When a person is diagnosed with Epilepsy and not sure about what their next step should be, I always suggest a bloodwork panel to test the body’s primary vitamin and mineral levels to better understand his or her current state of health. Appearances are often deceiving and what appears to be a perfectly healthy body might actually be a body full of deficiencies that can lead to serious health issues. By putting your body under a microscope, you will be able to understand yourself from the inside out. This knowledge will also allow you to form a solid gameplan for long-term healing instead of chasing lots of rabbit trails that promise healing, but actually, deliver disappointment.
By far, Vitamin D is one of my Top 5 nutrients to get checked if you have been diagnosed with Epilepsy. Honestly, it would be wise to take preventative measures and get your levels checked even if you have not been diagnosed with a medical condition just so that you can know whether or not you have any deficiencies in need of supplementation.
However, since this is a discussion for those with Epilepsy the focus will be on Vitamin D in relation to Epilepsy.
Quick fact: Vitamin D deficiency alone can cause a person to have seizures. Yep, a simple deficiency is all it takes to cause brain malfunctions for certain individuals. Therefore, it is imperative not to overlook the minute details.
It still shocks me that my neurologist never ordered a bloodwork panel to measure my vitamin, mineral, and toxin levels. Logically, it makes sense that one can only understand what is happening to your body on the outside by first examining your inner-body function.
There are many different forms of Vitamin D that exist in your body, however, in order to measure the amount of Vitamin D present in your blood, you must check Vitamin D3 levels specifically. The only downside is that you will not be receiving a measure of your Vitamin D at a cellular level. But, if the levels are low in your blood, you can expect the level of Vitamin D in your cells to be even lower. This is because the amount of Vitamin D in our blood is a direct reflection of the amount in your cells. So if you’re showing low levels in your blood, it means the cells do not have enough Vitamin D to disperse evenly throughout the body. This results in a deficiency. This may affect exactly how much VItamin D you need to accurately supplement because (despite what your blood levels say) your cells may need more than you realize in order to correct the deficiency long term. It will take time to build the levels of Vitamin D back up to a truly healthy level, a level that will remain consistently healthy.
Personally, I had my Vitamin D levels checked about 8 years after my initial diagnosis. Better late than never, right??? This optimism may sound a bit ridiculous, however, if you wish to correct a problem (i.e. seizures) you must first understand your dilemma in its entirety. And I needed more info! So the necessary bloodwork was completed…
Let’s just say that the word “dilemma” is putting the entire situation concerning my Vitamin D levels lightly. According to the medical profession, the “Normal” range should be somewhere between 30 and 100. With 30 being considered a deficient level and anything lower being incredibly dangerous.
My own level came back as “1.” Yep, that’s right, numero uno. Almost zero. As you’ve probably already inferred, these results mean that I had almost no Vitamin D present in my blood at the time of my test. This also means that the level of Vitamin D in my cells was even lower (if that’s possible).
The good news is there are a lot of supplement options to correct this particular deficiency. And it gets even better…Vitamin D3 is easily absorbed by the human body; even for people like me who struggle to absorb all vitamins and minerals.
Immediately following my disturbing results I began taking Seeking Health’s Vitamin D3 Drops. The standard dose, according to the product label, is one 2,000 IU drop. The dosage will depend on the person and should be determined by a doctor, but typically the recommendation is to take the supplement every day. This dose will equal out to 14,000 IU per week.
Because my levels were both extremely and unusually low, my neurologist prescribed a weekly dose of 56,000 IU to start or 4 drops a day, 7 days a week. It only took about one month to elevate my blood levels from 1 to 62. According to my neurologist, this is a very healthy level of Vitamin D for any human body.
So, don’t give up even if you do discover that you have a deficiency. Instead, think of your discovery as another piece to the puzzle you are trying to solve in order to find long term healing for your body. I am living proof that it is possible to correct your deficiency and I can say from experience that my seizure activity decreased significantly once I began supplementing with Vitamin D.
The link for the supplement I used is provided above and can be found easily on a variety of marketplaces including Amazon.
Check out Epilepsy Insight #5 for more information on Vitamin D & Epilepsy:
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