From what I know and have experienced Cannabis and the cannabinoids in the cannabis plant are much safer than these laboratory pharmaceuticals physicians give you.

Zonisamide for me was my nightmare in hell. Talk about lose weight I guess for me I had no choice because that medicine prevented me from putting anything to my mouth from beverages to food I just couldn't consume nothing. My normal weight all through my teen years was 145 then at one point I was put on depokote which caused my weight to skyrocket up to 185 then once on zonisamide in a matter of weeks I went down to 128, lost a majority of my memory, Walked like I was constantly under the influence and couldn't even use the bathroom but so very constipated. It had a very bad effect on me physically as well as mentally. Finally placed on Lyrica with Lamictal. They may not be 100% perfect but I have since returned to my normal weight of 145.

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member, I totaly agree ...... I would like to add that the condition in the brain are a result of how we digest foods and the genes responsible for making the molecules to regulate our bodies. That would be hot cold , immune, foods, stress, sleep....are all regulated .... All these factors form and ever diverse differences between all our types of epilepsy. The genes associated with Epilepsy are mostly DE Novo, or in the womb while growing and not from breeding with another person. When things run in the families it looks like the bacteria in the gut passed down could be the issue. or lack of a stable gut flora more than an issue of genes passed down from who you have a child with.

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A MyEpile...

Dorienne,
The way I explain epilepsy is "Epilepsy is a condition cause by underlying factors in the brain." Sometimes those underlying factors can be an illness, or disease but they usually are not. That is an easy way to explain that is not confusing to anyone. That is how I describe this condition. If you tell someone it is an illness many will make the leap to epilepsy as something they can get from you (like a cold or the flu) or they will think its a disease. It is only a condition, but it is caused by something else.

I'm still on Keppra, and have been on it for almost 20 years now. It's never effected me in my eating habits. The Phenobarbital on the other hand wasn't good, but in a different way. That was my first seizure med when I was 16 months old. I didn't know until about 4 years ago that I'm allergic to it. It still didn't effect me in my eating habits though. It gave me the urge to hurt myself. I hope and pray that doesn't happen to her. You can contact me if you have any questions. I'm happy to chat.