Article - Yvette's Story

In September 2007 when I first read about the Atkins Diet being used for children with Epilepsy, I was experiencing between 4 & 8 seizures on average per day. I would also experience Continuous Auras for extended periods. Sometimes the auras would only last a day, but sometimes they would continue for as long as 2 weeks & as you could well imagine, this severely affected my day-to-day functioning both at home & at work.

At the time I was taking Lamictin (Lamogtrigine). When I discussed my Aura/Seizure Patterns with my consulting Psychiatrist, the solution offered was to yet again increase my dosage of Lamotrigine. This however I found to be totally unacceptable. I knew there had to be an alternative ... So thus began my search and this was when I read about the success stories in the reduction of seizures in children on the Atkins/Ketogenic Diet.

There was one small snag however, there wasn't much information available ito adults successfully using the diet, but I wasn't going to let this hinder me. I proceeded to gather as much information as I could on the Atkins/Ketogenic Diet & then I began experimenting with the Diet by systematically introducing elements of the Atkins/Ketogenic Diet into my eating plan. Amazingly, I soon noticed a marked reduction in the presence of Auras/Seizures, but, I was still using the Lamictin and was therefor not entirely sure whether the change in my Seizures were due to the Diet or not, so I then began to wean myself from the Lamictin. This I did over a period of 3 months while carefully monitoring my Seizure Patterns.

Anyway, to cut a long story short ... It is now Jan 2011. I am totally Med-Free & to-date still on my own tried & tested version of the Ketogenic/Atkins Diet & am happy to report that my Seizures have been successfully reduced from the initial 4 - 8 episodes per day in 2007 to a total of 8 Seizure Episodes for 2010. As for the ongoing Auras I used to experience, well these too have been drastically reduced.

On my journey from then 'til now, I have found the following activities etc to be certain triggers.

- A reduction in my daily intake of "fats"
- Playing Mahjongh on my PC (lead period to Seizure Activity being 72hrs)
- Working on Oracle's eBusiness Suite (CRM Modules)
- Lavender

I have also found that should I start experiencing Auras, eating some Peanut Butter most definitely does help in reducing the auras and has even on occasion prevented the onset of a Seizure.

I sincerely hope someone benefits from my experiences & I would be more than willing to share the knowledge I have gained with anyone who would like to know more.

Regards

Yvette (Pretoria, South Africa)

Please Note:  This article is not intended as medical advice.  What worked for Yvette may not work for others (for example, for one reader of this website, peanut butter is a huge seizure trigger).