| |  | | Nocturnal Siezures
Answered by: Susan Eagles
Question from: Liz
Posted on: July 8, 2000
I believe in herbs a lot. About 3 years ago I started with nocturnal seizures. My brother died sudden 3 years ago and I was in denial and these seizures started due to that. I am currently on neurontin. I take 1200 mg a day. I want to get away from it because I don’t like pills and it’s getting pretty expensive. I am trying to research to find stuff to take it’s place. I did find that magnesium will play a big role but I know there is more. Can you help me? There are not many more places I can go for the answers.
I advise you to work with an experienced natural health practitioner who can take your full case history, work out a treatment plan for you and monitor your progress. It is harmful to stop your medication suddenly. The drug must be reduced gradually, taking a few weeks to get used to each reduction in dosage, while nourishing nerve tissue with food and herbs and taking other measures to reduce seizures. If a seizure occurs at the lower dose, you must go back to the prescribed dose.
Seizures are caused by sudden increases of electrical activity in the brain. It is important to work on nourishing the nerve tissue with the diet, supplements, physical exercise and breathing exercises.
Some of the factors that will be taken into account by a natural therapist will be:
Diet: avoid stimulants such as tea, coffee, colas and chocolate; consider food allergies and food sensitivities; eliminate toxins in refined foods and sweeteners containing aspartame which can cause seizures; certain foods such as oats nourish nerve tissue; other foods provide the vitamins and minerals required for nerve function.
Blood-Sugar: low blood-sugar can trigger seizures. Herbs and diet can balance blood-sugar levels.
Adrenal glands are affected by stress, and can trigger seizures. Herbal support for the adrenal glands may be recommended.
Supplements: vitamins B and E, calcium and magnesium may help to control seizures.
Herbs: Skullcap and oatstraw nourish nerve tissue; other herbs, such as Valerian and Passionflower calm the nerves.
Lifestyle counselling: physical exercise improves blood flow, and thus nourishment, to the brain; relaxation exercises to reduce stress.
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