I’m in a bit of a turmoil. Last week I decided to pop into the city centre (on my own) to pick up some bits and pieces, nothing needed but some time not to sit at home by myself. I had a funny turn in a shop, found a member of staff and said “I’m sorry, I have epilepsy and I don’t feel well, please help me”, thankfully the member of staff I found was a first aider with experience of epilepsy and was amazing, took me to a cool room, got me a drink and sat with me while I calmed down and thank goodness didn’t have a full seizure. But once again this got me thinking about my medications. I have cried today with the fright, disappointment and these bloody meds that I hate. So I have read and read and read until my head is hurting and have possibly come up with a couple of long term solutions. Read on for the pros and cons of the meds and their possible replacements. Why oh why when you are put on these meds nobody tells you what the natural possible alternatives are? Why oh why can’t the pharmactutical companies work together with the natural companies to create a medicine that doesn’t create further issues and give us something more natural that works with our bodies and minds rather than against it. It’s the frustration that makes me cry. I want to be strong, I want to take the bull by the horns and stop this from taking over the me that I actually really like.

Keppra, anti seizure medication, makes me feel awful, muddles my brain, apparently because even though it is helping to control the seizure it is also rotting my brain, making me exhausted while stopping my memory from working and causing me to be miserable. This medication also effects the way you body absorbs nutrients and some vitamins, particularly vitamin b.

CBD oil, massively popular at the moment as a potential saviour for epileptics, cancer patients, pain relief, psoriasis. There seem to be a million pros for this but the cons are that they are not medically accepted by many in the medical community for understandable reasons. This means that if you take it, you take it under your own steam with little or no backup from your medical team. It will test positive if you are drug tested, now for me that makes no difference because nobody is likely to drug test me but for many people who need to have clear drug testing for work this is a problem!!!

SSRI antidepressants. Given for obvious reasons, misery being my main one. I could be wrong here and probably am but it seems like we hear daily about mental health issues and how so many people suffer with them, I never (until now) thought I had a mental health issue that I couldn’t sort out myself by getting together with good friends, going for a good walk, going to the gym or sitting down with a cuppa and a good book. I have never wanted to take anti depressants and begrudge that I am taking them now, possibly unnessecarily as I may be able to solve these issues with vitamin B and folic acid!

Vitamin B complex. Sooooooooooo here goes, vitamin b (particularly b6 is one of the massive brain helping vitamins, it helps the brain think, focus, remember and cognitively work. Vitamin B6 deficiency can induce anemia, abnormal brain activity, mood disorders, muscle twitching and seizures. Vitamin B6 deficiency also weakens your immune system. Folic acid deficiency can lead to anemia, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, frequent infections, depression, mental confusion and fainting. Vitamin B12 deficiency produces anemia, fatigue and hypersensitivity, and degenerates your nervous system, leading to paralysis. With this little lot no wonder I feel like rubbish most of the time ! This information came from https://www.livestrong.com/article/483285-how-much-vitamin-b-complex-should-a-person-take-in-a-day/
Vitamin B is suppressed by keppra! So I need to find a vitamin B complex that includes B6, B12 to help improve my lagging eyesight, memory and B9 all of them to help the brain to function and the hair and nails to grow and to improve energy levels. Vitamin B you are going to be my best friend soon and for that I will love you 🙂
More information on Vitamin B9 is here and makes a great read https://www.organicfacts.net/folic-acid.html

So my thought process is this, start taking vitamin B complex so that I can wean off the anti depressant (slowly) while this is happening my brain fog can start to clear, my memory can improve and I can start to think like a normal person again. The B complex also assists hair and nail growth (great for my lost hair). Apparently the vitamin B has to be taken at the same time daily (like keppra) for it to work effectively. That’s good to know.

Next is to start very very slowly on the CBD oil, and very very slowly (over about a year) cut down and hopefully eventually out the keppra. So that in theory by the end of the next 12 months the only things I will be taking is natural CBD oil and a vitamin B compex. Fingers (with long and strong nails) crossed for this, it’s scary but I really really want to find a way to get off the chemical drugs that I feel are potentially long term doing me more harm than good. Fingers crossed