magnesium levels and epilepsy?

Posted by searching71 @searching71, Feb 2, 2018

Hi all-- I'm a 46 year old woman who was diagnosed with epilepsy 4 1/2 years ago. I take zonisamide and am trying to lower my dose and do lifestyle changes to combat the seizures. The zonisamide seemed to increase issues with depression, short term memory problems, and issues with words to a level that it just messes with my life. My neurologist has okayed me to decrease again from 300 to 250mg and eventually to 200mg if I feel ok with it. So far it's going well. I've been researching ways that I can improve my health overall and hopefully decrease my likelihood of seizures as well. Last summer I worked with a doctor who did allergy testing. I've taken 9 foods out of my diet, moved to a more plant based and home cooked diet and have lost 30lbs. I feel a lot better. Recently, I decided to add in coconut oil. It's hard to tell if it's doing anything, but I figure whether or not it stops my seizures it's probably good for my skin and hair, right? This morning I was running across a number of articles on magnesium levels. I took a look at my health history and didn't find any tests of my magnesium levels, but did find that my sodium and chloride levels have consistently been quite high at least since 2015 when my medical history goes back to online. I'm currently taking 350mg of magnesium, but wondering if increasing the dose might help? Anyone with experience with this?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Epilepsy & Seizures Support Group.

@lmcquade

Hi @lisalucier We tried the modified atkins for about 9 months. I would say the first 3 months we saw a dramatic decrease in break through seizures and in general while my son was on the modified atkins he was "clearer" if that makes sense. We eventually ended up discontinuing the diet because it was so restrictive and hard to maintain as I work full time and my son was 10/11 at the time. We are investigating trying Keto again in addition to his VNS. I feel that with seizure disorders there are so many opportunities for trial and error until you find a mix that works to control seizure activity. My son has experienced moderate level of success with the modified atkins and the VNS. Banzel is a staple for him as well. I am hopeful that now with the VNS if we go back to the diet we will be able to wean off of the medication. That's always my goal for him, to have seizure control without medication.

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@lmcquade - I can imagine having a restrictive diet was hard to maintain for your son.

Here is some Mayo Clinic information about the ketogenic diet for epilepsy and also VNS (see Therapies section) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/epilepsy/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350098. Also, this YouTube video from Mayo on the ketogenic diet for epilepsy may be useful:

I thought you might also like to meet @jenkie, whose daughter has taken rufinamide (Banzel) and had a VNS; and @yeye2020, whose son has had seizures for 22 years.

You mentioned that rufinamide (Banzel) is a staple for your son now. Has it helped with seizure control for him? Has he experienced any side effects?

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