Hi again,

I'm not surprised by your family's reaction to this. Good to hear that they're still functional ...

My family is in complete denial about the fact that I have a celiac gene (DQ2)and since they're my family they might too .. Several of them know that if they eat wheat, they'll get the runs, etc but chose to take medications instead.

I can't blame them really .. who wants to have an illness or go on a special diet ? Not me ..

I'm looking forward to hearing others experiences with this. If it turns out that I need to take a med I'm ok with it ... Actually, based on how good I feel today, this may help more than I thought ...

tc ... Marcia

Wow I guess denial hits a lot of people. They have been informed that you have the DQ2 gene and they don't want to be tested??

With all the gluten free products on the market, one does not have to have all those tummy aches all the time.

I don't have any of those problems thank goodness, but I know what I eat and where it comes from. I'm the type of person, if I see a plate of food that looks GREAT, tastes GREAT, smells GREAT, but..... If I even have a ghost of a chance that it might not agree with my body, I don't put it in my mouth.

I don't like getting heartburn, gas, tummy problems, the runs, constipation, etc. Life is too short to have to deal with all that nonsense.

I am very fortunate that I can eat all the greens I want, so I make bok choy every night. I saute it, I steam it, I make it all kinds of ways. I like various other greens. I like nice healthy salads, I grow my own sprouts. I eat grilled chicken, and I like my fish.

I have learned (and it took me a long time), not to eat anything processed or deep fried, or full of fat or oils.

I treat my body like the temple that it is. I'm a goddess and I treat my body like a goddess (have you stopped laughing yet???)

When I make my food I make sure there is plenty of colors on that dish. All bursting with good nutrition. So when it goes into my body, it does whatever it has to do, and the next day, it comes out the way it's supposed to come out. I drink plenty of water, and I don't do soda, no carbonation. Don't like the way I feel after drinking soda so I haven't had soda in over 5 years. Don't miss it.

I do however go to a particular website called truelemon.com

I purchase their Raspberry lemonade that has Stevia in it. This stuff is so good I haven't touched another beverage (other than plain old water) in over 2 years.

It's wonderful, refreshing and because I'm diabetic, well it does not spike anything in me. And it's natural. They crystallize the drink.

It's amazing.

I'm into sprouting. I discovered this 2 years ago and now I grow my own salads on my kitchen shelf. I grow broccoli, radish and fenugreek sprouts.

Love them.

I credit my father, who taught me to love salads.

Anyway, sorry to go off track about this stuff. But I will say one more thing. When I first learned about the benefits of sprouting, I read one really important thing. It's great for people with irritable bowel and other stomach related ailments. I don't do grains myself. I don't sprout wheatberries, or kamut or other grains like many of my sprouting friends do. I just do microgreens.

It's a really neat hobby that I found at my YOUNG age!!!

lol
Melody

Hi Marciab,

Welcome to the forum. The long lasting seizure your discribed is known as a status seizure which means the seizure lasted for more than 15 min. this type of seizure can cause brain damage if they are not under control. Just like you I've had petit mal (absence) seizures for over 30 yrs. and at one time I took klonopin to help control my seizures but it wasn't strong enough for me, I do remember that it made me very tired. Lack of sleep, stress, chemical imbalances in the body, bright colors, loud sounds, drug and alcohol abuse along with genetics, or traumtic brain injury are the main things that trigger or start epilepsy. It can also happen from difficulty at birth. I saw many neurologist over the yrs. and I didn't get that much help until I started going to an Epilepsy Center and seeing a Epileptologist (Dr. specializing in epilepsy) You can usually find an Epilepsy Center at a University Hospital. After I saw my Epileptologist life got much better for me. I learned about taking vitamin B12 once a day to help calm the nerves, I had brain surgery to help reduce my seizures and I learned about the ketogenic diet which is a diet high in fat but low in carbs and starch foods that will help reduce or stop a persons seizures. You can also have a DNA test done to find out what meds would help you with your seizures and have the least side effect. If I may ask do you use a cell phone? If you do be very careful because this can cause more chemical and neurology problems which can lead to more severe seizures. I found this out from my Epileptologist because at my job a lot of staff were using cell phones and when I was near them it would cause me to go into a seizure. This is known as being cell phone sensitive and there's nothing that can be done about it. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Hi Sue,

Thanks for replying ... I still have to look up status seizure. But the part about brain damage is concerning, of course. With all my neuro problems I'm sure that I already have some . Not that I wanted to add to it ...

That's interesting that you were taking Klonopin to control petite mals. I can't believe I didn't think of that myself ... duh ... or at least try taking Theanine.

I'm on .5 mg of Klonopin for sleep now but I'm not sure what the neurologist I see will recommend. I have to say though, I'm sleeping like a log and waking up feeling energized.

Funny you should mention difficulty at birth. I was born with the cord wrapped around my neck and my mother always attributed my neuro problems (blackouts and spaceyness) to this ... My background better fits that of someone who's been intolerant to gluten their whole life. And IMHO this seizure reflected just how sensitive I am ...

The day of that seizure I'd only had 4 hours of sleep due to allergies. I was also taking Claritin, Benadryl and Nasalcrom more regularly than I ever had. The Claritin and Benadryl make me feel loopy so normally I avoid those but I had to have them ... THe Nasalcrom didn't affect my brain and seemed to work the best. I've tried that again and seem to be ok ...

If I'm not satisfied with this doc I'll move on to seeing an specialist. Thanks for the tip ...

I'm on B12 . in fact, my numbers are over 1000 now. Have you heard of adenosyl B12 ? I think it's helping my muscles function better.

"I had brain surgery to help reduce my seizures" .. I may be asking you about this later so if you get the chance can you point me in the right direction here.

I'm on the Paleo diet but couldn't do the ketogenic ... bleh ... the oils killed me .. but I'm missing a gall bladder ... are you on the ketogenic diet ? FWIW .. I always thought this helped some people because it eliminated gluten. I can see how fats play a role in this too though. I take fish oil and eat plenty of other healthy fats but I'm paying more attention to this now.

I want to look at the DNA testing too ... you certainly have given me a lot of great info ... thanks again ...

I do use a cell phone. In fact I gave up my home phone about 4 years ago and just use one now ... I don't seem to react to it though.

thanks again ... have a great day ... Marcia

Hi Melody,

I'm impressed with your diet ... .. I'm on the Paleo / low carb / low oxalate diet out of neccessity.

I really can't blame anyone for not wanting to go on the GF diet. Especially anyone who's older and still functional. What's a little Imodium now and then if it means you can eat what you want and enjoy going out to eat with all your friends ? I'd give up my diet in a heartbeat IF I wasn't risking my life ... This seizure taught me that ...

Part of the problem could be that they can't see themselves as needing to go gf either. I've been very sick and disabled since 1990, so their impression of a celiac is me ... and they also see that the GF diet didn't cure my illness.

Granted, they are VERY careful about eating any gluten around me ... ... I try to be nice and allow it in my house but they won't bring it in ...

Hopefully, they'll learn more about this as time goes on and try it for whatever ailments they have ...

I was into sprouting but gave it up cause I kept getting mold in mine. Any ideas ? I'm thinking that I really needed to clean the containers a lot better ... I grow Kombucha and can tell you that this stuff is hard to kill ... Granted it's bacteria + yeast and not mold but I would imagine mold can be just as resilant.

I'm feeling a little shakey today so I'm trying to take it easy ... it's amazing how one HUGE seizure can scare the crap out of you ...

I started taking .5 mg of Klonopin for sleep two nights ago and it's working great ... but ... I wonder if it's making me feel this way ?

tc ... Marcia

Marcia:

Since you know about sprouting, take a look at one of my videos that I have on youtube. I was asked to make a short instructional video on how I soak and how I put in the seeds. I HAVE NEVER HAD MOLD PROBLEMS. Been doing this over 2 years now. I have other videos up and you can link to them after viewing this one (just in case you wish to get back into sprouting).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TJLkqG2-L8

This is very easy to do (especially using the tray system that I use). They stack one on top and take up NO space while they are sprouting, and will most certainly improve your health. Why not think about it.

Take care.

Melody

Hi Marcia,

Just like you the cord was wrapped around my neck at birth and for yrs. they thought that's what caused my seizures but it wasn't until I had a wada test where they give a shot and half of your brain goes to sleep and they test you that I found out that what really caused my seizures was trauma when my mom was pregnant with me. My Grandfather passed away and the trauma of his death effected my mother causing to many brain cells to form on the right temporal lobe and they never went away this in turn caused scar tissue and started up the epilepsy when I was 10 yrs. old that was 39 yrs. ago. I would be more than happy to tell you about the surgery any time you want any info. feel free to ask. I'm on the ketogenic diet but I'm not following the guide for it each and every day. I have found that staying away from nutra sweet (aspartame) was one big help. I used to buy diet soda all the time and I noticed a big increase in my seizures when I spoke with my Epileptologist he told me that nutra sweet will cause more electrical activity in a persons brain which can trigger seizures for many people. Cell phones can do the same thing because your in the 900 megahertz frequency and some people end up having seizures, brain tumors, and it has been proven that using a cell phone will shrink a persons hippocampus and this is the area where a persons short term memory is as well as learning. I can see a lot of my family and friends repeating questions to me and they are very forgetful it's almost like having alzheimers. One thing I forgot to tell you to do is to get a calendar and write down each time you have a seizure. Write down the time of day/night the seizure happens along with a discription of the seizure. If you are still having your monthly cycle be sure to right down when you start and stop your cycle because hormones are changing which can trigger seizures for many women. This is known as cateminal seizures.
In regards to getting DNA tests done take my word a lot of Drs. will say they don't do this or they have never heard of it but that aren't telling you the truth because it's been done for yrs. The Drs. just want to make extra money perscribing meds for a person. I will tell you that use of cell phones can also change a persons DNA. To get more info. about seizures just type in Epilepsy Foundation of America or call this number if you live in the U.S.
1-800-322-1000 and you will reach the Epilepsy Foundation and they will send you info. in the mail. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

thanks sue ... great info here ... I'll have to come back and reread this ..

Interesting how both of us had the cords wrapped around our necks and ended up with petite mals ... tc ... Marcia

thanks Melody

I'm on the run but I'll look at this later ... I love the way FRESH sprouts taste ... TC ... Marcia

TADA ... this is post number 10 for me ... now I can post links ...

Marcia:

I have a sprout salad recipe to die for. I'll make an official sprouter out of you yet.

And there is nothing better when you are feeling down and out and are having a bad day, and then you walk over to a shelf in your kitchen, and you see all these trays brimming with various kinds of sprouts that YOU YOURSELF GREW, that you know are organic, no pesticides, no bad stuff going into your blood stream, into your cells, and you realize that you are getting clorophyll and enzymes and well, it is just divine.

I actually walk over and talk to my trays of sprouts. My husband caught me doing this, rolled his eyes and I looked at him and said "What is the difference between me talking to my sprouts and you sitting at the computer, singing along with the Mamas and the Papas and you can't carry a tune?"

At least my sprouts feed us, they are organic, they are cheap and I use them EVERY SINGLE DAY, in all the seasons. You really can't beat that.

And when you put good clean stuff in your body, your body says:

'THANK YOU!!!

lol
melody
lol

Melody