Mitochondrial disease and seizures

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MichaelJO7

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Epilepsia partialis continua (Continuous partial epilepsy) is a condition where the seizures occur in individuals for hours on end. For me, they have ranged from two to over four hours. They are quite rare for me, however. During two of these seizures, I was taken to the hospital, in a desperate attempt to figure out what was going on and find relief. My blood pressure elevated to 190/135 for prolonged periods. Eventually the seizures ended leaving me exhausted. Continuous partial epilepsy is considered uncontrollable, and mitochondrial disorders are untreatable as well, if you believe what you read. The mitochondria are considered the energy/power supply centers of the cell.

In addition, I go through extented periods where my skin is sensitive to sunlight and will initiate seizures. These seizures end shortly after I am out of the sunlight. I recently went through many months of the sunlight directly causing seizures through this process. This occurs because the skin uses sunlight to produce vitamin D, and the radiation of the sun emits heat. It is the UV rays that are primarily involved in this process. The sun reacts with the mitochondria in the cells and initiates chemical reactions. The chemical reactions change the extracellar and intracelluar polarity. These changes initiate electrical signals to the brain along the dendrites and axons of the nervous system and travel through the brainstem. The subsequent brain voltage disequilibrium leads to seizures, whereby the excess energy is released and brain homeostasis is again achieved.

There are certain medications which are mitochondrially activating. These medications come with warnings to that extent. These medications may cause a burning sensation on the skin from (instantaneous exposure to sun).

There are people who are "allergic" to sunlight.

Fortunately for me, I am now only experiencing pain after minimal exposure to the sun. It is a significant improvement to experiencing seizures from sunlight. I do not as yet know what is responsible for the decrease in me epidermal reactivity.

UV radiation is extremelly penetrating, I think. I had other adverse, potentially life threatenting physiological reactions which I am still in the process of properly articulating.

I am wondering if anyone has researched mitochondrial disorders further.

Mitochondrial disorders can be diagnosed via muscle biopsy and genetic testing.
 
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I have a mitochondrial/metabolic disorder. Muscle biopsies are not the only way to diagnose it, as sometimes they can be negative when a disorder is present. Genetic testing can help diagnose a specific mitochondrial disorder if the genes that play a role in mito and metabolic diseases are already known. However, there are many diagnoses of mitochondrial diseases made by specialists in this field based on symptoms and physical findings alone because a particular person either has a strange variant of a known mito disease or a completely new one.

Don't get caught up in the web of self-diagnosis when it comes to mitochondrial and metabolic diseases. Seek a proper diagnosis by seeing a specialist who focuses his/her work in this area.
 
Michael,
Have you ever looked into the writings of Dr. Terry Wahls?
She did a TED talk presentation that was really remarkable. She refers to her protocol as, "Minding your mitochondria" and it has turned her personal case of MS around.

And before anyone starts jumping up and down to point out that her success doesn't guarantee anyone else's success, yeah, yeah, yeah. It also doesn't mean it wouldn't work. And it doesn't mean it isn't worth checking out.
 
and mitochondrial disorders are untreatable as well, if you believe what you read. The mitochondria are considered the energy/power supply centers of the cell.

From:www.mitochondrialdiseasenews.com

Mitochondria are the power plants of the human cell and use oxygen to create energy from the food we eat. They produce about 90 percent of the energy the body uses. Dysfunctional mitochondria fail to produce enough energy for cell function and can cause the body to have a “power shortage.” This shortage can affect organ function in any system of the body. As a result, mitochondrial disease takes many forms and is difficult to diagnose.


I am wondering if anyone has researched mitochondrial disorders further.

Mitochondrial disorder has been researched more, as it is common in disorders such as epilepsy, Diabetes (which I also have), and Alzheimer's.

Primary mitochondrial conditions are rare, but has there are hundreds of these disorders, they collectively affect at least one in 5,000 individuals. Mitochondrial dysfunctions also play a role in conditions such as epilepsy, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and even human aging.
 
Fortunately for me, I am now only experiencing pain after minimal exposure to the sun. It is a significant improvement to experiencing seizures from sunlight. I do not as yet know what is responsible for the decrease in me epidermal reactivity.

After giving further thought to my skin's reactivity, there is only one variable that changed, which suggests a correlation.

I began using a vasodilator (rescue inhaler) shortly before my reactivity to the sun decreased. I think it is possible that the inhaler decreased mitochondrial stress (and subsequent reactivity) by providing greater oxygenation to the mitochondrial cells.
 
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