After talking to a famous epileptologist, I learned that calcium is really a two-edged sword. Which surprised (and scared) me.
I’ve always read that calcium was imperative if you were taking anti-epilepsy drugs — especially Dilantin. Even if your doc “forgot” to tell you!
MSG can be responsible for long term neurological damage.
It’s been linked to diabetes, stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, stomach disorders, fatigue, depression, headaches and migraines, grand mal seizures, irregular or rapid heartbeat, nausea and vomiting, numbness in the fingertips, autism, ADHD, asthma-like symptoms, fibromyalgia type pain, disorientation and confusion, and degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
I never met anyone with epilepsy until I was 29. And that was a best friend of my husband’s. (Which may explain why my husband didn’t freak out when I had a seizure on our first date!)
That was it. Beginning and end…
For a long time, depression has been thought to be a complication of epilepsy.
“People with a history of depression have a 3 to 7 times higher risk of developing epilepsy. This kind of information is forcing us to take a second look at the interaction between depression and epilepsy” said Dr. Andres Kanner, a Professor of Clinical Neurology and Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center of the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine.
Compared to others, I know I’m very lucky, but the concussions really stink.
And the anxiety never goes away.
A strong relationship between migraines and epilepsy has long been suspected.
But now it is fact, according to extensive research cited by Steven Karceski, MD in Practical Neurology Magazine.
When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy back in 1969, the availability of AEDs was limited.
Phenobarbital or Dilantin.
Pick your poison.
I chose Dilantin. It was not a pretty picture.
I was a walking zombie, constantly keeling over, and the final insult was when I went into a coma because of toxic blood levels. (No brain, no pain?)
But many have their own serious tales to tell. Here are some of their experiences. And some advice…
All of us have dreams. Some become reality…and some stay in our imaginations forever.
For me, quite simply, it was my grandfather.
After all, I was a pariah. A leper. (No one would say the “E” word.)
I’d never achieve anything. My life was over.
Even though it had just begun.