epilepsy & lchf diet

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I have epilepsy & read tonight about going into keto. And how a lchf diet, no alcohol, sleep, low stress and exercise could reduce the need for high levels of medicine or potentially remove medication all together. Has anyone else read this or know about it?

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  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
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    I've read up on it, but mostly in children. Medicinal ketogenisis seemed to be stricter than nutritional ketogenesis. Beyond that, I don't know much.

    I wish you luck with it! I hope it helps.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    See my answer in your other thread

    and http://www.charliefoundation.org/
  • Ceratopsy
    Ceratopsy Posts: 2,100 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I also have epilepsy and my neuros basic take on it was "keep your blood sugar in check" low blood sugar for me leads to seizures. So low alcohol, low caffeine(dehydrating), lots of rest, low stress/gentle yoga, and careful with blood sugar has me on a lower dose of meds. Seizure free for 2 months :)
  • mlinton_mesapark
    mlinton_mesapark Posts: 517 Member
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    My 6-year-old daughter has mild epilepsy, for which she takes Trileptal. She still has very mild seizures from time to time (only during sleep). Without medication, she has grand mal seizures.

    Since I started LCHF back in May, and made some minor tweaks to the family diet, her seizures have been less frequent. We cut her sugar significantly, though she still eats grains. I try to steer her toward lower carb fare when I can. Most of all we try to avoid the stack-up effect of her having multiple sugary treats in one day, because that seemed to correlate with increases frequency/intensity of seizures in the past. She has a fairly early bedtime these days, 8:30pm. She hasn't had a seizure in over a month, maybe two.

    I'd be curious to know how LCHF works out for you @KatoGirl73. Best of luck!
  • KarlaYP
    KarlaYP Posts: 4,439 Member
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    I don't have anything to offer on the epilepsy side of things, but I feel that everyone should give this way of eating an honest try, for two months. Usually, switching that time frame one will see if it "works" for them. Best of luck to you! I don't believe your blood sugar would be an issue with LCHF either. :smiley:
  • Lillith32
    Lillith32 Posts: 483 Member
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    Robb Wolf had a huge article on it on his website today. According to him it's been tested and all, but surf over to his website to read the article.
  • nicintime
    nicintime Posts: 381 Member
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    Please take your time and research this way of eating and make sure you understand it well.

    In my experience a casual or occasional approach with a ketogenic diet does NOT work well - for any desired outcome.

    Thus my pet saying that "dancing around the edges of low carb doesn't help long term".

    Good luck!
  • petunia773
    petunia773 Posts: 473 Member
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    I work in a fairly large medical facility and the neuro department at times prescribes a ketogenic diet for adults and kids as part of their neurological treatment plans and I want to say it's for patients with epilpsy but I am not 100% sure. I don't know the details and am only familiar with this practice because they consult pharmacists to determine carb content of medications the patients may be on.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    fwiw, I've also read of the benefits of adding bioidentical progesterone for epilepsy control.

    Good luck!
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
    edited October 2015
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    petunia773 wrote: »
    I work in a fairly large medical facility and the neuro department at times prescribes a ketogenic diet for adults and kids as part of their neurological treatment plans and I want to say it's for patients with epilpsy but I am not 100% sure. I don't know the details and am only familiar with this practice because they consult pharmacists to determine carb content of medications the patients may be on.

    Considering that the ketogenic diet was created as an epilepsy diet, I imagine that's true...
  • DittoDan
    DittoDan Posts: 1,850 Member
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    KatoGirl73 wrote: »
    I have epilepsy & read tonight about going into keto. And how a lchf diet, no alcohol, sleep, low stress and exercise could reduce the need for high levels of medicine or potentially remove medication all together. Has anyone else read this or know about it?

    Yes, its a proven in children. Since 1922. It has to do with the ability of Ketones to fead your brain better than glucogen (sugar based energy). If you google ketogenic and epilepsy, you'll probably get 100's of thousands websites.

    If you are wondering WHY you haven't ever heard of this before, just watch this movie on YouTube for FREE. It stars Meryl Streep and is a wonderful movie. It hits home with me and my life ~ how doctors do not have any "nutritional" training and always go for pills and surgery.

    If you watch the movie, have a big box of kleenex with you (happy ending).

    First Do No Harm, A video that shows how the Ketogenic diet cures epilepsy. Meryl Streep

    This movie is linked to the Charlie Foundation (Bob mentioned above).

    I hope this helps,
    Dan the Man from Michigan
    Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
    Current weight: 198.5, 115.5 pounds down, 19.5 to go. 13 months on diet
    It's Ketogenic or Bariatric Surgery! How I Found the Ketogenic Diet
    Previous Discussions on the LCD & Keto Groups
    Blog #10 Keto: Abbreviations, Acronyms & Terminology Used on the LCD & Keto Discussion Groups Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Sub Groups Blog
    Blog #13 DittoDan's Milestone's, First's And Good Changes Since Starting the Ketogenic Diet Updated
    DittoDan's Keto Blogs
    How I got Off of Diabetic Prescriptions Drugs Since I Started Keto Updated
    Blog #11 Really Good Keto Websites
    Low Carb Discussion Group on MFP (LCD)
    Ketogenic Diet Discussion Group on MFP