Msg As A Trigger....

[RobinN]

Very good visual ADK. I might have to steal the idea sometime.

The active ingredient in many insect repellents, deet, has been found to be toxic to the central nervous system. Researchers say that more investigations are urgently needed to confirm or dismiss any potential neurotoxicity to humans, especially when deet-based repellents are used in combination with other neurotoxic insecticides.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090804193230.htm

 

[Kansas Educator]

I had known about the msg link with my migraines for years but the DEET link to neurological damage was unknown to me. I find it very interesting because a few weeks before my first seizure a year ago, my husband and I took a trip to Costa Rica. We did a lot of outdoor activities and they strongly recommend that you use DEET containing insecticide due to mosquitoes carrying malaria. So I did use the DEET spray unfortunately and a few weeks later had my first seizure. That's one of the great things about these forums -- we all have something to learn.

 

[Shelley]

Umm... Could someone educate an omadhaun (eejit) and tell me what MSG's are please? Is it E-numbers and stuff like that?

Loopy Lou
You are not a fool or simpleton. You are learning tons of information like the rest of us are.
You are a good person.

 

[RobinN]

Since the 1970s, MSG has sidled back onto American supermarket shelves, under assumed names: hydrolyzed proteins, yeast extracts, protein concentrates and other additives that are not labeled as MSG but, according to nutritionists and the United States Department of Agriculture, are essentially the same thing: synthetically produced glutamates.

The whey protein concentrate and liquid aminos that many Americans buy at health food stores are also, essentially, pure glutamate, Dr. Chaudhari said.

According to U.S.D.A. guidelines, “labeling is required when MSG is added as a direct ingredient.” But other glutamates — the hydrolyzed proteins, the autolyzed yeasts and the protein concentrates, which the U.S.D.A. acknowledges are related to MSG — must be identified under their own names.

Alternatively, they may also be included under certain terms, like vegetable broth or chicken broth. Thus, these ingredients are now routinely found in products like canned tuna (vegetable broth is listed as an ingredient; it contains hydrolyzed soy protein), canned soup, low-fat yogurts and ice creams, chips and virtually everything ranch-flavored or cheese-flavored.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/05glute.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

 

[Loudmouth]

The hardest thing about cutting out gluten (originally because of my son's problems) is trying to tell a 7 yr old boy that almost every sweet in the sweetie shop he can't have...and over in england, you can't ask a chinese takeaway not to use MSG they just snort at you and hang up! Am slowly finding more natural alternatives for us all, but its hard on the kids.

 

[RobinN]

Yes it is difficult, but most of us are eating home more. For us the sweets are quite limited. Think about your ancestors. They did not have a daily sweet, or a sweet with each meal, like most of us have come to enjoy. They were lucky if they got sweets once a year. So... as some parents point out. If your son had an addiction to a drug would you give it to him. Our kids have been addicted to sugar and sweets. My child included. It has been a tough road, but the more they are healed, the less they want sweets. When the GI tract is healed, and they feel better, they want the sweets less. The body doesn't crave it so much.

We pass by the sweetie shop, and on occasion I make a gluten free dessert. Or we buy sorbet, with natural ingredients.

 

[Eve]

I loved Chocolate for years and ate it happily. Then when I was diagnosed with this seizure disorder about 13 yrs ago chocolate started to give me SEVERE migraines. It has been one of the hardest foods for me to give up. My dr has always told me that my migraines and seizures are closely related. Giving up MSG has been easier on me than giving up chocolate.

 

[RobinN]

I loved Chocolate for years and ate it happily. Then when I was diagnosed with this seizure disorder about 13 yrs ago chocolate started to give me SEVERE migraines. It has been one of the hardest foods for me to give up. My dr has always told me that my migraines and seizures are closely related. Giving up MSG has been easier on me than giving up chocolate.

chocolate, which is highest in magnesium of all foods, is often a sign of magnesium deficiency. If your diet is high in calcium you may have poor calcium absorption as well. The answer is not to eat more chocolate, but to increase your magnesium by eating more whole grains, nuts, seafood, and green vegetables, and by increasing your magnesium supplements. Your chocolate cravings will vanish when you have enough magnesium in your diet.

http://www.mgwater.com/calmagab.shtml

 

[Eve]

Thanks Robin for the link!!!!!! :woot:
http://www.mgwater.com/calmagab.shtml


I typically eat ALOT of yogurt for calcium and I also take calcium supplements because I have some arthritis due to not so good bone density scores which a DR attributed to the longterm use of Tegretol, generic tegretol and carbatrol. And that is another reason why I switched to Keppra. The tegretol also messed up my liver enzymes. Really scary............................onder:

When I had asked a DR why the Chocolate gave me horrific migraines he had said it was because of the caffeine. I knew he was wrong. I drink 1 cup of coffee in the morning and 1 cup of green tea in the afternoon and it NEVER bothers me...............in fact it almost always makes me feel BETTER.

After reading the article it looks like I need to increase my magnesium. I am going to put brown rice and almonds on my shopping list.

Thanks again Robin for your help!!!!!:woot:

 

[RobinN]

yes... but as my specialist suggested ... we tend to have gone into overdrive on the calcium levels we are taking. I think this might be true, because it is very easy to get calcium in our diet, and very difficult to get magnesium. This mineral is being depleted from our soils, so even as hard as we try to eat a diet rich in it, it is difficult. That is why it has meant adding it as a supplement.

Caffeine is one thing that robs the body of magnesium. I drink coffee too (far too much of it), however, when I take my daily magnesium I am free from migraines. They were a part of my life for 30+ yrs, and I am glad to see them gone.

Consider finding ways to improve the health of your liver. I think when the toxins build up the body reacts to this and yours might be in the form of migraine. Just a thought.

 

[Molly97]

We have to remember that it's the absorption of the vitamins/minerals that's the problem. Dogtor J addresses the calcium/osteoporosis/arthritis pain connection at his website www.dogtorj.com. I use magnesium supplement but no calcium supplement and my bone density test showed this last time an improvement. I too took Tegretol for a long time and I'm willing to say that it is the reason for my problem with bone density.

 

[Eve]

Thanks again Robin for your advice. Just out of curiosity how much magnesium do you take? I have to have a cup of coffee in the morning , I take my seizure meds at night and I awake always groggy no matter which brand of meds I take.

About my liver, my blood enzymes abnormalitlies hve decreased since I went off the Tegretol and switched to Keppra. In October I retake the blood test on my liver.

 

[RobinN]

I try to take between 600-1000 mg. Rebecca does also. However, due to a glitch in my reading labels and my memory, I have not been setting out the proper amount each day. Might be why I have felt brain fog recently. Every cell in the body needs it.

Rebecca's liver numbers were always "off" but nothing that caused concern for the doctors. I just always wondered why they were not better, and saw it as a sign that her liver was not working at its best. So I have tackled this a bit, to get the pathways functioning better.

I have no excuse for my coffee habit, other than I like it.. a lot.

 

[Eve]

Molly I definetley agree that the Tegretol truly messed up my bone density scores.
I find it interesting that you just take maganesium and not the Calcium. How much Magnesium do you take?

I have been taking this TWICE a day.
http://www.vitaminlife.com/product-...um_Magnesium_with_Vitamin_D3/product_id/50908

Maybe I need to make a change?

Robin I cant get by without my am coffee (1 cup of dunkin donuts coffee) at times I get up in am and my balance is so bad I feel drunk from the nightime seizure dosage meds. It was like that with the tegretol too . And now I am on Keppra...........and I am still groggy in the am.

 

[RobinN]

My doctor when I asked about a Cal/Mag tablet he said "No No NO calcium".

Molly, I do believe that is a good thing to remember. There is still quite a lot to be learned about vitamins and minerals in the chronically ill.

Eve, perhaps there needs to be a change in your night time dose.

 

[Molly97]

Molly I definetley agree that the Tegretol truly messed up my bone density scores.
I find it interesting that you just take maganesium and not the Calcium. How much Magnesium do you take?

I take between 750-1000mg/day. The reason for the dosage variation has to do with whether or not it's starting to give me diahrrea during that day. I take 250mg with each meal, and 250mg at bedtime if my digestive tract hasn't been messed up during the day. My doc told me the research says 1000mg to be effective for seizures.

I think that the variability of the state of my digestive tract(diahrrea)has to do with how much fiber I've eaten through the day.

Please remember, this is only personal for me. Do some reading and ask your doctor.

As to the calcium. It is my understanding that if your intestine isn't absorbing correctly, that all the calcium in the world won't help your osteoporosis. In fact, www.dogtorj.com has an article that addresses the fact that the U.S. has more osteoporosis than any other country, and that it's due to the fact that women use dairy products that coat the villi of the intestine, preventing absorption of the calcium they need. I'll see if I can track down the specific reference over there for you.

Did some searching and I'm giving you this link: http://dogtorj.tripod.com/id27.html This is one of his longest papers and one of the ones most interesting IMO. It addresses all nutrition pitfalls; appropriately it is called THE ANSWER. Take your time and read it through.

 

[April1811]

Aspartame has always given me a bad time with my seizures and I am happy to see that it is fianlly on the website on the Epilesy site. Once I got off it all the floaters in my eyes disappeared and my seizures aren't half as bad as they used to be as well. I wish they would get it off the market.

 

[Molly97]

Aspartame has always given me a bad time with my seizures and I am happy to see that it is fianlly on the website on the Epilesy site. Once I got off it all the floaters in my eyes disappeared and my seizures aren't half as bad as they used to be as well. I wish they would get it off the market.

There's too many "dieting" folks who want cr*p like that. You still see the pink packets around and Splenda has it's own nightmares. Google "Splenda sickness" and read. Of course the manufacturers of these sugar substitutes say that the problems people are reporting are "all in their heads;" yes, it is all in our heads, in our brains to be more specific.

 

[Eve]

Thanks Molly and Robin for the info on the Cal/Mag connection.

Artificial sweeteners always bother me and give me seizures or migraines. Also sometimes the red dyes in foods and sweets bother me as well. Sodium nitrates in hotdogs and luncheon meats bother me too. I really have to watch what I eat so I don't get a seizure or migraine. It is hard sometimes when I am eating out or at someones elses home to regulate what I eat so I don't have these side effects.

 

[Molly97]

Thanks Molly and Robin for the info on the Cal/Mag connection. I really have to watch what I eat so I don't get a seizure or migraine. It is hard sometimes when I am eating out or at someones elses home to regulate what I eat so I don't have these side effects.

Boy, I hear that loud and clear! I've gotten to where I only eat out at restaurants a couple times a month. And when we eat at our friends' house, I only "taste."