Atkins for epilepsy

[greg671]

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum, and I was just wondering if anybody else has epilepsy and has tried the Atkins diet for it. I don't have a weight problem at all, in fact I am quite skinny (5´10, 165 pounds), but I do have epilepsy and I wanted to reduce the dosage of the medications I was taking because I am getting some side effects. (like I am really sleepy sometimes during the day). I am also attending university and I am taking very hard courses and I have trouble studying because of this. I have read several published studies which found that the Atkins diet is as effective for epilepsy as the standard anti epileptic medications and is effective for drug resistant epilepsy. Obviously I am very intrigued by the possibilty that the Atkins diet could be used to treat epilepsy. Does anybody on this forum have any experience with this?
Anyway, I have just started the Atkins diet and now I am in the induction phase, I guess I'll see what happens.

Greg

[greg671]

Oh and one more thing. Because I am kind of skinny right now, does that still mean I am going to lose weight on this diet? Because I would rather maintain my current weight.
Greg

[jroche5998]

Hi Greg,

I'm sorry I can't answer your first and main question, but as to the second question if you eat enough on atkins you can actually gain weight. So yes you can maintain your current weight.

[greg671]

Hi Jim,
Thx for the reply.
So I guess the goal is to consume 2000 calories per day right? that way my body weight won't go up or down. Basically just eat till I am full, like I always have before, but eat less carbs. Sorry for all the questions, but I am new to the atkins diet.

[Labarum]

Hi Greg,

Glad we got your membership sorted.

First, we are not physicians on this board so cannot offer medical advice.

Yes, you can maintain the same weight on Atkins - in that mode Atkins would be little different from South Beach or any other Low carb Diet.

Some members with Type II Diabetes manage to reduce or come off their medications. There is a section of the board for diabetics. I often observe that my diet is now very close to that of my diabetic Great Aunt - an wonderful old lady who lived with Type 1 diabetes most of her life - and lived to 98 - so yes, the way we eat is healthy.

But your condition is very different. I don't know if we have any epileptic members. If we do they may have some personal advice they could offer.

In the end, of course, especially with a condition such as yours, your physicians must be those you listen to most closely.

All the very best.

And welcome once again.

[ValidRouge]

Hi, Greg. I have seen many articles, though I cannot cite them right now, that talk about how effective a ketogenic diet is for epileptics. Atkins is a ketogenic diet. Maybe do a google for the words "epilepsy" and "ketogenic"

[Labarum]

Originally Posted by greg671

Hi Jim,
Thx for the reply.
So I guess the goal is to consume 2000 calories per day right? that way my body weight won't go up or down. Basically just eat till I am full, like I always have before, but eat less carbs. Sorry for all the questions, but I am new to the atkins diet.

Read up on the GI Diet too, Greg.
Basically, remove processed foods with added sugar and transfats. Avoid foods with a high glycaemic index, or eat a meal that results in a low average index.

Prefer brown to white bread and oats to wheat. Avoid sugary drinks, of course, but watch out for fruit juices. Avoid caffeine and be very careful with alcohol. Prefer green to root vegetables and go very easy on potato and pasta.

But I am intrigued. What have you read that leads you to think low carb eating helps control epilepsy? Is it an insulin related effect?

[ValidRouge]

http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/an...reatment/diet/
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/tre...ketogenic_diet
http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/pressoffice...y/ep_diet.html
http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/ketoge...t-for-epilepsy
http://www.upmc.com/HealthManagement...chunkiid=45781

[ValidRouge]

Brian, I've also seen some web chatter discussing correlation between epilepsy, depression, and ketogenic diets. More and more frequently, prescription drugs initially developed to treat epilepsy are being used to treat bipolar disorders. The correlation might be drawn that if the medication used to treat epilepsy can treat bipolar disorder, and a ketogenic diet also helps control epilepsy, might the ketogenic diet also help control bipolar disorder?

[ValidRouge]

Here is another article. Topomax http://epilepsy.emedtv.com/topamax/t...-disorder.html

Did you know that Topomax is also used to treat migraine headaches?