Working out and 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!

H

Hopper

New
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Points
0
So, I've recently started working out at the gym.I had Complex Partial Seizures, haven't had them in last 6 years or so, but occasionally I have tics, but no loss of consciousness. I am drinking 300mg of Depacote, I'm in process of getting off my medicine.

In the gym, I do Stronglifts 5x5 training, which consists of 5 sets with 5 repetitions, 3 exercises in total, 3 times a week. I started very light weight, and I increased gradually. And I do cardio after working out, 30 min walking uphill. Does working out harms me, in a way that can cause seizure?

I don't put 80 kg on bench, when I can lift 30, I mean, I work within my limits. Can that induce seizure?
 
For some people exercise can induce seizures. For me it never has and I lift in my basement gym 3 or 4 times per week.

If exercise does not make your seizures worse then it should only improve your health.
 
Last edited:
There lad on tv weight lifter he had e about as bad as gets he started doing the weights competing and is e threshold changed to hardly anything
 
Sugar! Sugar! and more Sugar! and I learned the hard way.

I know many people do, but not everyone has a problem with seizures induced from low sugar, but I certainly do. If I put off eating breakfast, skip lunch, or just spend the whole day at the mall walking for hours, I would begin to have small twitches in my eye or other parts of my body. In effect I realized low or high sugar can induce seizures for me.

So when I started working out at the gym, I noticed a few hours after working out I felt great, but then a few more hours later I would have a seizure. At first I didn't think anything of, but it happened repeatedly, so I looked up an article about working out.

The article mentioned that our muscles continue to burn carbs and sugar after working out, and that yogurt or an apple is good to eat after a day at the gym. So I did just that, I ate an apple every time after a day at the gym, or spending the whole day out and about at the mall or the beach.....and seizures and simple partials went away.

I eat healthy and watch my carb intake, but I make sure I don't get too stingy or too loving, with giving my body sugar.
 
I do find pushing myself too hard in the gym can trigger nocturnal seizures (which would be 8-10 hours later). I still am a "gym rat" but before epilepsy reared its ugly head 6 years ago, I used to be able to do much heavier weight and could do more reps and more sets. My cardio is now fast walking on the treadmill at a significant incline rather than running. Do I still have nocturnal seizures? - yes, but it may be because there are cumulative factors on some days and I cannot just blame the workout.

As the poster above said, don't limit your carb intake too much (if you are at all) and eat a carefully balanced diet. I am currently experimenting with increasing my protein intake: I have always eaten enough for my age/weight/gender and activity level, but usually at the lower end of the spectrum and am working on increasing it to the upper end.

I would suggest using weights and doing cardio far below your abilities for a period of time - whatever time-frame covers when you would usually have had a couple of partial seizures. This might help you sort our whether working out is contributory to seizures. The biggest problem in doing this, though, is that other factors can come into play during test period that might be seizure triggers for you, so do your best to avoid those so you get a clear picture of how just the workouts themselves are contributing.
 
It really seems to vary a lot from person to person, so it's important to go slowly when changing up your exercise or diet, and listen to how your brain and body respond. It can be extra-important to pay attention to electrolytes and hydration, particularly if any of your meds affect your body in that regard.

Some CWE threads you might find of interest:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/epilepsy-exercise-7974/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/weight-training-1413/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/weight-lifting-epilepsy-9398/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/exercise-epilepsy-21262/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/meds-exercise-23061/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/seizures-induced-exercise-24120/
 
Hopper said:
I work within my limits. Can that induce seizure?
Click to expand...

I would always say, "Ask your Nero". I do some intense mountain climbing, and my Nero said it's fine for my condition. He said, just make sure I get enough sleep before I go climbing. Sounds sensible to me. :ponder:
 
If I over exert myself I will tend to have a seizure. I know this isn't actual exercise but I was doing some serious house cleaning these last two weekends. When I was done for the day I was so tired I could barely move. Both days after I had at least one seizure.

The best exercise that worked for me was walking, usually a mile a day. I think it was because there was really no body stress after I was done.
 
Thanks everyone! Now I can go to the gym without thinking whether or not it will increase my seizures :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom