Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle

NY Times ^ | November 17, 2010 | FRED VOGELSTEIN

[neverdem]

Once every three or four months my son, Sam, grabs a cookie or a piece of candy and, wide-eyed, holds it inches from his mouth, ready to devour it. He knows he’s not allowed to eat these things, but like any 9-year-old, he hopes that somehow, this once, my wife, Evelyn, or I will make an exception.

We never make exceptions when it comes to Sam and food, though, which means that when temptation takes hold of Sam and he is denied, things can get pretty hairy. Confronted with a gingerbread house at a friend’s party last December, he went scorched earth, grabbing parts of the structure and smashing it to bits. Reason rarely works. Usually one of us has to pry the food out of his hands. Sometimes he ends up in tears.

It’s not just cookies and candy that we forbid Sam to eat. Cake, ice cream, pizza, tortilla chips and soda aren’t allowed, either. Macaroni and cheese used to be his favorite food, but he told Evelyn the other day that he couldn’t remember what it tastes like anymore. At Halloween we let him collect candy, but he trades it in for a present. At birthday parties and play dates, he brings a lunchbox to eat from.

There is no crusade against unhealthful food in our house. Some might argue that unhealthful food is all we let Sam eat. His breakfast eggs are mixed with heavy cream and served with bacon. A typical lunch is full-fat Greek yogurt mixed with coconut oil. Dinner is hot dogs, bacon, macadamia nuts and cheese. We figure that in an average week, Sam consumes a quart and a third of heavy cream, nearly a stick and a half of butter, 13 teaspoons of coconut oil, 20 slices of bacon and 9...

[TruthSetsUFree]

Thanks. I’ll have to check it when I KNOW my sugar is low, and see if I can tell a difference between my normal pulse. Our bodies speak to us, if we will but listen. :)

[jimt]

Remember, you can only consume 40% of your caloric intake in proteins ~

What rule book is that in ?

This type of diet, with less fat and much more water, is an excellent weight loss diet (The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet - Stillman/Baker). Expensive, but it works.

If it is so successful in controlling epilepsy, it deserves wider use.

[muawiyah]

excess protein intake ~ worth checking that phrase on the internet. Depending on duration, circumstances and a number of other factors you can suffer harm, or no harm at all.

There is a recommended daily allowance also.

You cannot get away from eating fats and oils ~ they trigger production of the enzymes that enable you to dispose of triglycerides and the precursors to triglycerides.

[muawiyah]

Notice, though, the "nutritionists" want us to increase our carbs by reducing our proteins, fats and oils.

Maybe they all work for "BIG SUGAR", or do they imagine we'll kill fewer animals to eat.

[editor-surveyor]

Feeding their local Duckter!

The more people that overdose on carbs and become insulin-resistant, the richer the Duckters and Pharma-poison manufacturers get.

Dumping all carbs does wonders for one’s state of mind.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***What exactly is an “Aura” like?***

Everything is normal, then you suddenly have this feeling of absolute terror or doom of something unknown.
Your mind is flooded with what seems like unfinished dreams of terror when something seems to “click” in your brain.

You hear bells, for me it sounds like a roulette wheel arcade game and the bells slowly fade away.

Then your mouth is filled with a metalic taste, like copper.
As all this fades away I experience split vision and see double for a few minutes till it clears up.

I had a large number of these auras in one day. That night in my sleep I had a massive grand mal seizure that lasted twenty minutes. Cracked my scapula, threw my back out of place, chewed up my tongue for twenty minutes before I came out of it. I was unaware what had happened and saw people in my bedroom. I yelled at the wife “Who are these people in my bedroom!”
She said “You have had a seizure and these are the first responders to help you!”

Then suddenly I realized my shoulder, back and scapula were hurting beyond hurt! I had cracked them in my seizure.

I now take Tegritol to control the seizures. It works!

[editor-surveyor]

I remember going through the metalic taste when I was about 3 or 4 years old and had whooping cough. My tongue felt like it was bigger than my mouth too. Happened several times during the night. Also had a high fever at the time.

[Mad Dawg]

Let me know how it works for you.

I remember saying to myself, “So THAT’s what they mean by ‘thready’!”

[luckystarmom]

After my daughter had her grand mal, she was put on keppra. Several times, she complained of having a metallic taste in her mouth, and then she just went into rages. I wonder if she was having some sort of partial seizure. The episodes went away when she switched to lamictal.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

I’m trying something similar to keep weight off. It has not been easy. I was eating mostly meats, cheeses, and veggies, and — for breakfast — low-carb cereals. My bowels locked up, so now I eat raisin bran and flavored yogurts (high in carbs, unfortunately), so that fiber and bacteria will keep this nightmare at bay.

[Red in Blue PA]

Anyone know if there is an epilepsy ping list?

TIA