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Controlling seizures without medication
Wed, 04/22/2009 - 13:27I hope that this does not turn out to be a controversial subject.
Let me just start by saying that I don't know what kind of seizure disorder I have. I have had only 3 EEGs between the time I was 19 and now 35.
After the first EEG, my doctor told me I had epilepsy and put me on Tegretol. I took the medication only for a year, and then moved over to Klonopin, which I have taken ever since. When I was 22, I had another EEG, and the doctor told me I was fine. I was living overseas at the time of my 2nd EEG and I really can't vouch for the expertise of the doctor.
Despite what the doctor told me of my EEG, my seizures continued and had never stopped.
The seizures I was having were incredibly breif lasting only a second or two. My eyes would roll back into my head, I would NOT fall to the ground. I'd lose muscle control from the neck and above, and kind of twitch my head back and forth with very small jerks that were almost unnoticeable.
In any event, I was sick with the flu recently, and during my doctor's visit, I had one of these seizures, and he insisted I see a nuerologist again.
I had an EEG and MRI, and I've been told again that I have a seizure disorder. I just started taking Lamictal.
I'm very keen to how my body responds to foods, stress, and specific situations.
If I were able to simply avoid all the situations that trigger my seizures which in most cases are stress-induced, I believe that I could live seizure-free without medication.
But that is not possible. What IS possible - is for me to overcome the situations that trigger my seizures with a different mental outlook. Although I have not been able to successfully change my mental approach to the situations that cause my seizures all the time, I have had success in many instances.
To sum it up, I strongly believe that it would be possible to take control of my seizure disorder through a non-medicated approach. Perhaps my seizures are just different. I don't even know at this point what kind of seizures I have. All I know is that both of my EEGs in the US showed with certainty that I have a seizure disorder. I have left a message with my doctor today, to get more information on his diagnosis, and will post it here when I receive that information (see below).
I will continue taking my Lamictal. What I want to know is if anybody agrees that it could be possible to correct a form of seizures with a non-medicated mental approach; any doctors or patients?
I am not a scientologist. In fact, I'm not even sure what their approach to a seizure disorder is. I am just stating what I think I have the power to do, and want to find out if anybody shares those ideas.
Update
I spoke with my doctor today. The seizures that I have been having are simple and complex focal seizures.
Comments
Re: Controlling seizures without medication
Submitted by GREG1958 on Wed, 2011-11-09 - 08:02
Hi all, well i have read the comments, and i too have epilepsy (controlled) And would like to offer my experiences with you to hopefully help. I was born with it and had grand mal siezures until 1977 when my meds changed for the fifth time, and the things that remained the same was the depressive feelings, lack of short term memory, a feeling of lack of self worth, inc pre-conceived ideas of what people thought about me and in some cases i was right.. And it wasn't til the 90's that things started to improve, and this is where i want to help, as to help the people that have epilepsy and their partners to understand my journey, and hopefully start your own enlightening journey.. :-)
One of my first lessons was that the good old brain can only make energy from two sources, sugars or water, and that the good old brain runs a lot smoother on the hydro-electric power WATER my second lesson was that the brain is two thirds cholesterol, and i find that a high fat diet helps ME not everyone, but worth a try then in this Century i had major leaps in terms of knowledge and it becoming my power.. The following is imperative for you to take on board in order to make significant progress.. YOUR DOCTOR does not understand nutrition like you hope he does, this i got educated on, also i read the side effects related to my meds, and also googled the ingredients MSDS reports for information. One time my doctor changed my meds and i nearly had a seizeure the next thing i did was read the side effects guess what one of the side effects was...... oh SIEZEURES umm
The next one was an eye opener, now if your one that likes FRUIT and still has seizures, Citrus fruits are natures CLEANERS and looks after your insides, but the bit that's the killer is that my meds are not natural to my body, so the fruits were cleaning out the meds, making them less effective, so since i stopped the citrus fruits i feel better.. :-)
Another side effect was that my meds absorbed BLOOD CALCIUM and i learned without Calcium or sufficient quantities leading to weak muscles, so i rectified that one too by upping my calcium intake with high quality supplementation, my short term memory was effected too, again education and action.
I feel that there are a lot of people suffering, due to what i call TOTAL DOCTOR DEPENDANCY. and no other idea of where to start. what ended up being my solution was GETTING EDUCATED cos you can't leave it to your doctor. Find out what works best for you then go with it. and don't be afraid to tell ya doctor HE'S WRONG if that's how you feel
I really hope that this post helps people like i have been helped
through education, this has made, as i don't fear fits, mo memory
issues, no weak muscle issues, no depression issues, HOW because i got
educated FOR ME now i am trying to share my experience to help others,
doing things differently might work for you but trial and error is the
key, and when your on the right track, keep going...Personally i find
for me and med it's a blend of meds, nutrition, supplementation, and to some
part an un-healthy diet, this allows me to be siezure free and be able
to work aswel. That's my trade off and my doctor and practice nurse
don't understand this, they think it's my excuse for the weight problem i
have. But when i asked them if i change my routine to theirs and i have
seizures will you PAY MY BILLS guess what the answer was CLUE it wasn't
yes. Also this blend has allowed me to reduce my MEDS NOT FREE OF
THEM. for me i find some of the best foods are eggs and butter, but as i
have read others find avoiding these types of food helps. Although here
we are sharing information on what works for us, while letting others
see, there are different ways that work it's, an individual thing and
finding what works for you innit
QUOTE... All success is 99% failure. And getting it right ONCE 1% :-)
Greg UK
Hi all, well i have read the comments, and i too have epilepsy (controlled) And would like to offer my experiences with you to hopefully help. I was born with it and had grand mal siezures until 1977 when my meds changed for the fifth time, and the things that remained the same was the depressive feelings, lack of short term memory, a feeling of lack of self worth, inc pre-conceived ideas of what people thought about me and in some cases i was right.. And it wasn't til the 90's that things started to improve, and this is where i want to help, as to help the people that have epilepsy and their partners to understand my journey, and hopefully start your own enlightening journey.. :-)
One of my first lessons was that the good old brain can only make energy from two sources, sugars or water, and that the good old brain runs a lot smoother on the hydro-electric power WATER my second lesson was that the brain is two thirds cholesterol, and i find that a high fat diet helps ME not everyone, but worth a try then in this Century i had major leaps in terms of knowledge and it becoming my power.. The following is imperative for you to take on board in order to make significant progress.. YOUR DOCTOR does not understand nutrition like you hope he does, this i got educated on, also i read the side effects related to my meds, and also googled the ingredients MSDS reports for information. One time my doctor changed my meds and i nearly had a seizeure the next thing i did was read the side effects guess what one of the side effects was...... oh SIEZEURES umm
The next one was an eye opener, now if your one that likes FRUIT and still has seizures, Citrus fruits are natures CLEANERS and looks after your insides, but the bit that's the killer is that my meds are not natural to my body, so the fruits were cleaning out the meds, making them less effective, so since i stopped the citrus fruits i feel better.. :-)
Another side effect was that my meds absorbed BLOOD CALCIUM and i learned without Calcium or sufficient quantities leading to weak muscles, so i rectified that one too by upping my calcium intake with high quality supplementation, my short term memory was effected too, again education and action.
I feel that there are a lot of people suffering, due to what i call TOTAL DOCTOR DEPENDANCY. and no other idea of where to start. what ended up being my solution was GETTING EDUCATED cos you can't leave it to your doctor. Find out what works best for you then go with it. and don't be afraid to tell ya doctor HE'S WRONG if that's how you feel
I really hope that this post helps people like i have been helped
through education, this has made, as i don't fear fits, mo memory
issues, no weak muscle issues, no depression issues, HOW because i got
educated FOR ME now i am trying to share my experience to help others,
doing things differently might work for you but trial and error is the
key, and when your on the right track, keep going...Personally i find
for me and med it's a blend of meds, nutrition, supplementation, and to some
part an un-healthy diet, this allows me to be siezure free and be able
to work aswel. That's my trade off and my doctor and practice nurse
don't understand this, they think it's my excuse for the weight problem i
have. But when i asked them if i change my routine to theirs and i have
seizures will you PAY MY BILLS guess what the answer was CLUE it wasn't
yes. Also this blend has allowed me to reduce my MEDS NOT FREE OF
THEM. for me i find some of the best foods are eggs and butter, but as i
have read others find avoiding these types of food helps. Although here
we are sharing information on what works for us, while letting others
see, there are different ways that work it's, an individual thing and
finding what works for you innit
QUOTE... All success is 99% failure. And getting it right ONCE 1% :-)
Greg UK
Re: Controlling seizures without medication
Submitted by medo on Thu, 2011-02-10 - 13:19
hi,
i have had seizures since i have been a teen, i have been on tegretol, topiamate, lamectal, but the last 2 are for mood moderators, i have also learned that i have bipolar disorder. thru all of this, i have learned that Gabba has helped me tremendously!!
when i first got on tegretol they put me on it 7 {200 mg} a day! along with 3 dialantins a day, they didn't know what was wrong with me, i had to figure which one i had!! LOL a school project! **grin** but over the years i had slowly pulled myself off of pills, i noticed that when i was over medicated i twitched more, on "monthlys" i have more problems {i take 1 more tegretol til its over} and i have no problems.
now i have started a brand new regimend. i have started taking gabba complex. i take 3 pills morning and 3 night, that takes place of tegretol, and i take topiamate. i now have no problems except for the tingling sensation still, but no headaches like i used too.
if you want to find out if you can control them w/o meds, what i did, is i took 1 pill away {in retrospect i would have done it 1/2} for a week, if it works and you do good, then you can go to the next one, most of the time i waited for 2 weeks, and that was only because if something bad happend it always did on the 3rd day for me.
the next thing, eating is very important, you need to find foods that are high in gabba. google them. they are mostly the dark vegies if i remember right. also leaving out the fatty foods and dairy as much as possible.
then, excersize, walking as much as possible, or what ever, just make sure that you are doing something to make your pulse come up!! don't over do it, this helped "tire out" the extra energy in that causes the seizures, i don't know how to explaine it other than that. if i don't do the excersize then i have problems, if i do then i'm good to go. when i don't i get these kinda like screechy squeales in what i imagine is little veines in my head and i can feel it too. and i also have really hard jerks and almost drop to the ground. sometimes almost into a seizure. sooo, i am very careful about the "excersize".
I hope that any of this is useful to you! my hubs freaks when i mess with my meds, but i tell you, i dislike being on medicine! LOL and i know that i can find a way to treat it with food and mood modification, BUT...LOL {we have the worrying hubs! **grin**}
sooo still searching! :'} good luck and i hope you find your answer!
hi,
i have had seizures since i have been a teen, i have been on tegretol, topiamate, lamectal, but the last 2 are for mood moderators, i have also learned that i have bipolar disorder. thru all of this, i have learned that Gabba has helped me tremendously!!
when i first got on tegretol they put me on it 7 {200 mg} a day! along with 3 dialantins a day, they didn't know what was wrong with me, i had to figure which one i had!! LOL a school project! **grin** but over the years i had slowly pulled myself off of pills, i noticed that when i was over medicated i twitched more, on "monthlys" i have more problems {i take 1 more tegretol til its over} and i have no problems.
now i have started a brand new regimend. i have started taking gabba complex. i take 3 pills morning and 3 night, that takes place of tegretol, and i take topiamate. i now have no problems except for the tingling sensation still, but no headaches like i used too.
if you want to find out if you can control them w/o meds, what i did, is i took 1 pill away {in retrospect i would have done it 1/2} for a week, if it works and you do good, then you can go to the next one, most of the time i waited for 2 weeks, and that was only because if something bad happend it always did on the 3rd day for me.
the next thing, eating is very important, you need to find foods that are high in gabba. google them. they are mostly the dark vegies if i remember right. also leaving out the fatty foods and dairy as much as possible.
then, excersize, walking as much as possible, or what ever, just make sure that you are doing something to make your pulse come up!! don't over do it, this helped "tire out" the extra energy in that causes the seizures, i don't know how to explaine it other than that. if i don't do the excersize then i have problems, if i do then i'm good to go. when i don't i get these kinda like screechy squeales in what i imagine is little veines in my head and i can feel it too. and i also have really hard jerks and almost drop to the ground. sometimes almost into a seizure. sooo, i am very careful about the "excersize".
I hope that any of this is useful to you! my hubs freaks when i mess with my meds, but i tell you, i dislike being on medicine! LOL and i know that i can find a way to treat it with food and mood modification, BUT...LOL {we have the worrying hubs! **grin**}
sooo still searching! :'} good luck and i hope you find your answer!