South-west endometriosis suffer supports medicinal cannabis trial

Amy Briggs, 30, was diagnosed with the debilitating condition at age 16.

"When it gets really bad I can't work," she said.

"It feels like someone is constantly stabbing me in the stomach and I just want to crawl up into a ball. I can't move and I get really bad hot flushes - you just don't want to leave bed."

Mrs Briggs said she had difficulty getting pregnant with her daughter and had tried a variety of treatment options.

The hormone blocker she is taking now is providing relief, but Mrs Briggs said she believed some sufferers may benefit from medicinal cannabis.

"I think it's a great idea to help sufferers," she said.

Mrs Briggs' comments come after Victorian MP Fiona Patten spoke about the condition in parliament this week.

"Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects one in nine women," she said.

"The pain is sharp, with sufferers describing it as like a knife twisting inside their stomach.

"Patients are typically prescribed opioids or even benzodiazepines, and these are slow acting but addictive."

Ms Patten said sufferers commonly presented to emergency departments due to the severity of the pain.

"Dr Mike Armour, senior research fellow in reproductive health at the University of Western Sydney, and his team are looking to launch a longitudinal study as to whether medicinal cannabis can reduce the number of emergency department admissions for endo sufferers, because what we find is that with medicinal cannabis the pain relief can be very immediate in the way that it is titrated," Ms Patten said.

"My question is simply: would the minister or her office be willing to meet with Dr Armour to discuss Victoria as a suitable location for this study?"

Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford said she would welcome the opportunity to meet with Dr Armour.

"Regarding Dr Armour, I would welcome the opportunity to explore how we might work in partnership with him on something so important that affects so many women in the Victorian community and indeed of course their families and their support crews," Ms Pulford said.

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