Elana Frankel is not the first person to suffer from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). She’s one of many to have discovered that cannabis has transformed her thinking about the effects of a TBI.
Her injury occurred seven years ago and quickly learned three things – 1) she would present like a stroke victim, 2) recommendations for care would include brain and bedrest for 1 to 3 years, and 3) that living with a TBI would be a lifelong adjustment.
“While I do not remember the actual fall, I do remember waking up unable to speak, think clearly or walk. My brain felt like it was constantly short-circuiting and the physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral disruptions confused me. Prior to this event, I was the creative director of an online retailer, with a team of 40 people. I was the mother of 2 small children, then ages 4 and 6, and a wife. I taught yoga and mediation and practiced 3-4 times a week. The idea of brain rest, quietly lying in a dark bedroom with no stimuli, for an extended period of time, was disheartening, to say the least,” said Frankel.
Similar to others who had been down the same road, Frankel and her partner began looking for alternatives and read research about TBIs and CBD. They made the decision to give it a chance. Frankel said that friends and family, well versed in cultivating, extraction, and formulating all wanted to share their products. She found quickly that with so many options and unlabeled products, her best course of action was to start low and slow. About four months into her journey, she had discovered the right protocols for her own individual needs – intake methods and dosage had to be tracked to determine what best met her needs.
She cites there were 4 things that changed with her TBI and how cannabis helped her heal:
- My eating habits. When my Parietal Lobe was bruised, I lost my sense of smell and taste so food became unappealing and nutrition went out the door. The right dosage and ratio of THC to CBD stimulated my appetite and boosted my healing through diet and nutrition.
- Understanding and expressing language was impossible. My impaired communication skills left me with cognitive and speech difficulties. Basically, I spoke gobbledygook. While many equate cannabis and slurred speech, a dosage of lower THC and higher CBD gave me relief. Honestly, I don’t know how or why. It just did.
- Mood. It may be obvious but it needs to be stated. With any life-threatening injury, anxiety, stress and depression sets in. Cannabis helps…a lot.
- Breathing. Science has evolved when it comes to mediation, breath work and healing. With cannabis, I accessed calmness and mindfulness.
“Of course, cannabis alone wasn’t the only factor in the healing process and I believe that the combination of cannabis and these four factors brought me tow here I am today: founder of IndigoandHaze.com; founding editor in chief of Women and Weed magazine; author of the book Women and Weed; Chief Growth Officer of medicalcannbismentor.com; creative consultant; and advocate.”
