A little while ago I posted about diet changes I've made since my diagnosis of Epilepsy. One of the things I have taken out of my diet almost 100% is bread. This was more of a personal option (rather than a medically advised one) because of the effects it has on the way I feel health wise. Painful stomach, bloating and extreme tiredness being the most obvious.
Out of habit I just don't buy bread anymore from the supermarket so it's never at home for me to eat. I'm not really strict about not eating it so during my week's stay at my mum's I ate bread without really thinking anything into it. Simply because that's what everyone else was having and it was readily available. Sure enough the pains returned in full force. I can't really explain how it feels... Maybe like I've swallowed a ball whole and it's squeezing through my stomach stretching it to bursting point? Gross thought but that's the way it is.. It even hurts to hold my stomach in and straighten my back!
Anyway I REALLY don't want to go to my doctor about it as I'm fed up with the place as it is let alone going for something that might not really be necessary. So I googled whether it would be in anyway harmful to eat a fully gluten free diet without certain medical reasoning. And funnily enough a neurological condition forum popped up and low and behold seizures where a MASSIVE subject. After reading through a few different subjects and posts on this forum the gist I got was that there are many people who really think that eating a gluten free diet has significantly decreased the amount of seizures they or someone they know experience. This being experimented with being on the same dosage of medicine on both a 'normal' diet and gluten free.
I'm going to mention it in my neurology appointment on Tuesday just to see if they have any further advice on the matter :) I'm not going to go fully gluten free until then. But afterwards I think I will try it out and see what effect it has as long as they don't strongly advise me not to.. we shall see.
There are other foods that I think I naturally don't eat very often because I subconsciously know that they make me feel horrible. These being pasta, cake etc. Although not to the same extent, the more I think about my diet in the past the more I realise that they to make me feel awful. Hmmm...
I suppose it's just some food for thought (Haaa get it!!... apologies it's been a long day..)
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Jade! so nice to read your blog, which I found while google-ing about epilepsy and gluten sensitivity. I also have epilepsy, I was diagnosed at 16 with primary generalized epilepsy (i have absence, myoclonic, and some of what I think were complex partial (staring with lip smacking)) I was well controlled on medication (lamictal, then depakote, then back to lamictal, then back to depakote last spring) until last year when i started having periods where my brain feels really crappy (days to weeks). BUT last spring my brother was diagnosed with celiac disease and it got me thinking about the gluten/epilepsy relationship. I think it could affect us two ways: Either we could be gluten insensitive and THAT is causing the seizures or we are gluten insensitive which leads to malabsorption of nutrients AND medicine leading to breakthrough seizures or having to take a higher dose than necessary. WHat did your neuro say about it? I have an appointment tomorrow and I am going to broach the subject as well. (I live in the U.S.) WHEW I wrote a book but it was so refreshing to find your blog!
ReplyDeleteHi Thanks!! Sorry for taking so long to get back to you... It's been an ultra busy week! To be honest I can't remember what they said (comes with the memory like a siv thing!) did they mention anything in your appointment? I did get tested for celiac disease but it came back negative... but after I cut out gluten it made such a huge difference to me in general so I guess I'm pretty sensitive to it, but I'm not sure it made much difference to my seizures to be honest. I can't really tell because my drugs don't control my seizures and they are just all over the place! I do know that with eating gluten I get super tired and feel very ill so that in turn makes for more seizures! Let me know your findings!! Hope you're good at the moment :)
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