Exploring the Gut-Brain Connection and Photosensitivity

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There are two types of IBS, diarrhea and constipation (IBS-D, IBS-C) and I believe both are associated with seizure, perhaps especially constipation. And both are a matter of microbial imbalance and toxins in my understanding. I'm sorry, I just don't buy the idea that the brain causes diarrhea, though vomiting is another story. Karen, you deserve amazing amounts of credit for even considering the relationship between your son's diarrhea and seizure activity when most doctors would discount seizures of gut origin. They shouldn't because the top gut diseases include seizure as symptom (Celiac, amebiasis, ulcerative colitis, etc.). And what appears truly unknown to doctors is the gut-eye connection.

Karen, have you tried powered or leaves of gelatin which is a well known diarrhea cure? The gelatin fills in gaps of the intestinal barrier (leaky gut) and absorbs toxins. It's a temporary fix, possibly with long term application for repair.

Other than direct kill of microbes to balance using things like oregano oil, colloidal silver and prescription antibiotics (resistance is a big problem), it may be even more important to enhance innate immunity, i.e., stimulating macrophage activity, using things like bee propolis, fucoidan and ABM mushrooms. I'm still learning about these things and there are probably many other things which do the same or similar, i.e., increasing intracellular calcium. Here are some links about fucoidan and ABM mushrooms and there's tons of research behind bee propolis as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and immune enhancer:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15147344
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21129005

pretty good reviews here: http://www.iherb.com/product-review...idan-70-60-Veggie-Caps/7139/?p=1&lang=en&sr=3

http://www.iherb.com/product-reviews/Atlas-World-Agaricus-Bio-600-mg-60-Capsules/3463/?p=1&lang=en

By the way, for my own health and balance, I've begun intermittent fasting this week, allowing a daily eating window of 12-8pm. In my fifth day now and it's really not so difficult . . . maybe even adding a new joy to eating. So many benefits of fasting as outlined earlier . . .
 
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I still haven't been able to find unsweetened gelatin here (have been looking in various supermarkets), except for this powder from McGarret, but it doesn't say if it's animal gelatin or the Agar gelatin (which is more common here). I did find these thin sheets of gelatin, at least I think that's what it is, but nothing on the package is in English -- so once again, I'm not clear about what the product is, or even how to prepare it. Without knowing what the product is, I can't calculate it correctly into Jon's diet, because I don't know the carb or protein content.

But anyway, as I mentioned, his diarrhea had cleared up for about 4 days, UNTIL the seizure 2 days ago. A couple hours before that seizure, he had a normal BM, and had a good appetite at breakfast. It wasn't until AFTER he had the seizure (about 9 hours later) that he had diarrhea. He then had 2 more seizures yesterday morning, and another bout of diarrhea in the evening.

So...if it were a microbial infection or a chronic inflammation, it seems that he would be having diarrhea every day.

I do believe that there is a link between the 2, but I'm inclined now to believe the diarrhea is somehow triggered by the seizures. There is a kind of photosensitive seizures in children that causes GI upset -- and I think that temporal lobe epilepsy can do the same thing -- I came across those articles a few days ago, and will try to go find them and post here.
 
Note: we already know that Jon has autonomic responses to seizures with respiratory and cardiac symptoms. His 02 levels will drop down to 60 or so during a seizure and for about 3 or 4 minutes after, and will frequently drop down into the 80's in the postictal period. If he's having frequent seizures, he has to be on supplemental oxygen, otherwise, his toenails start turning blue, and sometimes his hands and lips. His heart rate usually goes up to about 180, and his blood pressure also goes up alarmingly (his doctors always get freaked out when he's attached to monitors during seizures -- it keeps triggering the code response).

Jon also has the post-ictal nose wiping -- this can go on for a day or so after a seizure, indicating he's still in some sort of post-ictal phase.

http://www.jle.com/e-docs/00/01/AE/0F/article.phtml

"Autonomic symptoms during epileptic seizures are mediated by a dysfunction of the central autonomic network (CAN) which comprises (1) the insular and medial prefrontal cortex, (2) the central nucleus of the amygdala and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, (3) the preoptic region and the hypothalamus, (4) the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter, (5) the pontine parabrachial Kölliker-Fuse region, (6) the nucleus of the solitary tract and (7) the intermediate reticular zone of the medulla (figure 1) [6]."

"The insula, the medial prefrontal cortex, and other regions of the prefrontal cortex are involved in higher order autonomic control. The insula can be viewed as a primary viscerosensory area that receives viscerotopically organized inputs from the gustatory pathways, gastric mechanoreceptors, arterial chemoreceptors and baroreceptors. Electrical stimulation of the insula results in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory, pilorector, pupillary, gastrointestinal, salivatory and adrenal responses"

"Abdominal epilepsy also was described in a limited number of adult patients and here consisted of paroxysmal abdominal pain, nausea, bloating and diarrhea, accompanied by dizziness, headache, confusion, syncope and transient blindness [98, 99]. "
 
OK, I still haven't found those articles I was looking for, but in looking for those, I found these -- there are several articles about children, mostly in Asia, having seizures while at the same time having diarrhea -- even when no electrolyte imbalance or blood sugar drop.

In one study, most of the kids tested positive for Rotovirus.

In the case of these incidents, the children did not have epilepsy, and did not have a recurrence of seizures after the diarrhea cleared up.
 
Oops, forgot to post links
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8296557

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21097391
"Although the pathogenesis of this clinical entity is unknown, we hypothesize that mild gastroenteritis may provoke a transient brain dysfunction which in turn provokes seizures in children"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22569794
4 year old girl in Japan with Rotavirus and seizures. Normal electrolytes and blood count, but EEG showed abnormalities, and MRI showed a transient lesion.
"It is known that rotavirus gastroenteritis may be accompanied by neurological manifestations, including encephalitis/encephalopathy and seizures." "Rotavirus RNA and antigen were not detected in the CSF, suggesting that the reversible splenial change was caused by indirect effects on the central nervous system subsequent to viral infection"



these are studies of benign infantile seizures associated with diarrhea/gastrointeristis
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16814520

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10528944
 
So...if it were a microbial infection or a chronic inflammation, it seems that he would be having diarrhea every day.

A lot of interesting papers you've presented, thank you, Karen. The thing about gut dysbiosis is that it's common for people to have alternating bouts diarrhea and constipation. There may be some kind of a cycle regarding microbial toxin release and growth. Many people associate microbial activity with phases of the moon, sunlight and location on Earth with respect to ozone transport (geographic distribution of multiple sclerosis gives one pause: http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseaction/show/pageid/2325 ).

What makes it so challenging is there may be an entire set of flora missing, perhaps some of the most important anaerobes, for example. Replacing missing flora may be difficult, so it's a matter of maintenance. It's thought fermented foods colonize better than store bought probiotics. Fecal transplant may be the best alternative for many people suffering chronic imbalance and it's gaining traction in the medical community. Here in South Florida, the very first fecal transplant program in the State addressing C-diff began a few months ago.

I'm sure there are ways of explaining why a seizure might occur before diarrhea from a microbial standpoint. There are many factors including proximity to meals. For what it's worth, there were a few GI symptoms our dog showed prior to seizure activity, preictal: constipation or diarrhea, eating foliage and throwing-up yellow stuff (bile) and sometimes manic itching. In her case I don't believe any of it originated in the brain. Her brain and eyes including optic nerve were likely inflamed due to her gut imbalance causing photosensitive seizure.

I'm now learning how likely it may have been she was born with leishmaniasis, very common in Spain where she was from and vertical transmission via the placenta is recently proven meaning it's not just about sandfly bites. It may have been kept in check by her immune system until medication she was given by a vet at age 4, a TNF blocker, may have caused the latent infection to become virulent. I'm now working with parasitologists who diagnosed her via endoscopy in May 2011 to determine if leishmania were present as biopsy results at the time were inconclusive and the diagnosis was simply a generalized IBD. My point is people are now born with imbalanced flora and also things like vaccination and antibiotics given at birth likely changes balance, possibly permanently.

I hope you can find a way to translate information on the gelatin package. There is no fat or carbs in gelatin, it's all protein. Here's nutritional info of the product thought to be best available in the USA, made in Brazil and Argentina from hides, not bone:
http://www.greatlakesgelatin.com/consumer/nutritionalInfo.php
I believe tablespoon doses, totaling as many as 4 tablespoons in a day of this product would be enough to know if mechanical effect in the gut is working. It was responsible for halting seizure clusters in our dog to one seizure, akin to halting a freight train. I gave it to her along with antioxidants such as selenium, zinc and molybdenum which may have helped calm inflammation to halt a cluster. It was also mixed into every meal on a daily basis. Bee propolis, known antiinflammatory with strong anti-leishmania activity (stimulates macrophage activity), seemed to be helping a lot, but she was still prone to photosensitivity before losing her in an accident. Perhaps her eyes and brain inflammation would have healed given balance in the gut.
 
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I don't think Jon has ever had constipation in his entire life.

We gave the probiotics a whirl a month or so ago, and didn't see any result. But starting yesterday, we're trying yogurt -- which is kind of hard to work into a 4:1 ratio on the Keto diet (it's a bit high in carbs). But we'll see if that helps things out.

Saw the neurologist again this afternoon. He's convinced enough about the link to the diarrhea to refer to a gastrointerologist; however, we have an upcoming appointment with the new nutritionist in 2 weeks (who works with Keto diet) who will be working with our neurologist, so we agreed we'd work with her first from the dietary angle, and if that doesn't work, we'll go to the GI doc, which of course means all sorts of unpleasant testing. There is a GI doc here in Bangkok that's rather interntionally renown, Dr. Pipop Jirapinyo -- he does research in all sorts of areas -- including the effects of the Keto diet on amino acids and the brain, and he's also developed a special formula (from chicken) for kids with allergies to milk and soy, and he's always doing interesting research. We've met him once -- but at the time, Jon was stable, so he just said to keep up the good work. We may go see him again -- but he's way over on the other side of the city -- about a 3 hour commute!! And then when you go to all the trouble of getting over there, you get maybe 5 minutes with him -- but he certainly would be the guy (if any) who would know about the gut-brain link.

Jon's adopted aunties are mailing him some gelatin from the States in his Christmas/Birthday package. That way we know what we're getting.

Is Knox gelatin made from bone or hide? Why do you think hide is better? What about plain ole Jello brand? (we have to get the artificially sweetened kind - -they do have sweet Jello brand here == that's easy to find, but I'm not finding the unsweetened or artificially sweetened in a brand that's on the Keto calculator. I tried looking up the McGarrett gelatine on the internet, but couldn't find the company's website.

The artificially sweetened Jello has a tiny amount of carbs in it because the artificial sweetener has carbs (1 packet of a sweetener like Splenda or whatever is about 1 carb). I noticed that the Knox unflavored gelatin has about twice the protein that Jello powder has. Of course, we have to calculate the protein in for each meal as well.

When we were in the States, Jon ate gelatin almost every day (Jello brand) -- I'd make a sort of mousse with his whipped cream, so he could get his fat for his meal -- that would go in his lunch box to school with his meat & veggie.

wow -- your dog was from Spain? What kind of dog was she? I was thinking that Leishmanisis was more of an African thing. Of course, I guess Spain is right there, isn't it?
 
I haven't had time to give it much thought yet, but I'm quite intrigued by all these reports on kids (especially under age 2 and especially in Asia) who are having seizures while having "mild" diarrhea symptoms (not enough to cause dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, blood sugar drop), often caused by the Rotovirus. The virus itself is not crossing into the brain...so...even mild cases are doing SOMETHING to the body, enough to trigger seizures in kids that don't have epilepsy. So...there you have the gut-brain connection with seizures.

We're not sure what the virus was that Jon (and my husband and I) got back in March. The incubation time was about 3 days (Jon got sick Friday night, and my husband and I both got sick at about the same moment on Monday afternoon). The docs thought it was Rotovirus, but by time they tested Jon for the usual pathogens (one week after he became ill), the virus had cleared his system (unless it was something they didn't test for), even though he continued having bad diarrhea. My husband was over his virus in less than 12 hours, and I was ill for about 2 days (unusual -- usually, I have a better immune system than he).

But...just wondering...if a mild Rotovirus or other GI infection can cause seizures in kids without epilepsy, what would a severe Rotovirus or other GI infection do to a kid who already had epilepsy? He didn't have any seizures during the acute illness -- just in the weeks following...maybe just a coincidence, but still....did it get some sort of massive snowball effect going?
 
Knox would probably be good in therapeutic dose; not sure if it's made from bone or just hide, nor am I sure which type would be best. Plain old Jello™ probably wouldn't contain enough gelatin to be very therapeutic.

I've read about parents giving their children "jello water" when they have stomach flu. Check out this video: http://www.ehow.com/video_4987247_cure-diarrhea-naturally.html (best to use only cool water)
Think I mentioned silica a while back as known to help with viral infection including vaccine reactions.

My girl was a Spanish Water Dog, here's a pic:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152133539785602&l=90839f6992

You can probably see why she inspired so much learning to try and help her and others . . . my heart goes out to you, Karen.
 
OH, yes -- Jello water. That was my Mom's cure back in the day when my brother used to have a lot of vomiting.

That's what we gave Jon when he was really sick back in March -- it was the only thing we could get him to drink. We'd mix a little gatorade in for electrolytes (a trick I learned when i was nursing my Mom through her final stages of cancer).
 
I was just reading that patients with Ulcerative Colitis have higher proliferation of the sulphate-reducing anaerobic bacteria. This overwhelms the oxidative enzymes, causes higher levels of hydrogen sulfate in the gut, which acts as a sort of poison, impacting nearly every body system, especially the nervous system (explaining link to seizures).

I also read that individuals with Down Syndrome have higher than normal levels of hydrogen sulfate.

I had all the links posted here, then accidently hit the wrong button and deleted them all. I think I'm ready for bed!!
 
Yes, I was just learning about that a couple months ago and have a good friend with UC. Maybe this is one of the links you tried to post:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12068199

People are saying propolis helps with UC, but I also think it makes the case for oregano oil and colloidal silver as studies show gram-negative bacteria more sensitive:
http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Have-Ulcerative-Colitis/1302844
http://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=1828752

Here's a study where I read the spore type is sensitive to propolis: https://ptfarm.pl/pub/File/acta_pol_2009/6_2009/681-688.pdf

I'm still learning about sulphate-reducing bacteria, there are so many types, some spore-forming and some not. There are many implications, most are over my head for now, including methylation. According to this new study, UC is low in bacteroides which are non-spore-forming anaerobes, so maybe sulphate-reducing spore-formers are overgrown making the case for propolis, a non-toxic natural product of bees: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22623042#

This also makes the case for fecal transplant:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12811208

This construct of spore-forming sulphate-reducing bacteria overgrowth may also explain why worm ova therapy works as worms probably vacuum-up this type of bacillus soil bacteria. I used to think worms were eating protozoan culprits as that's what their tiny mouth are designed to eat, but now I realize they're probably also eating SBOs (soil-based organisms) such as bacillus. They actually prefer this type! http://jeb.biologists.org/content/209/1/89.full

Here's another possibility of a different bacteria, "adhesive" E. coli, as cause of UC. In this case, propolis is also effective! Two links below describe the mechanism, but first here's an overview: http://gut.bmj.com/content/48/1/132.full

propolis used for anti-adhesion (probably why it reverses infertility in women with endometriosis):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261219/

On gram-negative bacteria in UC:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22968374

Study above reveals gram-negative bacterial overgrowth in ulcerative colitis. Gram-negative bacterial overgrowth is also associated with SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Toxins produced by gram-negative bacteria have function, but overgrown may cause leptin resistance including and maybe especially in the brain. In the hypothalamus are histamine receptors such as H3 associated with pleasure/addiction regulated by leptin. Leptin production is stimulated by bacteria. So, maybe some bacteria are increasing leptin which increases inflammatory histamine and mucin (mucus) in the intestinal lining. The study above shows low lactobacillus and also low Akkermansia which is somehow important to utilizing mucus for repair. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0016876

Gram-negative bacteria is said to have resistance to propolis possibly because "their outer membrane inhibits and/or retards the penetration of propolis": http://www.academicjournals.org/jmpr/pdf/pdf2011/30Sept/Hendi et al.pdf
http://www.academicjournals.org/jmpr/pdf/pdf2011/30Sept/Hendi et al.pdf

Oregano oil, on the other hand, is said to have good activity against gram-negative bacteria:
www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/39(2)/PJB39(2)609.pdf
http://www.wellnessresources.com/he..._bacteria_by_disrupting_their_cell_membranes/

Gram negative bacteria are also sensitive to colloidal silver, another natural antibiotic. There are basically two types on the market, ionic and regular. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15158396
 
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Gram-negative bacteria produce endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides or LPS) associated with both brain inflammation and diarrhea:
Brain: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871685/
Gut: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15637744
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17487261
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC442742/

By enhancing innate immunity, we can activate macrophage activity which is dampened by LPS.

I've researched chlorella a bit and found it naturally contains LPS and stimulates macrophage activity which is why it should probably be used with caution, however, studies show it helps the intestinal barrier and has activity against gram-negative bacteria. It seems possible, however, that chlorella may actually feed a protozoal infection.
 
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Will check out those links. Today I'm making homemade yogurt. We tried probiotics a while back, with no apparent results; however, the lady who published the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet" says that yogurt is a better medium. She recommends making homemade yogurt, as it doesn't have the additives found in the store-bought stuff. This works for us, because I can make it from cream, rather than milk, making it easier to calculate into Jon's diet. So...it's been going for about 5 hours now -- will have to see how the finished product turns out! Since Jon consumes cream anyway as part of his diet, it makes sense to ferment it -- it might help both with digestion and also introducing the good bacteria that hopefully will take on the bad guys.
 
Karen, have you ever researched the issue of oxalates and hyperoxaluria? There are many associations with seizure activity including photosensitive seizure, gastrointestinal symptoms and general metabolic problems including acidosis. Then there are also connections to society-wide problems such as addiction, especially alcoholism and sugar addiction. There are also implications regarding Down Syndrome related to vitamin B6 deficiency and oxalates of amniotic fluid:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2790743/
http://www.mayomedicallaboratories....scripts/2010/2010-2a-kidney-stones/2a-18.html

Here's a 1980 paper about oxalate crystals in eyes, "Ophthalmic manifestations of primary oxalosis":
bjo.bmj.com/content/64/10/782.full.pdf

This 1988 paper describes still mysterious problems on a mink farm due to oxalates of unknown origin:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1681064/

What's really quite strange is how all the signs and symptoms in hyperoxaluria are exactly like antifreeze poisoning (ethylene glycol). How very odd that the antidote for antifreeze poisoning is alcohol, including whiskey, vodka and gin. Relatedly, studies promote drinking beer to avoid kidney stones! Perhaps prevalent alcoholism and sugar addiction is largely self-medication to balance the body and avoid oxalate crystal deposition and all the terrible things that go along with it . . . basically, alcohol competes with ethylene glycol for the enzyme required (alcohol dehydrogenase) to make toxic metabolites which form crystals (oxalic acid and glycolic acid). There are also alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors such as controversial Disulfiram which is known to be anti-protozoal and used in ocular cancer treatment.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18696123
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disulfiram
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20648910

Low oxalate diet and learning about how imbalanced flora play a role in oxalate production and degradation may be important for everyone. This is one of those issues affecting everything. I'm still trying to learn about how oxalate crystals in eyes may be a factor in photosensitivity.

The study of oxalates in epilepsy is quite old; this 1856 paper talks about crystals in urine of epileptics:
http://books.google.com/books?id=cR...#v=onepage&q=oxalic crystal epilepsy&f=false

I believe there are many animals misdiagnosed by vets as having antifreeze poisoning because the presentation is the same as the more common hyperoxaluria. It's labeled antifreeze poisoning because it's unknown what really causes the problem: microbial imbalance.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC339239/

Associated with toxic and nutritional optic neuropathy is methanol (used by gut flora known as methanogens/archaea known to be high in anorexia where kidney stones and alcoholism are a problem), antifreeze, disulfiram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_and_nutritional_optic_neuropathy

Perhaps methane produced by archaea is made into methanol by overgrown proteobacteria (gram-negative) or some kind of methanotroph such as clostridium.
 
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Well, he doesn't have B6 deficiency (his nutritionist keeps on top of his levels) - probably because his supplements (formulated esp. for DS) are high in B6.

I'll have to look into the other stuff.

Reading about the higher levels (150% higher in one study) of hydrogen sulfide in Down Sydrome (higher levels also found in many patients with Ulcerative Colitis and other IBD) has given me a "hmmm" moment. I guess a little bit of the stuff is good for you (regulates blood pressure, etc.), but high amounts can be toxic, and especially toxic to the nervous system.

The overproduction of hydrogen sulfide in DS has been traced to a gene in the 21st chromosome. Some researchers in France are speculating that it may be the cause for the DS phenotypes. (Of note, Jon is missing a lot of the characteristic DS phenotypes -- doesn't have the line on his palm, has a lean body type, no fold behind the neck, no cardiac involvement, etc. -- his doctors missed that he had DS until he was 2 months old -- in fact, when most people are around him for a little while -- they know he has "something" -- but don't realize his has DS -- they usually just think he's autistic or something).

But anyway...what if...the overproduction of hydrogen sulfide, coupled with extra boosts of hydrogen sulfide production when his gut in off balance -- is the cause of his seizures to begin with?? He has had long periods of remission from seizures (between 1 to 2 years at a time, when only on a very low dose of meds, or even no meds and just the Keto diet). But he has also had chronic diarrhea -- off and on -- since age 1 -- so probably some sort of IBD. What I haven't done (until recently) is track whether the diarrhea flare-ups coincided with seizure relapse. I do know this -- the two times he had to be hospitalized with significant increase in seizures (every hour to two hours) -- it followed a bad bout of diarrhea (his doctors have attributed the seizure flare-up to malabsorbtion of meds, which is likely, but maybe the diarrhea itself played a role).

BTW -- the yogurt turned out beautifully, and delicious!! Jon loved it for breakfast this morning. Hope it helps.

I'm giving some thought to antibiotics, and the role they might play in seizure remission. Jon was hospitalized in March 2011 with seizure flare-up, diarrhea, and sinus infection (the sinus infection had been treated ineffectually with amoxycillin, which caused the diarrhea). In the hospital, they gave him ampicillin, a stronger drug. In his first 2 days in the hospital, he had 36 grand mal seizures, and then on day 3 he had 2 mild seizures, and then they stopped, and then he was COMPLETELY seizure free for almost one year (prior to the flare-up, he was averaging about 3 seizures a week).

That's pretty remarkable, to go from an average of 3 seizures a week, and 36 seizures in 2 days, to sudden and complete seizure remission.

Was it possible that the ampicillin tackled an over-proliferation of bacteria in his gut (which might have been causing an over-production of hydrogen sulfide, triggering seizures) -- and that reducing the gut bacteria (esp. the sulfate reducing ones) lowered the levels of hydrogen sulfide, thus putting him into seizure remission?? And then, the Ketogenic diet, which he had initiated about 6 weeks prior to the hospitalization, kept him in remission by keeping the gut bacteria in order (Keto diet very similar to Specific Carb diet)?

For the year that he was seizure free, he was also diarrhea free!

And then, this past Spring 2012, he got the stomach virus -- and then the trouble started again -- relapse of both seizures and chronic diarrhea.

So...antibiotics seem to be in order...maybe antibiotics along with my homemade yogurt?

I'm suspecting that the Keto diet and maybe yogurt/probiotics are good for keeping IBD in remission, but maybe something more is needed for a flare-up.
 
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Ok I'm confused after reading 10 pages of this thread. I thought it was on sunshine and seizures? Not trying to be rude, just an observation I made.

Note: This thread has since been split off from the original "Sunshine and Seizures" thread.
 
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