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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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?

[Labarum]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

Ah, now if the advantage is in ketosis then forget everything I have said about South Beach and GI Diets.

In its early stages Atkins throws the body into ketosis (the others don't) - as someone advances through the Atkins phases (progressively re-introducing "good" carbs) they may come out of ketosis.

If you want to try living in ketosis you need to find the intake of carbs you can tolerate at a particular activity level to maintain ketosis. It could be quite low - 40g or less, or it could be 80 or more. You will need ketostix to test your urine.

It is still possible to do this and maintain your weight or even gain. Your diet will be in the Atkins induction range - 65% Fat, 30% Protein, 5% carbs. This is perfectly possible.

Look at Higgies Diet - 1800 - 2000 Cals a day.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=higgies

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/member.php?userid=14158

Higgies is working away from home at the moment and not finding it easy to get the right things to eat - look at a few weeks of his diet from a few months ago.

He and I are well matched for size, weight and diet, but he keeps Fitday records religiously! And now for the annoying bit - he is half my age!

A concern comes to mind. Starting Atkins puts a lots of strain on the system, and some folk experience symptoms akin to shock - "induction flu". It would be terrible to provoke a fit or series of fits because of the metabolic stresses caused by a suddenly reducing your carb intake to 20g a day - as required by Atkins Induction. Maybe you can gradually lower carbs and slide into ketosis over a few weeks.

Do be careful, and do stick close to your doctors.

[greg671]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

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?

I took 3 years of biochem in my undergraduate courses so I know quit a bit about this topic. I have read a couple of research studies on the subject and there are many theories as to how the ketogenic diet could possibly be used to treat epilepsy. The ketones bodies like beta hydroxy butyrate are similar in structure to the brains natural inhibitory substance called GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) and this is one possible mechanism how the ketogenic diet might help. Of course this is just a theory, but very interesting none the less. Many of the drugs currently used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder enchance the brain levels of GABA and the ketogenic diet could be used as a natural way to increase brain levels of GABA. I have not read any research that the Atkins diet is useful for depression or bipolar disorder though. But it's definitely a possiblity. I think there might be research going on right now about that. Actually even the research studies that said that the Atkins diet is useful for epilepsy were very early and small scale studies, but I am going to try it nonetheless. I guess there's no harm in trying it for like 2 weeks.
But the ketogenic diet is well proven and has been used for the past 80 years to treat epilepsy.
Greg.

[greg671]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

Oh and Labarum, thanks for the advice. You look like you've lost a LOT of weight on the Atkins diet. Actually I've checked out a couple of peoples photos, and most of them look very different than before.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

That's interesting, Greg. I've been doing a bit of reading by Dr. Atkins about GABA. I know someone who does not have epilepsy, but has Bipolar disorder and gets debillitating migraine headaches who has started following Atkins. Their experience has been no migraine headaches and a definite shortened manic episode which might have been triggered by the re-introduction of sugar into their diet. As soon as they took sugar back out, within a few days, the manic episode righted itself.

Might be just coincidence....but, then again, maybe not...

As to your question about putting on weight...we used to have a member here who had Celiac's disease and was using Atkins to control that. Needless to say, she wasn't following the plan to lose weight, as the Celiacs disease had caused her to lose to a low body weight.

[Labarum]

Re: Atkins for epilepsy

Actually even the research studies that said that the Atkins diet is useful for epilepsy were very early and small scale studies, but I am going to try it nonetheless. I guess there's no harm in trying it for like 2 weeks.
But the ketogenic diet is well proven and has been used for the past 80 years to treat epilepsy.
Greg.

There are plenty folk on this board who can offer practical advice on establishing yourself on a ketogenic diet - just the simple things like what to eat and what to buy. You can work with you tastes and keep the fat content (and calories) up with olive oil and mayonnaise. The greens are important and you must not forget them.

In two weeks your body will only just be adjusting to the lack of carbs - all you can do is give it a try. How long you might have to wait to see any benefit, I cannot say.

Don't hesitate to post with even the most basic question.

Yes, I did loose quite a lot, but a lot less than some. I did it "by the book" and very scientifically. I weighed everything and counted both carbs and calories from the beginning.

You may need to count calories to make sure you are getting enough, or your weight may dip as the appetite suppression of ketosis kicks in. On induction I could be satisfied on 1500 calories, and you don't want to go below 2000. As I said - olive oil and mayonnaise!

Read the FAQ on the use of Fitday

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6727

and look down the FAQs for other topics that might interest you.

http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=79