November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. Did you know that one in 10 people will suffer a seizure in their lifetime? I recently had a couple of super duper serious seizures that lead me to accidentally discover a strain that makes me go from, “What the fuck is happening to my brain and body?” to “Do we have any baked Cheetos?” in about 10 minutes flat.
Meet Island Sweet Skunk (not to be confused with Stitt Skunk™)
A friend of mine who is not Kevin Stitt grows this sativa-dominant strain and has helped me out with my own home grows. If you’d rather just hit up a dispensary, check Leafly for Island Sweet Skunk or visit The Cannabis Refinery in Edmond (happy hour is 8-10 a.m. — Weed Mom loves early happy hour…and so do those Edmond moms).
Smell
To be honest, the smell is not the most pleasant. But it’s not like the gas fumes of a skunk. More like, “Has there been a skunk in the flowerbed?” I recently sneak-smoked some Island Sweet Skunk in a dark corner of a haunted house, and from another room I heard somebody ask if there had been a skunk in the haunted house. My giggles got me busted. Oopsie.
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Taste
It does not taste like a skunk. Thank goodness. You know when a skunk sprays nearby and the air almost tastes sour? Well, it’s not like that. The sweet of the Island Sweet Skunk really comes through here…and ends with a bit of sour. My joint was smooth and enjoyable. Perfect for a newbie or people with baby lungs. Cough, cough…
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Head Change
When I’m feeling like I might be having focal seizures or a super duper seizure might be on the horizon I get super anxious, paranoid, fearful; my moods swings get wild; and basically all my bad feelings are intensified. Epilepsy is random, and it’s difficult to identify the symptoms while your brain is having the symptoms. That’s terrifying. But after I toke about half a joint of Island Sweet Skunk, I start to level out, and I feel like a rational human being again. I start to relax, and my feelings are positive. Good vibes only. ✌️
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Pain Relief
A seizure disorder symptom I tend to get is an intense pressure in my head. It’s like there’s a butcher knife between my ears. It feels like my brain is too big for my skull, and it wants out. But with each inhalation of Island Sweet Skunk, the pressure starts to ease and that sweet skunk gently removes the butcher knife from my brain, leaving me with only a minor headache I usually forget about.
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Social Ease
I’ve got kids. They don’t like it when mom lays in bed or hides in the bathroom, because speaking to humans feels too daunting. The pain from the butcher’s knife in my head radiates down my neck, and pain makes people antisocial. But when I medicate with Island Sweet Skunk, the pain subsides to a level that is forgotten by the high, and I’m even able to listen to my kids talk about YouTube videos of games they don’t even have. Imagine how much more tolerable this could make going in public!
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Though Island Sweet Skunk is not a strain known for anti-epileptic properties, it tends to help significantly with stress, which can be a huge trigger for seizures. Smoking half a joint of Island Sweet Skunk dissipates my symptoms so fast I’m left with tears of gratitude streaming down my face, a small headache, and a couple of kids who are happy I listened to their stories.
If Island Sweet Skunk does all that for a seizure-stricken Weed Mom, imagine what it could do for you.
