Can candy trigger a seizure?

[little fruitcake]

I was eatting candy and lots of M&M's at bed time and was having many noctural seizures over and over. They were waking me up and I was have trouble with sleep, which I never have had before. I was getting a little stomach so I stopped the candy. I went through about a week of withdrawal. The night episodes stopped, I went on vacation and had candy before bed one night and had episodes. No more candy now and no more episodes. Could this be related?

 

[Nakamova]

Sometimes drops or spikes in blood sugar can be seizure triggers. Since blood sugar is the brain's main fuel, when blood sugar increases or decreases drastically, it can make the brain's metabolism less stable.

The diets that seem to reduce the intensity and frequency of seizures are ones that restrict the intake of sugar and simple carbs, so it makes sense that cutting out the candy -- especially at night when there aren't other foods to slow absorption -- could help with seizure control.

You might want to look into the Modified Atkins Diet, which has helped some folks reduce their seizures. More info here: http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/

 

[little fruitcake]

Nakamova, thank you so much for that info. I thought maybe I was on to something, the change in my diet lately does seem to be helping so much. I've been eating mostly fruits and veggies and clean carbs and I feel 100% better. Thanks again.

 

[JillT]

I have had similar seizures. Becuase I'm already Epileptic and a family history of diabetes, I'm "more prone to" hypoglycemia seizures.
Good thing is My neurologist doesn't count these whe it comes to me driving. since medicine isn't going to do squat.

 

[Bathtub]

We have very strict medical rules about driving in the UK, JillT, here they would get you either under the epilepsy regs or the diabetic regs with any impairment of consciousness. I'm surprised you can wriggle between them. Question is, would you want to be driving (or passenger in, or stood by the roadside near, an out of control car) when you had a seizure, whatever the cause?

Little_fruitcake, what are clean carbs please? Glad the new diet is helping you

 

[RobinN]

This is the type that my daughter has too. Though the blood sugar / insulin imbalance also plays havoc with her hormones.

 

[little fruitcake]

Bathtub, thanks for asking. Clean carbs are the carbs we get from fruits and veggies, as opposed to refined, processed foods.

 

[little fruitcake]

Robin, thank you for all the infor you have provided regarding diet. This has always been helpful.

 

[Starfish]

Yes!! It can. I started having problems right after Halloween this year. (I got 7lbs of Candy this year....) And We couldn't figure out what was going on. I was having WAY to much sugar and caffeine, and I started getting a whole bunch more seizures than I am use to having. It was terrible. any random spike in how much you consume of certain things like sugar and caffeine can affect seizure activity.

 

[skierrose]

and I ate an entire box of charleston chew candy and had a simple partial with speech arrest (20 seconds) an hour later!!! bye bye charleston chews. or just eat 1 if i could!

 

[Starfish]

Well you don't want to cut off entirely, you have to slowly bring down the amount of sugar in your system. Any massive spike, either lack of or too much, from the normal amount consumed can cause a seizure. So I wouldn't swear off sugar entirely just yet.

 

[skierrose]

i could never swear off sugar...........just don't need to eat the whole box!!!!!!
did anyone ever have speech arrest where no words come out for a few seconds? it's so weird!

 

[Starfish]

I get it where I know what I want to say but I can't pronounce the word because it feels funny. And I can't remember the word I want to use it goes on for an hour so it's so aggravating