Bright Side

Thank you for the well wishes and questions regarding Ellie's new developments (there have been a lot!).  At this time we have decided not to pursue testing regarding Ellie's seizures.  There are a few reasons for this.

The first is that initial testing would involve giving her an MRI and because of her age she would need to be put under anesthesia to keep her from moving.  I am not a fan of giving her anesthesia because of her last experience, or dealing with putting chemicals ('medications') into her blood if not 100% needed.  Also, the test may not show anything.

The second reason is that standard treatment protocol would be to put her on seizure medication.  This would be another thing I would like to avoid, and since she is not having them regularly it does not seem prudent to put her on medication 'just in case'.  We have only seen this one in the last 8+ months.

The last (and in my opinion the most important reason) is that we already have her on a medical diet designed to control seizures.  And it appears to be working.  I believe now that Ellie was having these seizures prior to starting GAPS at 18 months old, and shortly after stopped having them.  That is enough proof that they are controlled with her diet, and the recent events have given us information on how to watch and be aware.

I am also amazed once again at the human body.  There seem to be many types of seizures and causes (I am very much at the beginning stages of research and learning here), but one thing that I have learned is that a seizure occurs when the brain becomes irritated and an 'electrical storm' occurs. I have also learned that there are chemical and food induced seizures, which clearly seem to apply here.  The protein structure that holds together the intestinal cell wall for protection is very much the same as the protein structure that holds together the cells forming what we call the blood-brain barrier.  Things that cause damage to the gut wall, inevitably cause damage to the blood-brain barrier as well eliciting a neurological response to leaky gut (ie. Gut And Psychology Syndrome).  Proteins and toxins that are not supposed to be in the body at all can make their way into the brain, where it becomes 'irritated' and reacts. Amazing! If the foreign protein or toxin gets past the first line of defense, the body has a new alarm bell to let you know something is wrong. Seizures is one of those alarm bells.

Clearly I am not happy about this new development, and it will add  new dimension to every food trial we do from now on.  It illustrates further how sensitive Ellie's specific situation is, but the bright side once again is that her body is working properly and recognizing foreign funk. I will hang on to that!