Nocturnal seizures/trying to reduce them w/o meds

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kcr357

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Anyone have success reducing seizures by changing diet/using supplements/exercise? I have a seizure about once every three months, and the doctor mentioned the meds had a pretty significant effect on your mental functions, as well as being toxic to your liver. At this point, Ill deal with a chewed up tongue and muscle pains over that. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea years ago, but since I got back to the gym, it has been very mild. It was actually too mild for me to participate in an apnea study.

I seem to be able to notice when one is coming, roughly. I have partial daytime events where I feel like my consciousness is separating from my body, and I have this overwhelming urge to say something/anything. But normally Im alone so...not really any point in talking to myself. Those, and my memory getting fuzzy, usually precede a full nighttime event. Im not sure on the kind of seizure, I wake up not knowing who I am, where Im at, and have a feeling of dread. But yeah, there no question that one actually occurred.

So anyway, Ive read about Gaba helping with them, I imagine losing more weight would help, maybe some nose strips, too. Any other suggestions?
 
Hi kcr357, welcome to CWE!

Some people have found that switching to a low-carb, low glycemic index, or gluten-free diet has helped to reduce their seizures. You might want to give that a shot. There's more info here about the low-carb Modified Atkins Diet here:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news...ins_Diet_Can_Cut_Epileptic_Seizures_in_Adults
http://www.atkinsforseizures.com/

Taking supplements can be trickier, since they are not well-regulated. There's some general information here about natural approaches and nutrients that may help: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17397265

Best,
Nakamova
 
As far as diet caffeine causes me to have seizures. I didn't realize this right away but I know it happens with other people too.

I love coffee and strong coffee. I'd have 3 cups or maybe an espresso and end up having seizures. I've cut down to decafe on just about everything. A soda with caffeine in it once in a while is ok but I still have to watch with the coffee. For some reason they usually seem to bring one on.
 
valeriedl said:
As far as diet caffeine causes me to have seizures. I didn't realize this right away but I know it happens with other people too.

I love coffee and strong coffee. I'd have 3 cups or maybe an espresso and end up having seizures. I've cut down to decafe on just about everything. A soda with caffeine in it once in a while is ok but I still have to watch with the coffee. For some reason they usually seem to bring one on.
Click to expand...

How long does the seizure proceed drinking caffeine?
 
kcr357 said:
How long does the seizure proceed drinking caffeine?
Click to expand...

Depending on how much and strong the coffee is it may be only a few hours or longer.

About a month ago I had 3 cups of coffee with my grandma, who lives next door, and she makes it strong. When I got home, I know it was about an hour later, I had a seizure. I'm not sure how bad it was. I was home alone when I had it so I don't know if I blanked out or not, but I know I had one.

If I drink a good bit at night I may have one the next day. I don't know if it's because I don't sleep good with all that caffeine in me, not getting enough sleep caused me to have seizures, or if it was because of the coffee.
 
Ok, thanks. Coffee, for me, doesn't seem to be doing it; at least not on the terms it is for you.
Exercise seemed to help, but the g*d d*mn seizures make getting to the gym hard. It takes a couple days to recover from one.
 
Well, just don't go to sleep. :D

Actually, would more wholesome sleep help? Maybe get some melatonin in your diet? My partials would act up when I was low on sleep and I've only had tonic clonics at night. The more sleep for me, the better.
 
kcr357 said:
Exercise seemed to help, but the g*d d*mn seizures make getting to the gym hard. It takes a couple days to recover from one.
Click to expand...

I know what you exactly mean. I have to be careful as to how intense the exercise is, but that's not easy to judge because other triggers (whatever they are) play a role so what is "too intense" for exercise one day is fine another. My seizures are nocturnal, and like you prevent me from exercising for a couple of days if it was a strong one. And going back too soon is a trigger for another one . . .
 
Hi,
Several things that helped put an end to my nocturnal seizures included the amino acid L-Taurine, getting off all dairy (lactose acidosis can trigger seizures), going on a gluten, caffeine, and dairy free diet. Magnesium and calcium supplements were also helpful as well as relaxation techniques. I suggest trying a Google search on each of these items with epilepsy to find more information. Also, it always is a good idea to check with your pharmacist or health care advisor about any risks in using supplements, to be sure it's safe and won't interact with any meds you are using.
 
kcr357 said:
It takes a couple days to recover from one.
Click to expand...

After I have a seizure I'll pass out and sleep for a while. Depending on how bad the seizure was I can be worn out for a day or two. I hate it because all I want to do is sleep.

I usually don't know if I've had a seizure unless there is someone there to see it. If I'm alone and have a headache then I assume that I've had a seizure but I haven't been getting headaches after all of them for a while now.

Over the last few days I've been sleeping a ton. I normally get up around 9 but I've been getting up around 10:30. I always take a nap in the afternoon from around 1 to 3 but these naps have been going till around 7 in the evening. My husband has asked me if I've had any seizures (because this is normal aftereffects) but I don't know if I have or not?
 
I usually chew my tongue, so there's that....Also, Im noticing you sleep a lot as well. Do you have trouble sleeping or apnea or something?
 
I don't have any problems sleeping and I don't think I have sleep apenea. I don't snore, that I know of, which I know is one sign of it. I'm pretty sure that my husband has it because he snores like crazy and VERY loud. One of the reasons we started sleeping in separate bedrooms because of that. Wondering if my cat could have it? You should hear the way he snores! - lol

I have a pretty much normal sleep schedule that doesn't change much. Go to bed around midnight, sometimes later. I wake up at 7 to take my meds and feed the cats and it takes me a while to fall back asleep after that. Then I get up at 9 for the day and have that nap in the after noon. My meds make me pretty tired and I know that's why I do sleep as much as I do. Just those few days I was sleeping a ton. Back to normal again.
 
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Oh, ok, I was confusing your after seizure sleep sched. with normal. My mistake.
 
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