Low Blood Sugar

[Russ]

My daugerter started having seizures when she was eleven and they were thought to be epilepsy and we went though the battery of test, CT, MRI, EEG, EEG with video, heart monitor, and medications. All test were negitive for epilepsy but the seizures continued and the doctors said it was psychosomatic and at one point stepped over my daughter while she was seizing and told us not to buy into her act. What an A**. So we (mom and dad) started tracking seizure and found on days she skipped breakfast she had her siezures. We watch her diet and blood sugar levels and she does great and even plays basketball and softball. If is a lot of effeort to ensure she eats good and stays hydrated but it has changed her life. Now thirteen she has not had a major seizure in over a year and the doctors still can't find a reason better then we her parents have found but they will not say that it is low blood sugar (we have had the test twice) even after the test show that if falls like a rock when she gets the sugar drink. Her GP says keep doing what we are doing but doesn't have any answers to why the blood sugar falls so fast or why she has seizures if it does.

[RobinN]

Hi Russ - Glad to have you join us here at CWE

I am so excited that you posted, because this is exactly what we went through with my daughter. Even the psychogenic diagnosis from UCLA.

We have the glucose tolerance test that dropped and so I am treating this myself. All I was given from the neurologist was the offer for another med. She is convinced that a "birthmark" seen on the MRI is the cause of Rebecca's seizures. Others are sure it is not.

My daughter is 17, and she has been seizure free since finding this information and working on her nutrition more. I have learned all I know from the internet. The doctors only offered meds, and no alternatives. Though the neurologist has admitted that all that I have found is true, and agrees with the diagnosis.

What I am working on, and trying to understand, is that when there are a lot of simple carbs in the diet, when there are a lot of preservatives,and additives, the liver becomes congested. The excess insulin that is not able to be processed is somehow turned into estrogen (or something like that... I am not a biologist). The Standard American Diet (SAD) is over the top in simple refined carbs. I do believe some people are more sensitive to this, and a symptom is seizure.

Dr Russell Blaylock discusses this. I linked this on one of the last pages of "Rebecca's Story". You can also do a Google search of hypoglycemia and seizure, and work backwards. Hypoglycemia is a precurser to Diabetes, and should be taken as a warning. We are coming up to epidemic levels of Diabetes, and Type II is linked to diet alone. Something has to give here. More and more are seeing chronic illness from dietary choices.

***BTW I moved your post so that others could meet you, and comment directly to you.

[Nakamova]

Hi Russ, and welcome!

Speaking from experience, low blood sugar is absolutely a trigger for seizures. I'm not technically classified as having low blood sugar, but I've definitely had morning seizures where low blood sugar was the trigger. The doctors have their official levels to diagnose low blood sugar, but the clinical signs vary from person to person -- what's low for one person isn't necessarily low for another.

I am sorry about the lousy response you've gotten from some of the medical establishment, and thrilled that you have been able to help your daughter be seizure-free by pro-active methods on your own. I think the results speak for themselves.

Best,
Nakamova

[KelVarQ]

After recently having seizures again (I already had the surgery) I opted to go off meds due to the unwanted side effects and saw a Homeopathic(spell?) Doctor who I'm now working with. It's only been recent, but here's what he has me doing:

I normally have a smoothie for b-fast (homemade with fruits, mostly berries) and he had me add Protein (Whey packets).

He has me eating every 2-3 hours (small meals): Gluten Free, lots of protein, very little dairy, added fish to my diet. He said, "I want to see your sugar level out throughout the day."

Magnesium: You can buy the packets and he had me take 2 packets a day (one before bed since my seizures are now nocturnal). Mix the magnesium with water. His exact words, "I can't express to you the importance of you taking magensium". My husband seems to think that the magensium is a G-d send as well since he's the one that knows my seizures best and tracks them since most times I'm not aware of them.

Carlson's Cod Liver Oil: He says, "It's excellent for brain function and you need the Omegas."

Again, it's a little too early to tell but it does seem to be helping. I'll know more as time goes on and I get into the full routine of doing this.

[RobinN]

KelVarQ - it sounds like your doctor has some of the same info that I do.
Other than the Whey Protein... I think I would do a lot of research on that and make sure it does not have any form of MSG in it.
I agree with your husband, magnesium has been a G-d send for me as well. What type are you taking that is powder form?

[KelVarQ]

Hi Robin,

Yes, the all natural doctor did say no MSG, however, when he said Whey he did not mention any specific brand as far as MSG in it. I will investigate that...thank you! The Magnesium I'm taking is in Powder Form and it's in a small box (30 servings) and it says "Magnelevures - Vitamin-Mineral Supplement".

ps: Loving this site! Finally a place to come to find what others are doing since I too find that all the doctor wants to do is find me another medication a.k.a another batch of problems.

[RobinN]

Sorry I didn't see this answer until today.
Is the magnesium chelated, oxide, citrate, sulfate, etc?

[Shelley]

Sugar: The Bitter Truth - YouTube

Sugar: The Bitter Truth - YouTube

Sorry it's long, but wow.

[robertav]

Hi Robin,I just got through reading about your success with diet,supplements and neurofeedback and am very happy for Robin.I have been planning on contacting the group again about my experiences with diet and meds later..I had some blood work done and was waiting for the results (improved off Lamictal)I am preparing for an art walk tomorrow evening but I too am a researcher and happened to come across your writings tonight...I quit Lamictal January 2009 and didn't have a siezure for 1 1/2 months...it seems I can go that long without one ...following the gluten free diet and avoiding Msg and other excitotoxins and taking supplements...I have my schedule for the year.2009 during which I took a few zonisamides for about a month then went off them now I am taking 100 mg a day ,following the same diet pattern and taking supplements and still researching..In June,2010,I had a seizure in my sleep and didn't know who I was for a few weeks and that scared me into taking medication again.so I am taking the zonnisamide every day and have been since.The neurologist said that isn't enough to control the seizures ,but it is along with that other things I am doing...I will keep researching because I was so happy and energetic off the meds .I want to find out more about neurofeedback.I began having coplex partial seizures when I was 50 years old,mu dad also started to have them when he was 50. Roberta

[RobinN]

Interesting Roberta - Rebecca also went for three months not knowing who she was, in other words she had retrograde amnesia. At the time I was told it was a conversion disorder. I was willing to accept this at first, but the dots did not connect when I layed out all the other symptoms.
Some of my research has connected hypoglycemia with the memory site in the brain. The timing of her seizures made me believe blood sugar disorder was involved, and then on one occasion the numbers from the paramedics agreed with my intuition. Making those changes in her nutrition has allowed her seizure threshold to improve.

In the beginning when we stopped meds, Rebecca was not even able to make it a month without a seizure. Then she went a month, then two, then four, now six.... slow and steady wins the race. She remains med free.

[robertav]

HI ROBIN,That is amazing.Rebecca went for that time with out knowing who she was too.Wow, that has made my day to know that because two of my friends panic when I say I want to stop taking medication.You say that some research has connected hypoglycemia with the memory site in he brain...that opens up a whole new area for me to explore...During that time of knowing nothing,all I knew was that I wanted to be in on my hammock in my back yard looking up at my trees and praying without words or thoughts in my mind ,but just being there was soothing and that is where I spent most of that time. This forum is a wonderful thing and I knew i would find some more answers when got back on to communicate but am elated . Roberta

[Cint]

You say that some research has connected hypoglycemia with the memory site in he brain...that opens up a whole new area for me to explore...During that time of knowing nothing,all I knew was that I wanted to be in on my hammock in my back yard looking up at my trees and praying without words or thoughts in my mind ,but just being there was soothing and that is where I spent most of that time.

Roberta,

I have diabetes along with epilepsy and at times have episodes of hypoglycemia. Usually, I get very shaky, dizzy, and I'm very confused, forgetting who I am or what I was doing.

Here is another interesting article on the Human Brain & Carbs:

http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html

I find this part of particular interest because it mentions the hippocampus:

Glucose, Learning and Memory

Psychology professor Paul E. Gold has researched the stability of glucose levels in the brain. Working with Ewan C. McNay , they found that as rats went through a maze, concentrations of glucose declined in the animals' hippocampus , a key brain area involved in learning and memory – even more dramatically so in older brains.

Except under conditions of starvation, it was thought that the brain always had an ample supply of glucose. "While this is the case in terms of consciousness, the new findings suggest that glucose is not always present in ample amounts to optimally support learning and memory functions," said Gold, who is director of the Medical Scholars Program in the University of Illinois College of Medicine.


"The brain runs on glucose. Young rats can do a pretty good job of supplying all the glucose that a particular area of the brain needs until the task becomes difficult," explained McNay, a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at Yale University. "For an old rat given the same task, the brain glucose supply vanishes out the window. This correlates with a big deficit in performance. A lack of fuel affects the ability to think and remember."

[robertav]

Hi Cint ,I began 2 messages to you but somehow they seem both to have been lost.I wonder if there is a way to retrieve my reply before I send it.I had to leave my computer and it went off my screen ??? well I am writing again because i find your information very intresting and informative.The brain and glucose is so interesting.Hopefully the other two unfinished messages wont show up ,if they do that is what happened.???Roberta

[RobinN]

Convulsions and temporary amnesia – severe cases of hypoglycemia may cause the person suffering from it to experience extreme forms of convulsions followed by retrograde amnesia as the brain starts to fail temporarily, ultimately leading to unconsciousness.

http://www.reactivehypoglycemia.net/...-symptoms.html

[Cint]

Notice that it does say severe cases of hypoglycemia may cause a person to experience extreme forms of convulsions followed by retrograde amnesia.

Other signs of hypoglycemia this article does state that I've experienced are:

Confusion, Abnormal behavior – All sorts of odd behavior such as muscle twitching, inability to walk straight, depression and/or mania, palpitation and mental confusion matched by dilated pupils.

Sometimes muscle twitching is thought to be a seizure by some.

[RobinN]

I think it as with much that we see here, it is all so individual. What I had read is that it effects the part of the brain where memory is. When, what, where, why and how it occurs is unique to each of us. No two patterns will be exactly the same. The medical books are all changing as people tell their stories.

I have a book written by a woman, who has lost most of her past due to seizures. Her memory is non existant for her early years.

[robertav]

Seizures are definitely an individual thing but there are many connections that we are making just by searching and sharing really helps.Yesterday,I was reading a long Mercola archive article on Insulin and its Metabolic Effects....and it mentions magnesium ,blood clotting ,and how insulin is related to almost all the molecular things happening in our bodies.A quote"Hypothalamic resistance to feedback signals plays a very important role on aging and insulin resistance because the hypothalamus has receptors for insulin too.I mentioned that insulin stimulates sympathetic nervous system;it does so through the hypothalamus,which is the center of it all."end of quote.The article is by Ron Rosedale,M.D,1999.I was just following a thread while tryng to learn more about this blood sugar connection to seizures.He seems to be against a high carbohydrate diet,whether complex or simple,he says it is nothing but a high glucose diet.He beleives in a high fat diet.The article is long but very interesting,so much I didn't know.I hope I can remember enough of it !

[RobinN]

Thank you for that information, Robertav
I will go look for it. I have found some of Mercola's article recently very imformative.


In addition I was told by one of the doctors Rebecca has been seen by lately (Gastroenterologist), that certain Mitochondrial Syndromes cause seizures.
His recommendation was:
COQ10 supplement
frequent meal - don't miss carbs
Carnitine

So it truly is a hit or miss activity when one tries to pinpoint the cause. Many do not want to be bothered, thus the increase in pharmaceuticals. It just would be nice to be given the option from the get-go without the legal roadblocks.

For me I don't claim to be an expert on the subject by any means, but the clues are what leads me in a direction. Looking at how the body functions as a whole, has allowed me to trust my instincts.

[robertav]

very interestng..We know the importance of magnesium in controlling seizures...I just read that magnesium is required for the proper functioning of enzymes involved in glucose processing and that people who consumed the highest amounts of magnesiums from foods and supplements were half as likely to become diabetics... black beans and peas are a few foods I just added a little of

[robertav]

Rebecca is very fortunate to have you Robin and it is sooo great that you are into alternatives and a researcher too.That last seizure I had really set me back..I have supplements and I didn't know what to do with or why I had them Coq10 is one...I lost a lot of my knowledge and it is taking a long time to get it back.I try to bookmark articles and make copies of some.