We continue to celebrate Women’s Health Week with an inspiring story of a woman whose life was changed with the help of cannabis. Emma Collard is a veteran with PTSD who shares her success story to encourage other women like her to believe that living and feeling well is possible, thanks to cannabis.

Q: What conditions does cannabis help you manage?

A: Cannabis helps me manage chronic back pain and PTSD, especially anxiety symptoms.

Q: When were you diagnosed with your condition?

A: I was diagnosed in 2014 while I was in the Army.

Q: How long have you been a medical cannabis patient?

A: I’ve been a patient for two years.

Q: Which products do you use to manage your conditions?

A: My favorite Surterra Wellness products are the Relief vape pen and transdermal patch, Soothe vape pen and transdermal patch and Zen vape pen. From Florida’s Finest, I use the Granddaddy Purple vape cartridge.

Q: What made you decide to choose medical cannabis?

A: While I was enlisted in the Army, I was on so many different mood medications that I had a serotonin overdose and ended up in the emergency room. I remember feeling so afraid of the strong effect prescriptions had on me that I quit all of my meds cold-turkey without telling my doctor. When I was medically discharged, I decided to try cannabis because of all of the anecdotal praise I read from other people’s success stories. It has been the best thing I have ever done for myself.

Q: What would you like other women to know about your journey with cannabis?

On my fourth day of taking CBD, I woke up and I felt like Snow White bursting open the shutters to sing to the birds.

—Emma Collard

A: Since becoming a medical cannabis patient, my life has flourished. My favorite story to tell patients is when I first started taking CBD regularly. One of the biggest side effects of my PTSD is debilitating anxiety. It used to be so bad that I felt encapsulated in myself, unable to look away from the ground when I walked or stand up straight with confidence. On my fourth day of taking CBD, I woke up and I felt like Snow White bursting open the shutters to sing to the birds. It was the weirdest feeling ever. I knew I felt different for some reason, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was until I was walking around my kitchen – then it hit me. I felt normal. Medical cannabis has significantly impacted my life. I am now able to live anxiety- and pain-free, which I never thought was possible.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

A: The thing that I love about Surterra Wellness is the overall atmosphere in all of their dispensaries. I have been to five of them throughout the bay area and all of them are so calm and welcoming. For people with anxiety, it can be a really overwhelming experience to go into a new dispensary because you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into. The staff at all of their locations welcomed me with open arms, answered all the questions and really seemed to care about my comfort and well-being.

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