Is there a link?
MaraDiaz
Posts: 4,604 Member
As we know, ketogenic diets were originally developed to treat seizures.
It also stops me from wanting to binge and overeat and seems to have that effect on a lot of other people, too.
Interestingly, one of the drugs used to treat binge eating is also used to control seizures:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/binge-eating-disorder/DS00608/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs
"The anticonvulsant topiramate (Topamax). Normally used to control seizures, topiramate has also been found to reduce binge-eating episodes. However, potentially it can cause serious side effects, so discuss these risks with your doctor."
So I wonder. Is there a tie in somewhere in our brain chemistry between binging and seizure activity? And should binge eaters try low carb first instead of drugs?
It also stops me from wanting to binge and overeat and seems to have that effect on a lot of other people, too.
Interestingly, one of the drugs used to treat binge eating is also used to control seizures:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/binge-eating-disorder/DS00608/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs
"The anticonvulsant topiramate (Topamax). Normally used to control seizures, topiramate has also been found to reduce binge-eating episodes. However, potentially it can cause serious side effects, so discuss these risks with your doctor."
So I wonder. Is there a tie in somewhere in our brain chemistry between binging and seizure activity? And should binge eaters try low carb first instead of drugs?
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My psychiatrist actually recommended low carb instead of drugs for my binge eating. The trigger was always carbs for me even after my intestinal surgery and I would be sick for days after eating carbs.
I'm thankful that both my therapist and my family doc treat with diet first and then drugs.
I've found since being low carb I've had few to no desires to binge eat. Even if I have a potato chip here and there, I still dont want to binge. I think there is a change in brain chemistry but I cant be 100% sure without undergoing some kind of tests and who knows if any such tests exist.0 -
My psychiatrist actually recommended low carb instead of drugs for my binge eating. The trigger was always carbs for me even after my intestinal surgery and I would be sick for days after eating carbs.
I'm thankful that both my therapist and my family doc treat with diet first and then drugs.
I've found since being low carb I've had few to no desires to binge eat. Even if I have a potato chip here and there, I still dont want to binge. I think there is a change in brain chemistry but I cant be 100% sure without undergoing some kind of tests and who knows if any such tests exist.
I'm glad to read that at least some professionals are recognizing alternatives to drugs for some things. I really hope researchers are also looking at a possible link between seizures and binging and will develop tests. We can see seizure activity in the brain, why not binge activity? Whoops, found this: http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu/news_room/dallas-researcher-studies-brains-role-in-binge-eating Some researchers are working on that part anyway.
Binging is so out of the ordinary, so compulsive and so atypical of ordinary eating behavior. I know it might be partly fueled by evolution (hunter gatherers stuffing their faces because they don't know where their next meal is coming from) but if it were only that, would there be such specific triggers and specific cravings?0 -
My psychiatrist actually recommended low carb instead of drugs for my binge eating. The trigger was always carbs for me even after my intestinal surgery and I would be sick for days after eating carbs.
I'm thankful that both my therapist and my family doc treat with diet first and then drugs.
I've found since being low carb I've had few to no desires to binge eat. Even if I have a potato chip here and there, I still dont want to binge. I think there is a change in brain chemistry but I cant be 100% sure without undergoing some kind of tests and who knows if any such tests exist.
That's really interesting!0
