First timer, looking for some advice.

[PiscatawayFlash]

I had brain surgery at age 10, with scarring on the right motor skills portion of my brain, I've needed to take meds for the last 16 years. Currently I'm on 500mg of Zonegran at night and have gone from 100mg to 200mg of Lamictal XR in the past week.

Over the past six months I have had considerably less control over my life, which I feel guilty to bring here, because I read some of the posters here and feel very sorry for your situations.

At most I would suffer one or two tonic-clonics a year. I played high school football at 300lbs and weighed as much in college. Drank very heavily in college, but only had two seizures in four years.

In 2006, I started losing weight and in 2007 I took a job at Notre Dame weighing 220. By New Years Day 2008 i was 170 pounds. From 2008 to 2009, I had two seizures.

In 2009, I had a handful but they all came after nights of binge drinking, so as of July 2009 I quit drinking. Felt great right up to January, where I have had a tonic-clonic every month, some I was able to stop with Ativan post feeling auras. Now I get jolts in my left side, auras, lose focus, while I am talking completly lose train of thought. I thought the last two months which have been the worst was due to a possible addiction to the Ativan, and just let the jolts and auras go by. I ended up having a seizure at the local gym this week.

I will be visiting with my neurologist this week, but I need to find a way to get back to normalcy. I've worked out from 2006 to 2010 and can't see that being the trigger, maybe a part, but not the trigger. I take three suppliments Dark Matter, Up Your Mass and TRAC-NO. I have been taking all three of these for more than two years. I can't post links but you can check them out on MHP's website.

I do not do any steroids, drink or do any drugs that arent prescribed for seizure control. I don't know what to do to go back to getting rid of these issues. Please help.

[epileric]

Welcome PiscatawayFlash, Cool name.

Sorry to hear you're having so much trouble with your seizures. I'd wonder if it isn't the supplements you take that contribute. I know when I was working out creatine (in the Dark Matter & Trac NO) worsened my seizures as did Choline (in the Trac NO). Also Evening Primrose is known to help some people because of the Essential Fatty Acids it contains but it can make some peoples seizures worse. The sucralose (in at least one of them) might not be that great either.

Also, a big part of all those supplements is amino acids. Amino acids all work synergisticly with each other. Argenine needs to be balanced with Lysine and Taurine with Tyrosine for example. These supplements don't balance the amino acids properly so if you've been taking them for a long period of time it might cause in imbalance & decrease your seizure threshold.

I would suggest stopping one supplement at a time then give your body time to re-adjust & see if your seizures stop when halting any specific supplement. If not you may need to stop them all then wait & see if it helps.

[PiscatawayFlash]

Until I see my neurologist next Thursday, I am not going to take the TRAC-NO pre-workout suppliment, rather take a personally make creatine blend with BCAA's added to see if the caffeine and additives are the issue. However, I've taken five days off of the gym with no suppliments and still had the same issues. Is that a long enough time? I dont know.

The hardest part, is that I've been working out hard for the last three years and all of a sudden "its the suppliments fault" or "I'm straining myself too much". My personal opinion is that I'm burning through the Zonegran so much faster with my change in fitness and with the suppliments I put into my body. I have been taking 500mgs a day for almost seven years. The last time I saw the neurologist, when he put me on Lamictal said that with amount of Zonegran I put into my body I shouldnt have only a 19.6 number.

Am I at risk the same as a person that has epilepsy that was not scarred on the brain? For so long everything was under control and simple, that I'm cramming like a college kid.

[epileric]

Until I see my neurologist next Thursday, I am not going to take the TRAC-NO pre-workout suppliment, rather take a personally make creatine blend with BCAA's added to see if the caffeine and additives are the issue. However, I've taken five days off of the gym with no suppliments and still had the same issues. Is that a long enough time? I dont know.

I personally don't think that it's the working out that is causing seizures. I know when I worked out my seizures lessened & when I did have them they weren't as strong. I can't say how long it would take to see if it's the supplements though.

The hardest part, is that I've been working out hard for the last three years and all of a sudden "its the suppliments fault" or "I'm straining myself too much". My personal opinion is that I'm burning through the Zonegran so much faster with my change in fitness and with the suppliments I put into my body. I have been taking 500mgs a day for almost seven years. The last time I saw the neurologist, when he put me on Lamictal said that with amount of Zonegran I put into my body I shouldnt have only a 19.6 number.

I believe that when we take too much of one thing (amino acids or other) our body compensates. It's after long periods of imbalance that our body can no longer compensate. It's possible that after so many years your body has reached it's limit. The only way to see if it is the supplements is to stop them for a longer time (I'd think at least a month) and see if there's any change in seizure activity.

Am I at risk the same as a person that has epilepsy that was not scarred on the brain? For so long everything was under control and simple, that I'm cramming like a college kid.

At risk for what? I think everyone with epilepsy has the same risks regardless of what causes their seizures.

[PiscatawayFlash]

The amino acid theory could be it? Then would it be possible to balance them or no?

I take great pride in going from an obese 300 to a rocked-up 188. I couldn't give up lifting and cardio. Suppliments definately help physically and mentally, but I'd be willing to find a working alternative.

[epileric]

I would think your body would eventually balance out it's need for amino acids on its own, especially with a healthy diet high in protein.

I don't know how long it would take, remember if it is the supplements causing the seizures, it happened over a long period of time so it might take a while to balance back.