Eating as a trigger?

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Literophile

Literophile

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Can eating be a trigger? Not sure what about eating makes me have more auras, but I'm almost 100% sure it isn't food choice, so much as it is the act of eating or something like that. Anyone else have this problem? Makes eating rather... unpleasant.
 
lol I responded to you on youtube! lol I kinda understand what you mean. I think its the swallowing thing. because of the vagus nerve being near there? I get auras sometimes while eating but usually its space outs and I drop glasses of beverage or plates. luckily we bought "indestructable" plates lol
 
Hi Literophile,

I think Rae's right about it having to do with the vagus nerve. I saw something on "Real Stories of the ER" or something like that. OK, I know it's not exactly the New England Journal of Medicine, but they have the actual ER doctor telling about their experiences while they are being dramatized. One of the stories was about a man who had seizures every time he drank water. They finally figured out it was the temperature (in his case,cold) of the water on the vagus nerve that was the cause. I've also heard Dr. Oz talking about different spices affecting the vagus nerve. Though he wasn't talking about seizures, there might be some connection.

Take care:)
 
I didn't know your esophagus was near the vagus nerve! Wow, that wold explain it then.

Btw, Rae, had a dream about you and Cinnabar and Brain and AlisonBP last night. It was about my sister in law, and she had just found out she had TLE (it's actually possible that she might, she's scheduling to see a neuro) and so she joined CWE and invited y'all to coffee at Starbucks. When you came over to pick her up (I could actually see the red SUV quite well. Wonder if any of you actually drive one) I recognized you and said "It's Literophile! You know... from the forum?" and all of you said you'd never heard of me and went to Starbucks with my sister-in-law... It was weird... O_o
 
RE: Eating discomfort and seizures. Unfortunately my aura used to be that my mouth filled up with rivers of saliva, so it was difficult to put anything in mouth, no less swallow. It was crowded enough in there already!
 
Yeah, I usually get auras right when my mouth is full, and I don't want to swallow but I can't just spit it out, so i wait until the aura's over.
 
I don't understand, though... what does the vagus nerve had to do with seizures? I know about what a VNS is and I know what they do, but I don't know why and I don't understand how the vagus nerve is connected to seizures...

Does that mean that if my auras and seizures are triggered by something the vagus nerve does, that they are epileptic? Or can NESs be caused by the vagus nerve as well?
 
I wonder if your vagus nerve sends signals to your brain to swallow?
 
according to wikipedia, "the vagus is also called the pneumogastric nerve since it innervates both the lungs and the stomach." so its probably something to do with the food hitting the stomach walls or the stimulation of the gastric juices in the stomach that act up the vagus nerve. I think you were on to something there literophile!
 
But what role does the vagus nerve have in seizures? Does it cause them when it's overloaded with info? Does it only have a role in epileptic seizures? Maybe there's something I'm not getting here, but I only see that it's related to the heart, stomach, lungs and larynx and stuff. :/
 
The vagus nerve is actually used to help control seizures as it is one of the nerves connected directly with the brain. So hench the VNS is used. But it the sense that it can help, I think it can also cause.

Yours may have become damaged, or you have developed a food sensitivity that triggers the nerve to send a message to the brain. If its a bad connection the brain may be overloaded with jumbled information and may seize as a result.

At which point during eating do you seizures start? Chewing, swallowing or digesting? That may give a clue. Mine is usually after I am full too.
 
:/ Hmmmm... I know I have auras when I overeat, sometimes when I'm chewing, sometimes right after I swallow, and sometimes when I have a stomachache. Sorry, not really helpful... I'll try to track it more carefully.
 
Okay, so I know this is strange, but the only anatomy book I have in the house (aside from my sister's "anatomy for the artist"-type books) is an 1866 textbook called "Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene". I looked up the section on the nervous system and found that the vagus nerve most likely originates deep in the occipital lobe (which might be why my seizures don't show up on tests), but it didn't specifically name the vagus nerve. Still looking for a good picture of it online.
 
The Vagus Nerve is also known as the pneumogastric nerve or Cranial Nerve 10.

Are either of those in the book?
 
No, it looks like it's just an overview of the nervous system as a whole.

It's amazing how much detail there is in these drawings, though.
 
Does this give you a better idea of what the Vagus Nerve is?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve

This would help define the 12 Cranial Nerves, including the Vagus. It says that the Vagus

Supplies branchiomotor innervation to most laryngeal and all pharyngeal muscles (except the stylopharyngeus, which is innervated by the glossopharyngeal); provides parasympathetic fibers to nearly all thoracic and abdominal viscera down to the splenic flexure; and receives the special sense of taste from the epiglottis. A major function: controls muscles for voice and resonance and the soft palate. Symptoms of damage: dysphagia (swallowing problems), velopharyngeal insufficiency. Located in jugular foramen
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranial_nerves
 
I'm still not seeing what it has to do with epilepsy, though. Don't VNSs work for everyone with E?
 
But for the people for whom it DOES work, does that mean their vagus nerve is damaged in some way?
 
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