just to get through a day after looking after my son."

TheJournal.ie is an Irish news website that invites its users to shape the news agenda. Read, share and shape the day’s stories as they happen, from Ireland, the world and the web.

Submit your clips to video@thejournal.ie

Stay up to date with all of the latest videos by subscribing to our channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/thejourna...

Download our free iOS app: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/thejo...

Download our free Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

Twitter: twitter.com/thejournal_ie
Facebook: facebook.com/TheJournal.ie
Instagram: instagram.com/thejournal_ie
Snapchat: thejournal.ie