My son is on carnitor for >6 years
Carnitor is a supplement usually given to kids on the ketogenic diet and patiënts with specific metabolic diseases.
Carnitine is produced by the body to help burning fats (lipides.) Kids on the ketogenic diet often need carnitene suppletion to help their bodies burn all the fats they have to eat to reach adequate ketosis.
My son gets two 330 mg tablets levo-carnitine (Sigma Tau) with each meal (3x 660 mg each day.)
There is a carnitene related type of epilepsy caused by low catnitene production.
I guess your doc wants to try it just like they sometimes try vitamine B6 to see if it helpes without checking for deficiencies first.
Most dieticians & doctors want to check carnitine levels before prescribing Carnitor to kids on the ketogenic diet.
To check blood for carnitene levels an expensive lab test is needed which takes several weeks.
My son has his blood tested for several things each 6 months because of the ketogenic diet but his carnitene levels are only tested once a year because of high costs.
Valporic acid in Epilim and Depakote can cause depletion of folic acid, carnitine, copper, selenium and zinc.
Depakote is not a med that 'mixes' well with the ketogenic diet - it is said to cause a type of 'competition' along the fatty acid pathways. Both treatments can lead to depletion of
carnitine stores, and carnitine plays an important part in fatty oxidation in the mitochindria. Meaning that if carnitine stores are depleted, the caloric fat from the ketogenic diet cannot be used efficiently as energy for the body and brain.
As already mentioned, both Sodium Vaporate and the ketogenic diet can deplete
carnitine and as both compete along the same fatty acid pathways a form of metabolic 'competition' between the 2 treatments can occur, meaning some kids can see full control being elusive until the SV is fully weaned.
But - there is also journal evidence to the contrary which suggests that the 2 can work well together so as with so many other issues with epilepsy, it is definitely not a 'one size fits all' thing, and guaging each child's responses etc on their own merit is usually the only way to know for sure how they will react.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.or...ull/114/6/1627
Although the use of the KD has been considered as an effective therapy for glucose transporter defect and for pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency, initial fasting was also considered important because it provided an opportunity to screen for some metabolic diseases that predispose to severe hypoglycemic and for some mitochondrial cytopathies that can be exacerbated by the KD.Fatty-acid-oxidation disorders have been considered contraindicated for KD treatment because of increased stress on the respiratory chain and tricarboxylic acid cycle functions. Examples include carnitine deficiency and pyruvate carboxylase deficiency.
Nevertheless, most patients with underlying metabolic diseases can be identified by screening laboratory analyses and a characteristic clinical course. It is noteworthy that the KD has been used successfully in some patients with oxidative phosphorylation disorders and mitochondrial disorders such as Leigh's encephalopathy. Furthermore, some mitochondrial cytopathies can be relieved by the KD.
