The Seizure Shield Blog

Can gut health affect seizures?

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Sun, 29 Aug 2021 11:13:44 GMT

Can gut health affect seizures?

The bacteria in the digestive system are known as the microbiome. This microbiome has been shown to produce bi-products (or metabolites) that can influence inflammatory pathways for good or for bad. Either increasing inflammation or regulating immune responses, depending on the type and balance of bacteria present.

This great 2-minute video talks about the role of the microbiome in inflammation and how this can affect other areas of health. Including a comprehensive approach to what can affect the microbiome. Watch this video with the thought in mind that seizures are associated with inflammation, asking the question "can gut health influence seizure health?"

And, if this sparks your interest to know more, then check out our previous blog on inflammation .

Part 1: Surprising reasons for brain inflammation

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 16:23:33 GMT

Part 1: Surprising reasons for brain inflammation

When someone is diagnosed with epilepsy the first thing they commonly want to know is “what caused this”.

The majority of epilepsy is actually idiopathic – of unknown cause. And this can be one of the hardest things to deal with emotionally when receiving an epilepsy diagnosis. As human beings we like logic and to understand the why of something, especially when it comes to our health.

But a neurologist will also look for causes of brain injury or inflammation. And even if we never know the specific cause of brain inflammation, it can be useful to think of seizures as being a sign of inflammation. Allowing us to take an approach to health focused around reducing inflammation and providing nutrients for brain healing and repairing.

One thing I have come to realise though is that the body is brilliant at disguising and coping with inflammation, especially if we have lived with it for a long time that it has become our norm. Below is Part 1 in our discussion of reasons for brain inflammation that may surprise you.

1: The role of the digestive system

With over 70% of our immune system in our digestive system, it is the most likely place for immune activation and inflammation to occur in the body.

Equally, the gut, and the bacteria that it contains, are directly able to communicate with our brain. So, if the immune system in the gut gets activated it starts to release inflammatory compounds that can directly affect the brain and our brain chemicals.

One way general immune activation directly affects the brain is in the production of serotonin, a calming happy brain chemical. Serotonin is produced from a type of protein called Tryptophan, but when inflammation occurs tryptophan is more likely to get converted to a chemical called Quinolinic Acid. This chemical is a neurotoxin used in animal studies to trigger seizures, and increases the effect of stimulating glutamate on the brain ( low-glutamate diets to reduce seizures are currently being studied ).

So, inflammation in the body results in less happy serotonin chemicals, and more seizure triggering toxins such as Quinolinic Acid, potentially increasing risk of seizures and depression .

Importantly, many people don’t realise they have digestive issues. 15 years ago I had no digestive pain, no perceivable changes in digestive function, but I started slowly losing weight because I wasn’t absorbing nutrients. It took 2-3 years before discovering why this was happening, and even at it’s worst I still had no digestive symptoms.

So, if you are experiencing health symptoms that relate to brain inflammation, don’t dismiss the role of your digestive system, even if you don’t experience digestive symptoms. Get checked out by a professional .

If you're wanting help and assistance with your health, then book your FREE call to Discover how we can help .

Why you may be more at risk of seizures this time of year, and what to do about it

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 11:51:04 GMT

Why you may be more at risk of seizures this time of year, and what to do about it

As so often happens with our health, something has to happen quite a number of times before we go “hey hang on this has happened before when…”

This was the case for me and my seizures. It took many years before I suddenly saw the pattern…

Most of my seizures happened in the spring, often between February and May!

I asked the doctor about when my childhood seizures first happened – and when they dug out my case notes there it was again, spring time.

Well as a nutritionist I know that I see many more clients at this time of year with health problems, particularly autoimmune problems. And the less sunshine we have had the previous year the earlier the flare-ups start in people’s health.

So you might have seen the word sunshine and made the connection – yes it’s the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D.

Studies have shown that vitamin D levels are lower in groups diagnosed with epilepsy than in non-epileptic control groups. This is the case even in those just diagnosed who have not yet started any medications, so it’s not a side-effect of the medications.

Vitamin D levels can be affected by how much sunshine we get, but also by genetics and how good our bodies are at producing active forms of vitamin D in the body.

The trouble is vitamin D plays so many roles in our body, that it can affect our health in many ways when we don’t have enough. To name but a few - Vitamin D acts as a hormone in the body, is needed to absorb magnesium from our diet (which helps calm the body, relax muscles and supports GABA receptors), and it acts as an anti-inflammatory. When inflammation has been associated with the origin and continuation of seizures this is one nutrient we don’t want to risk being without.

So why does this suddenly show up in spring time? Well, our bodies make vitamin D in the summer months, and because it is a fat-soluble vitamin we store it in our liver for our body to use later. The trouble is we stop making much vitamin D from about September onwards. Then come November/December time we have used up most of our stored supplies of vitamin D. This is one of the reasons why in the New Year through to about May time there is always an increase in general ill-health and hospital admissions for conditions such as the flu and pneumonia.

For those of us with a predisposition towards seizures, lower vitamin D levels may be just one extra risk factor too many and we might see an increase in seizure frequency during this time of the year.

What to do about this – Check with your pharmacist first as there may be interactions with your medications that affect what dose you can take, or when you take any supplementation. But taking 2000 IU a day of vitamin D as a supplement from September to May can be a really good way to ensure sufficient vitamin D at this time of year. This may also be written as 50mcg or 50mg, which is the same dose as 2000 IU (International Units). Another option you can discuss with your pharmacist is taking a larger dose once a week, instead of daily, if this makes it easier to fit in around multiple medications.

If you want to know more, then book your FREE call to Discover how we can help .

What's the best diet to help with seizures?

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Sat, 16 Jan 2021 17:41:47 GMT

Wh at's the best diet to help with seizures?

This is a difficult one to answer. The obvious answer to this question is the ketogenic diet, but as I go on to explain, I don't believe this is the only answer.

The ketogenic diet has been studied sufficiently in children for it to be recommended as a medical option for treating seizures, especially those non-responsive to medications. One of the reasons this is not immediately recommended for everyone is because it is a very complex diet to follow, that requires medical supervision to achieve safely, with a high-level of patient support and with regular blood-tests to ensure no deficiencies or problems are created by the diet.

The ketogenic diet can have amazing results for those that it works for, but unfortunately, it is not always the answer for everyone.

The reason I say that I don't believe it is the only dietary answer is because I believe that each person is an individual with different factors underlying their health, requiring individual and unique approaches to their diet and health changes. This is a functional medicine approach, looking at root causes of health and the body/person as a whole.

Equally, I don't believe that only addressing diet will address all ill-health. As an experienced nutritional therapist, and as a woman living with seizures who has been through her only dietary journey, I know the powerful impact that the right diet can make for someone. However, I have also seen many times that this needs to be supported by a comprehensive approach to total wellness, including how to manage stress and emotions. This is why I have also trained in other therapies, ensuring clients get the comprehensive approach they need to succeed in optimising their health.

I would say the best diet to help with seizures is the one that works to give YOU the optimal overall health that you need to enable your body and mind to work in the best way it possibly can. YOU ARE UNIQUE as a person, with individual genetics, and specific health factors and immune responses that have evolved through your own particular life experience.

Importantly, I would always say, if you live with seizures and want to try changing your diet, then always gain professional help and support before making any changes. Trying elimination diets and reintroducing foods can trigger strong unwanted reactions (including seizures in those with this predisposition), as well as potentially creating a long-term restrictive diet that may not be needed by you as an individual. Utilising investigative laboratory tests and professional knowledge can help to create a diet that provides maximum support to your health, is safe to implement, and uses dietary modifications that are personalised to you.

For further help and support, explore our blog, or try our free guide to start you on your journey of furthering your knowledge about you and your body. Click here for 3 Easy things women living with seizures can change today

5 easy ways to increase your energy when living with seizures

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 19:56:26 GMT

5 easy ways to increase your energy when living with seizures

Exhaustion doesn’t just stop you doing the things you want to achieve, it also affects those around you. You often just want to sleep when you could be joining loved ones in spending time together.

You deserve to have more energy, and your family and loved ones deserve to have a you with more energy. Imagine taking these easy action steps, even if one at a time, and waking up to a future where you can create the kind of memories you and your family want to have. Imagine achieving all those things you have been wanting to do for ages. Because you have the energy to do so!

When feeling tired and exhausted all the time you just want someone to give you more energy, magically. Although I can’t quite do that, I can give you these 5 easy steps you can make, without needing lots of energy or effort, and that will help increase your energy levels.

1: Get more morning light

All of our energy levels, whether feeling awake and alert, or feeling tired and sleepy, are determined by our body-clock. And our body-clock is determined by light levels. So get more daylight, and less night time light!

This can be as simple as changing where you sit - getting outside for 10 minutes in the morning with a cup of hot tea or coffee. Try and get your light within the first hour of getting up, if not as soon as you can afterwards. If you live in a wet and dreary place, and getting outside in the morning really doesn’t appeal, then get yourself a SAD light, and sit in front of it whilst you eat your breakfast.

2: Block the night time light

Make sure your bedroom has good blinds or curtains to block out light from outside, but also make sure it is not full of light sources such as digital-clock displays, tablets, kindles, TVs, telephone lights, TV remote lights. Even if it requires a roll of tape to cover all those little indicator lights, make sure your bedroom is designed for sleep, and dark! Especially if living with seizures, you may be more sensitive to light at night.

And if you want to continue watching TV or looking at screens before bed then get yourself a pair of amber glasses to block the especially stimulating blue light – read more about this and where you can get a cheap pair of glasses to try, in our great Free Guide .

3: Eat more magnesium rich foods

Magnesium is essential for the body to be able to make energy, but it also gets used up by stress or when muscles are active such as during seizures. Eating foods rich in magnesium, such as a handful of nuts or seeds, adding canned beans to a soup or curry, snacking on houmous, and including green vegetables in meals, can help provide the body with the building blocks it needs to make energy. And dark green vegetables don’t have to include cabbage and sprouts, it can be rocket and watercress salad leaves, broccoli, fresh herbs, mangetout, pak choi, green peppers, anything green!

4: Tweak your breakfast

It doesn’t have to be major changes with this, but it is the one meal that has the most impact on your health and your energy levels. So, it is worth getting it right. Even just adding a protein rich food before your breakfast will make the world of a difference. For instance, eating a handful of nuts, leftover chicken, or a hard-boiled egg, before your cereal/toast can make a big difference to energy levels throughout the day. For more information on how to improve this further, sign up and get our Free Guide .

5: Lower inflammation

There are many ways to achieve this, but I have listed 3 simple ways to start lowering inflammation and unwanted immune activity. This is because a really active immune system is one of the biggest drains on our energy. It just sucks it out of us. Just think sniffling with the flu or hay-fever, or fighting childhood viruses such as chickenpox – none of these will trigger memories of bouncing with energy, instead you’ll remember everything feeling like a massive effort and just wanting to curl up and sleep. (This inflammation can be happening without you realising, so these are all good tips to improve health, energy and inflammation).

Start by taking Vitamin D. Studies have shown this vitamin tends to be low in epileptics, and it is always lower in the winter months when we are not making our own from sunshine. Check with your pharmacist that this doesn’t interact with your medications, but 2000IU to 3000IU a day is a good dose to maintain from September to May.

Secondly, eat fish a couple of times a week, preferably oily ones such as trout, salmon, or mackerel. If you are not keen on the flavour, then try adding lots of flavour from herbs or spices, or mixing them into a fish pie, fish cakes or something strong tasting like houmous or curry.

Lastly, cut the inflammatory foods like sugar and alcohol. Although sugar can make you feel better in the moment, overall it will be sapping your energy and increasing inflammation in the body and brain.

Are you wanting 1-2-1 support this January to feel more energised and healthy, then explore our offer which ends midnight tomorrow. Click below.....

3 easy things women living with seizures can change today

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 08:57:27 GMT

3 Easy things women living with seizures can change today

Discover the ability to influence your health with this great free downloadable guide.

It's really easy to feel we have no control over our health, especially when living with seizures, brain fog, fatigue and an array of other symptoms. I know I've been there, and I've also worked with many clients who want to change their health but are battling the realities of life and their symptoms.

That's why I've made this guide super-easy, with all the changes designed for women living with seizures. So, wherever you are with your health right now you can succeed at creating change in your health. This guide gives you super-easy changes, as well as ones you can make with a little bit more energy or time as you start to feel healthier, happier and more energised.

Imagine making one small easy tweak to your breakfast, that can give you more energy and focus all day long, whilst also reducing excitability of your nerves and muscles! All you need to do is download the guide now to find out how you can easily achieve this.

"I was experiencing persistent brain fog and fatigue, lack of concentration, mood swings and anxiety. I was lucky enough to find Jo. Within the space of 1 month my energy levels dramatically improved." Louise from Worcestershire

You don't have to change everything today, just take those small first achievable steps to get you started in the direction you want to be going with your health.

Will you start 2021 as you mean to go on? Act today to discover the ability to influence your health. Explore our blog and download our great free guide for women living with seizures wanting to get started in changing their health.

Set great goals for 2021 by asking these 3 questions

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 19:26:25 GMT

Set great goals for 2021 by asking these 3 questions

One of the things you are really going to love about these questions is that they are surprisingly simple but very effective. Helping you to create clear goals that every bit of you is wanting and that you can see a decisive and exciting path to act on.

You probably have a list of ideas already. Try applying these 3 questions to the initial ideas you have.

1) What do you want?

This can be more difficult than you think to answer sometimes. It might involve initially stating what you don't want, but write that on a separate piece of paper you can throw away later. That way you can totally focus on writing out and regularly rereading the positive things you do want in your life.

For instance, wanting to be seizure-free sounds much more positive than saying you don't want to have a seizure (all you can then think about is having a seizure). Imagine a list stating you want to be seizure-free, energised, happy, alert and focused. You may start to notice how excited and motivated this kind of list makes you feel.

2) What would getting what you want do for you?

It might be that you want to be seizure-free, and getting this would enable you to feel energised and empowered about your health. If that is the case then you can start to think about ways you can improve your energy (e.g. eating well, doing all you can to get quality sleep, or getting support from a nutritional therapist). Helping you increase the control or knowledge you have about your health. Your actual wants have changed here, from seizure- free to energised and empowered. Creating different actions to get there, and a goal that feels more achievable.

3) What is THE ONE THING that would get you what you want?

We all start the new year with a list as long as our arm of all the amazing things we want to achieve this year. But if you had to choose from this list, and could only choose one thing (not 3 top priorities, but just ONE goal), what would it be? What is the one thing that would make the biggest difference to your life? Is it having more energy (enabling you to do other things too), having a bigger support network (such as EpilepsyAction online groups ), prioritising your sleep, or is it creating that dream room to relax in?

Answering this question, means that you then only have to stick to one goal, knowing all the others will follow naturally when you get that one right.

MY ONE GOAL IN 2021 is ……………………………………………………..

Will you do all you can this year to achieve this one goal?

If you are wanting more energy in 2021 then find out more about our Energise program

7 Reasons your overall health affects your seizures

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Mon, 28 Dec 2020 18:58:43 GMT

7 reasons your overall health affects your seizures

When you live with seizures you will be familiar with your local neurology department. Because seizures are a disorder of the nervous system. However, all the other parts of your body, and the health of those areas, will also affect how your nervous system works. Here's 7 reasons why...

1: Stress

Whatever challenge we face with our health, stress tends to make any health condition worse. With seizures it is a known factor in worsening seizure patterns, and you probably already know that your seizures are worse when you haven't slept or eaten properly.

2: Hormones

For women living with seizures hormonal changes throughout the month not only create mood changes but also can influence seizure risk. For those who experience a dramatic effect of this, they may be diagnosed with catamenial epilepsy. For others, they will still experience some level of the change in brain chemicals that are linked to hormone changes.

3: Immune health

When we have a sluggish immune system we end up with lots of colds and infections, which can put an added stress on our bodies and nutrient requirements. Or we can be the other way and have an over-reactive immune system (e.g. hay-fever, which increases fatigue, brain fog and concentration problems), when inflammation levels increase and our body's and brains don't work as well.

4: Energy levels

How stable our energy levels are also affects how stable the energy supply going to our brain is, and whether our brain can function optimally. They even affect the levels of electrolytes in our blood, and therefore how excitable our nerves and muscles get.

5: Our toxin levels

We all get warned about the risk of alcohol and drugs, and in part this is because these toxins can influence how our cells are working and whether our brain can function normally. Even those not living with seizures are still subject to these effects, unfortunately those living with seizures may be at increased risk.

6: You are what you eat

We have to be eating, digesting and absorbing the nutrients our body's need, in order for our health to function optimally. And what we need can vary depending on our genetics, injuries, or stress levels. Our digestive system not only accumulates the nutrients we need but is also about 70% of our immune defence.

7: Everything is connected

Just like a cog in a machine, our brains are only part of the complex systems that make up how our body works as a whole. You need all the cogs working well and together for a great functioning machine.

Want to know more about improving your overall health to support your seizure health, then explore our free guide to 3 Easy things women living with seizures can change today.

Your mission is to be happy, healthy and empowered

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 19:30:28 GMT

Your mission is to be happy, healthy and empowered

No matter who you are, living with seizures can sometimes make you feel depressed, frustrated, and like you’re losing control of both your health and your life. Seizures and their medications can suck your energy, lower your mood, as well as sometimes producing side-effects like brain-fog and weight gain.

Here are three ways to help you feel happier, healthier and that you’ve the ability to influence at least one factor in your seizures.

Feel happier

This is sometimes a lot easier said than done when living with seizures, but you know what makes you feel happier and what lowers your mood. So up the good things in life, starting by making a quick list of mood-lifters for you. See what could make you feel happier in just 2-minutes. This might be as simple as dancing to your favourite song, having a hug, playing a game with your child or pet, getting some sunshine to top up your vitamin D levels, or joining a supportive group (whether online or at coffee-mornings click here .)

If feeling like you have the ability to influence your health makes you feel happier then keep reading.

Feel healthier

Keeping a stable blood sugar can reduce fatigue, mood changes and even affects how excited our nervous system gets. Sandra had been diagnosed with reactive hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar). This meant she would have times during the day when her mood would plummet and the anger monster would appear. She would feel tired, irritable, impatient and ready to explode. We changed the way she made her breakfast and all this disappeared! On the one day she forgot, her husband said “you’ve had a different breakfast today”, because he was soon paying the price of Sandra’s mood change! Click the free guide below to find out more.

Feel empowered

Something as simple as keeping a fantastic diary of symptoms can make all the difference. Jess was absolutely brilliant at this, making it super easy for us to track down her health triggers – using her in-depth knowledge of her body and how she spent each day, combined with my professional experience to help ask the right questions.

There are many ways you can empower yourself with your health. To find out more about what you can do today, click below.

Is seizure free the same as being healthy?

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 11:33:30 GMT

Is seizure-free the same as being healthy?
For anyone living with seizures, the first aim is always to control their seizures. However, it is always a balance between suppression and triggers, hoping to find medication/s that suppress seizures more than the factors (which are often unknown) that trigger seizures.

So, if we succeed in suppressing seizure activity does this mean that the triggers are no longer there? Or that several triggers won’t combine together, every once in a while, to overwhelm our systems and cause a break-through seizure. Of course not – we have all had break-through seizures at times when we have been extra stressed or when we don’t know the extra trigger.

But this is life with seizures, treading a balancing act!

However, the more you can do to support your overall health, potentially reducing seizure factors such as mental stress, physical stress, hormonal imbalances, or low nutrient levels, then the bigger your capacity to balance off the influence of triggers may be.

Whether trying to stay seizure-free, or whether trying to reduce the intensity/frequency of what seizures you do have, aiming for overall health is always a great place to be. Who knows you may even surprise yourself by discovering along the way a factor that has more influence than other factors on your own individual seizure patterns.

To find out more about how you can influence your overall health, either go to our homepage and get our Free Guide , or click below to discover the 11 surprising signs that stress may be limiting your health.

Heal faster after a seizure

axonnutrition@hotmail.co.uk (Jo Knight) — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 19:41:48 GMT

Heal faster after a seizure

We’ve all been there – having taken a fantastic nose-dive when going into a seizure we then look like we have done several rounds in the boxing ring (or as people so often assume that we are beaten women and they should glare at our caring partners).

So, when we are left with bruises, sore muscles, cuts and at worst fractured bones, what can we do to help ourselves feel better quicker?

Bruises

Arnica cream/gel can help bring the bruise out quicker, which means it stops hurting quicker, and can also sometimes speed up the healing of a bruise. You could also try applying a zinc-based cream such as Sudocrem, which will help provide zinc which is required for cells and the skin to heal.

Sore muscles

If you feel like you have run a marathon then getting magnesium back into the cells can help clear some of the lactic acid build up from intense muscle activity. Magnesium also helps allow the muscles relax, especially after cramps or muscle rigidity in seizures. Magnesium spray (such as BetterYou Original ) onto the skin, is one of the best ways to get magnesium directly back into the affected muscles

Additionally, you could try making a well-stewed pot of chamomile tea with 3-4 teabags, then add the contents to your bath water (chamomile is a good relaxant to both mind and body, and may help prevent muscle spasms).

Cuts

If you have a minor cut and you want to make sure it doesn’t get infected then try a tiny amount of 100% neem oil on the cut, and then cover (it is a bit oily otherwise). Neem has amazing anti-bacterial properties and I have seen it clear up things that traditional things such as TCP haven’t touched. I think as an oil it perhaps soaks in a little bit deeper into the skin. Obviously, if it is a major cut then see your doctor for treatment.

Fractured bones

See your doctor! But if they're fractures in areas such as the ribs or collarbone, where the bones can’t be reset and it just takes time to heal, then try the old-fashioned (but very effective) treatment of comfrey ointment (try Herbfarmacy ) on the skin around the fracture. However, don’t use if there is any broken skin or a cut as you may speed up healing over an infected cut, which is not what you want. Comfrey is also known as knit-bone, as it helps speed up the body’s process of healing. I have known a client struggle for 6 months with a broken collar-bone, and return to cycling just 2 weeks after starting using comfrey ointment on the skin over her collar-bone!