When I was nine years old, I started having seizures. The neurologist my mother chose to take me to diagnosed them as ideopathic (of unknown origin) psychomotor seizures. (I think they now call those partial-complex seizures). Anyway, when I got older I asked the neurologist something about
my epilepsy. He turned to me and said very disdainfully, "You don't have epilepsy! You have seizures!" I was too shocked at his response to even think to ask what the difference was. And 40+ years later, I still don't know what the difference is.
Interestingly, I also had an ovarian cyst when I was a teenager. My seizures have been under control for 40 years. I got them under control initially by taking dilantin. Then when my seizures stopped, I foolishly stopped my medication. I still remained seizure-free until the age of 16 when I was going through anorexia. I went back on dilantin as well as phenobarbitol; I also was able to overcome my anorexia after only one year. After many years on those two meds, I stopped the dilantin because of what I heard about bad side effects. I still take phenobarbitol twice a day.
I have been wondering lately about diet and seizures. I was a sickly child and a sickly teen. When I got older I suspected that I wasn't absorbing nutrients well from the food that I ate. I started taking lots of vitamins, minerals, and herbs; and still do to this day. I found a book that told what supplements you should take for specific ailments; I became my own nutritionist. I read that magnesium was particularly good for people with seizures. Anyway, any thoughts on poor absorption leading to illnesses and disorders like seizures, or as to whether or not diet and supplements can help or even prevent seizures altogether?