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Memory loss & muscle cramps
Fri, 12/23/2005 - 12:15Comments
Re: Memory loss & muscle cramps
Submitted by raffles on Tue, 2010-06-01 - 00:45
Hello, Jenn,
I came across this site while researching a possible link between epilepsy (or at least seizures) and foot cramps. Not for myself personally, but I have two spaniels who are mill rescues. Both of them get foot cramps (probably from having spent the first three to six years of their life with nothing to walk on but the wire of their cages). One of the dogs also has seizures.
The other dog has had foot cramps ever since I adopted her, but this one has just started having cramps with her seizures. She will have a short seizure, then seem to recover, then start all over again, but with the cramps. I might not have realized about the cramps if not for my other dog. Because of her, I know how the paw seizes up.
I do not use conventional medication for them ( I believe that phenobarbitol is most commonly prescribed), preferring alternative remedies which do not have undesirable side effects.
For the cramps, I use the Bach flower essence 'Impatiens'. I also give both dogs a calcium supplement, as insufficient calcium intake can bring on cramping.
For the seizures, I use something called Doc Ackerman's Epilepsy and Seizure Formula. Here is a link to it. You might find the ingredients helpful, as it contains calming herbs which are used regularly by humans to relax the nervous system. In addition to that remedy, I give them avena sativa (wild oats - like in oatmeal) capsules. Avena is a nerve tonic. I also use the herb skullcap (also spelled scullcap), which for some reason is not included in the Ackerman formula.
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=6ed0989e-5ee6-454e-a85c-0a8750d75abf
I am sure that you are right about the link between seizures and cramps. One might even think of cramps as mini-seizures, localised to a particular limb. I am now beginning to wonder about the relationship between the seizures and the foot cramps. Do they simply occur together, or does one cause the other? If there is a causal effect, which causes which?
I cannot offer any insight on the memory loss, as I cannot ask my dog about it. As for the Reynaud's, I myself have had it for years - without having epilepsy or seizures. But over the past few years, I have seen an increase in leg and foot cramps.
I did some online research, and it seems that your Raynaud's might not be coincidental. I found an article in the BMJ (British Medical Journal), about what they call 'secondary Raynaud's phenomenon'. The article - most of which is in technical medical language, incomprehensible to me - says that a study has shown that "Secondary Raynaud's phenomenon occurs in association with underlying disease, including neurological disorders. We describe Raynaud's phenomenon in patients with sympathetic denervation due to primary chronic autonomic failure."
They talk a lot about the "autonomic nervous system", so I looked that up on Wikipedia, and found it to be "the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as a control system functioning largely below the level of consciousness, and controls visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal. Whereas most of its actions are involuntary, some, such as breathing, work in tandem with the conscious mind."
Here are the links, in case you should wish to follow up on them:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7129/438
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_nervous_system
Hello, Jenn,
I came across this site while researching a possible link between epilepsy (or at least seizures) and foot cramps. Not for myself personally, but I have two spaniels who are mill rescues. Both of them get foot cramps (probably from having spent the first three to six years of their life with nothing to walk on but the wire of their cages). One of the dogs also has seizures.
The other dog has had foot cramps ever since I adopted her, but this one has just started having cramps with her seizures. She will have a short seizure, then seem to recover, then start all over again, but with the cramps. I might not have realized about the cramps if not for my other dog. Because of her, I know how the paw seizes up.
I do not use conventional medication for them ( I believe that phenobarbitol is most commonly prescribed), preferring alternative remedies which do not have undesirable side effects.
For the cramps, I use the Bach flower essence 'Impatiens'. I also give both dogs a calcium supplement, as insufficient calcium intake can bring on cramping.
For the seizures, I use something called Doc Ackerman's Epilepsy and Seizure Formula. Here is a link to it. You might find the ingredients helpful, as it contains calming herbs which are used regularly by humans to relax the nervous system. In addition to that remedy, I give them avena sativa (wild oats - like in oatmeal) capsules. Avena is a nerve tonic. I also use the herb skullcap (also spelled scullcap), which for some reason is not included in the Ackerman formula.
http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/product_detail.aspx?item_guid=6ed0989e-5ee6-454e-a85c-0a8750d75abf
I am sure that you are right about the link between seizures and cramps. One might even think of cramps as mini-seizures, localised to a particular limb. I am now beginning to wonder about the relationship between the seizures and the foot cramps. Do they simply occur together, or does one cause the other? If there is a causal effect, which causes which?
I cannot offer any insight on the memory loss, as I cannot ask my dog about it. As for the Reynaud's, I myself have had it for years - without having epilepsy or seizures. But over the past few years, I have seen an increase in leg and foot cramps.
I did some online research, and it seems that your Raynaud's might not be coincidental. I found an article in the BMJ (British Medical Journal), about what they call 'secondary Raynaud's phenomenon'. The article - most of which is in technical medical language, incomprehensible to me - says that a study has shown that "Secondary Raynaud's phenomenon occurs in association with underlying disease, including neurological disorders. We describe Raynaud's phenomenon in patients with sympathetic denervation due to primary chronic autonomic failure."
They talk a lot about the "autonomic nervous system", so I looked that up on Wikipedia, and found it to be "the part of the peripheral nervous system that acts as a control system functioning largely below the level of consciousness, and controls visceral functions. The ANS affects heart rate, digestion, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, micturition (urination), and sexual arousal. Whereas most of its actions are involuntary, some, such as breathing, work in tandem with the conscious mind."
Here are the links, in case you should wish to follow up on them:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/316/7129/438
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_nervous_system
Re: Memory loss & muscle cramps
Submitted by jennifahnewc on Mon, 2009-08-10 - 20:07
This is so weird to me, I've been diagnosed with Epilepsy since I was 5 years old. I am now 26 and not on any medication (took myself off it in college so I could function up to par with the rest of my classmates). I have been getting horrible cramping in my feet with very little movement that lasts hoooours for about 10 years that I can remember. I also have horrible short and long-term memory, which I blame on the seizures themselves since I'm not on any medication anymore. I ALSO have developed Reynaud's syndrome in the last 10 years, which I find to be very coincidental. I know you posted this quite awhile ago but if you've found any answers to your problems or any information at all, please let me know - I am very interested!