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Epilepsy and Food

Tue, 05/12/2009 - 17:00

Hi,

I am 26 years old and was diagnosed 4 months ago with generalized Epilepsy but have had grand mal seizures for 15 years of my life. Im on Keppra 2,000mg a day and doing great. Some side effects like headaches but no biggie. Anyways, I never went to a neurologist (until January this year) becuase I would link my seizures either to my period or food. I have noticed that my seizures get worse when I eat a lot or when I eat greasy food. Luckily I get deja vus, auras and I just feel I will get a seizure which mostly happen at night. My neurologist says that there are no food restrictions with epilepsy, but I just feel weird when I eat a lot or eat greasy meals. Has this happened to anyone? Please let me know.

BTW - I think this website is awesome. Having lived through many grand mals in my life and still be here telling my story has made me count my blessings. I always try to repeat to myself that my higher power does not give me something I cannot handle :)  Good luck to all!

Thanks,


Adrilu

Comments

Diet and greasy foods

Submitted by J.welsh on Thu, 2018-08-02 - 10:26
Frankly i find it odd so many if you claim greasy foods can cause seizures. I'm nearly 40 and been having seizures all my life meds never really helped me as they would keep some of the smaller seizures away but just doubled the grand mal ones. Doctors put me on a high fat diet and it almost completely stopped the big seizures learning warning signs has helped too. Such as if i been in sun to long get somewhere cool and shady. What Is the Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy? The ketogenic diet is an extremely high-fat diet that requires a child to eat four times as many fat calories as calories from protein or carbohydrates. A meal might include a small portion of chicken, a little bit of fruit, and a lot of fat, typically butter or cream. Frankly, it's a difficult diet to swallow. Been on this diet most my life i still have low cholesterol and am a size extra small in clothes. So i guess it really is just how each person's body reacts to different treatments

Re: Epilepsy and Food

Submitted by mattshelley on Wed, 2009-07-15 - 13:08

Dear Adrilu,

I have found that the spice nutmeg is an almost immediate trigger for some of my seizures. 5-30 minutes after I eat it. It was also a problem for my best friend as well. You would be surprised to find out how many foods it is in, and it is not required to be listed on labels other than in the general category of 'spices'. I have been nailed a number of times by foods that, at the time, I didn't suspect. I once got nailed by a particular brand of hot pepper sauce (who would have guessed that a hot sauce would have used nutmeg as a flavoring?).

 Unfortunately for me that means that a lot of foods that I really, really like are things that I can't eat. Ethiopian food, most Thai foods, a lot of barbecue sauces, Jamaican jerk seasonings, some Italian foods (cream sauces in particular), most curries, and worst of all, bratwurst (I'm from WI, this means I can never go home again.)!

At times, I am a real personal irritant to people at restaurants and food companies because of this.

I know that other things affect other people, but this one happens to be my own personal demon. I have simply learned that when I have a seizure, to write down everything I did before a seizure and try to figure out what I did just before that was different from other days.

 I'm also a mortal enemy of flashing lights, but that one is obvious because they feel like lightning strikes going off inside my head.

 Good luck,

Matt

Dear Adrilu,

I have found that the spice nutmeg is an almost immediate trigger for some of my seizures. 5-30 minutes after I eat it. It was also a problem for my best friend as well. You would be surprised to find out how many foods it is in, and it is not required to be listed on labels other than in the general category of 'spices'. I have been nailed a number of times by foods that, at the time, I didn't suspect. I once got nailed by a particular brand of hot pepper sauce (who would have guessed that a hot sauce would have used nutmeg as a flavoring?).

 Unfortunately for me that means that a lot of foods that I really, really like are things that I can't eat. Ethiopian food, most Thai foods, a lot of barbecue sauces, Jamaican jerk seasonings, some Italian foods (cream sauces in particular), most curries, and worst of all, bratwurst (I'm from WI, this means I can never go home again.)!

At times, I am a real personal irritant to people at restaurants and food companies because of this.

I know that other things affect other people, but this one happens to be my own personal demon. I have simply learned that when I have a seizure, to write down everything I did before a seizure and try to figure out what I did just before that was different from other days.

 I'm also a mortal enemy of flashing lights, but that one is obvious because they feel like lightning strikes going off inside my head.

 Good luck,

Matt

Re: Epilepsy and Food

Submitted by tenacious on Fri, 2011-06-17 - 02:14
Here  is to Matt who hates flashing lights ! Though I have not had a tonic clonic seizure in 4 years 7 months and 7 days I think police lights and camera flashes are putting me real close to having another seizure !!! Who is the ass that made police lights strobe lights !!!! Also  I avoid cameras like a Philly mobster !!! Additionally back to the topic, large meals definetly put me on the edge and my wife notices it but no one else does. My first seizure was at 46 and again at 47 and both were right after eating... at 52 I am still scared to death. 2000Mg Keppra a day, does it help or am I just lucky ?

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