Vitamin D deficiency cause seizure/epilepsy?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

Yeah I don't get much sun if ever...it's cuz I'm a creature of the night...

Currently trying to get into a daywalker schedule...so maybe I can get out there and make some V-D...the natural way

I was given a V-D prescription a while back...but I'm not sure what my levels are right now...I consume foods that are high in V-D though...

It's rough sometimes...but you do what you can :)
 
Forgot to mention that I've been taking this free V-D3 that I got at VitaminWorld...so yeah :)
 
I'm curious how much is too much. I was consistently taking 4000 IU a day, and despite that, on my last blood test I was deficient anyway, so I upped it to 8000. I know there is such a thing as TOO much vitamin D, but short of having your D tested every 2 months it's hard to know for those of us lay people with epilepsy how much to take!!

Don't let the dose tail wag the lab value dog. :)

As long as your vitamin D levels are within normal limits then it means you are not taking too much. Also, many antiepileptic medications induce liver enzymes that break down the active form of vitamin D so often times these patients may require higher vitamin D doses than patients who are not on any enzyme inducing medications.
 
many antiepileptic medications induce liver enzymes that break down the active form of vitamin D so often times these patients may require higher vitamin D doses

It tends to be the oldschool ones that are inducers, valporate is an inhibitor though, and newer ones don't tend to interact.

The Far-Reaching Influence of Hepatic Enzyme-Inducing Antiepileptic Drugs

One major distinctive feature of most new antiepileptic drugs is that they do not interact with cytochrome P450 (CYP450) liver enzymes, while in contrast, the classic antiepileptic drugs carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, and primidone are potent inducers and valproate is an inhibitor of these enzymes..

As more has become known about the CYP450 enzyme system, it is apparent that the system has a multitude of other functions, including the synthesis and breakdown of endogenous substances, such as vitamin D..
 
^ I agree, it tends to be older antiepileptic medications that are enzyme inducers. However, even a med like topiramate (Topamax) may have some impact on vitamin D or bone health. Topiramate is a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor which causes H+ retention with the net effect of often causing some mild acidosis. Not a terribly big deal in the short term but over long periods it seems to increase the chances of Rickets which I believe is secondary to low vitamin D. So pH can impact the vitamin D process as well.

Bottom line: I think it is a good idea for anyone with a seizure disorder to have their vitamin D levels checked at least at an annual physical. If your levels are 50-100 ng/ml for a couple of years in a row and you've had no change in any meds then you are probably ok to stop checking regularly.

On another note, there is very good evidence that has surfaced over the past ~10 years that vitamin D plays a large role in immune function. Just another reason to get it checked. :)
 
Might be why my last liver test was off a bit.
I was on phenobarb and zorontin for absence seizures.

On a brighter note, I do feel better now that I take vitamin D pills
 
To add to PharmD's comment, metabolic acidosis also lowers magnesium levels, which then lowers potassium and increases intercellular calcium and sodium (an electrolyte cluster @#@ that I've lived for a while). I will say over the past year I've been messing around with finding the right balance of vitamin D and magnesium--for a while I was on too high a D dose and could tell my magnesium was down, as hypomagnesemia drags down potassium (a chronic problem here) and causes muscle spasms, etc. But with the right D and magnesium balance my seizures are WAY down--by a huge factor. I now get mild seizures once a month (I'll let you figure that out :)) and I really attribute that to sorting out my D deficiency and electrolyte problems as much as switching to Keppra, since the switch to Keppra alone didn't do it.
 
I'm trying to balance my electrolytes as well.
I have had the most wicked muscle spasms that have lessened significantly since adding more vitamin D and adding potassium.
 
Shelley, if you have it sorted fantastic! If you still have an issue one thing to consider-- I was continually low on potassium and taking it and eating a rich diet wasn't addressing the problem. It wasn't until I added magnesium that I was finally able to get potassium up--in low magnesium environments, it's extremely hard to balance other electrolytes. I'm not sure if you are taking it but it's just a thought. Even if they test for magnesium, less than 2% of it is in the blood, the rest is intercellular, so serum tests can fail to let you know if you have a deficiency there. Just thought I would pass that along because that's what finally has made a big difference for me after almost a year of low potassium and electrolyte imbalances--muscle spasms and twitches finally stopped among many other things.
 
The doctor did a blood test and was not happy about my liver test.
She did a specific test for the liver, and said that it wasn't inflamed.
I'm not sure she was looking for the right thing.

I started with magnesium to control my seizures, but found that adding potassium and Vitamin D was very helpful.

I just wish I did this sooner.
 
Ditto--a year of myoclonic seizures, totally uncontrolled, that it turned out vitamin D, magnesium and potassium mostly resolved--and most importantly, going off Topamax, which was severely depleting me of all of the above.
 
I have been extensively studying vitamin D for many months, due to my own deficiencies.

Here is what I learned:

Your liver makes vitamin D from sunlight. If you do not have enough magnesium in your body, you will not make vitamin D, nor can your absorb it from a supplement; it will just pass through. So you Must have a magnesium supplement. If you have been magnesium deficient for more than a few months, your intestines will be damaged, which makes it harder for body to absorb mag from a mag supplement (consider powdered mag or skin applications such as oil or lotion). ALSO, you need adequte levels of potassium for magnesium to be 'activated', no potassium means mag and D supplements won't work. PLUS you need zinc, vitamin C, and B6 to have magnesium do it's job properly.

Summary: if you are low in vitamin D, start supplementing magnesium, zinc, B6, and C, and potassium.

A cheap potassium supplement is Cream of Tartar (yes in spice aisle). It is VERY high in potassium and super important you don't take too much. I get a small about about the size of a bb pellet, that's a daily dose (approx 1/32 teaspoon).

Before I learned of this, I was taking strong prescription level D supplements, and my D went from 29 down to 14 over course of a year. Since I started with the mag, etc, went from 14 up to 26 in two months.
 
I have been doing Vitamin D for a few months. I had been taking Magnesium by itself (with a multi vitamin) I then added Potassium after adding the vitamin D. I feel better.
Now I need to add zinc?
 
Zinc and mag work together, if not enough zinc then the mag depletes your calcium, which throws the potassium levels off...it's all so interconnected!

Yes, adding zinc is a good idea.

For those whom price is consideration: I get all my supplements at Dollar General, where they are $2 or $3 a bottle.
 
Zinc is a tough one though--there is a delicate balance between zinc and copper--too much zinc and you can have seizure issues, ditto with copper. If you are female, your copper and zinc ratios change monthly. I honestly don't know what the right supplementation is for zinc to not throw the balance off--for that reason, zinc is one mineral I have never supplemented.
 
I never heard of the zinc/copper connection. I have naturally just taken zinc like every 2nd or 3rd day, I assumed I was just forgetful...now I think maybe my body was trying to self-regulate.
 
Yes, it is all interconnected. This is why I prefer to get my supplements from natural sources instead of synthetic pills. I think this allows the body to do a better job of absorbing things and balancing it all out without overdoing any one aspect.

My daily supplements are these (what I'm working with right now)

One huge grapefruit off my tree for the Naringin
A banana or two from my garden for the potassium
Moringa capsules for Vit A , C, and calcium plus magnesium
Also magnesium trans dermal oil (Life-flo brand on Amazon) when I remember
Getting out of the house for at least and hour every day for Vit D sun treatment


The other thing about studies about people with E and vitamin deficiencies is that it is often difficult to say which is the chicken and which is the egg since several AEDs can deplete vitamin stores in the body and make it more difficult to absorb vitamins. So are the deficiencies causing the seizures or are the meds causing the deficiencies which probably are making the seizures worse?
 
Yes, it is all interconnected. This is why I prefer to get my supplements from natural sources instead of synthetic pills.

I'm a big fan of sunflower seeds and cashews for this very reason. They have zinc, mag, potassium, and trace minerals.

So are the deficiencies causing the seizures or are the meds causing the deficiencies which probably are making the seizures worse?

I think both. I think deficiencies cause seizures, and seizures cause deficiencies, and some meds can make the deficiencies worse, which can make the seizures worse, which makes the deficiencies worse...

Same thing with grief and trauma. Grief and trauma both zap all the nutrients from your body, which makes you depressed; depression also depletes nutrients. Grief, trauma, and depression cause you to not eat right, not remember to take a vitamin, etc, so you stay depleted. And lack of nutrients leaves you unable to cope with the stress, so you feel more stressed, high stress depletes nutrients...talk about vicious cycles!
 
Back
Top Bottom