Nutritional Therapy For Epilepsy
Using Food, Vitamins and Minerals to Support Quality of LifeNutritional support for them, guidance and emotional support for you!
When my eldest daughter was diagnosed with sudden onset, rare and aggressive epilepsy, our life was turned upside down in an instant. Having been through the journey of her treatment in combination with dietary and lifestyle changes (that I believe saved her life), she is now completely free from seizures and no longer needs any medication.
I now offer guidance as an experienced nutritionist, but also as a mother who’s experienced this path first-hand, to parents and their children who are living with epilepsy. Using nutrition and lifestyle as complementary medicine, I can help you to improve the quality of life for your child, including minimising the side effects of medication and stabilising mood.
I will also be in your corner to advocate for you, help you navigate the medical system and support you through your journey based on my own personal experience as well as the combined experiences of other families I’ve assisted.
I’ve been where you are, searching for answers and looking for hope. Please reach out to me to discuss your situation and what assistance I can provide.
Food as Complimentary Medicine
I am a huge proponent of food as complementary medicine. I’ve not only seen the turnaround in my daughter after implementing Ketogenic and Modified Atkins Diets but have also helped numerous other families to use food to help manage their child’s epilepsy.
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Epilepsy
Common epilepsy medications can cause a significant amount of nutritional deficiencies in children among their side effects. I look to use supplements to counter the depletion of key vitamins and minerals, manage mood and behaviour, and support health and function in children with epilepsy.
Important Dietary Interventions For Epilepsy
I wrote this article for fx Medicine (read the article here) because this is the type of resource I was looking for when my daughter was first diagnosed with epilepsy but couldn’t find it. I didn’t want to write just another Blog that was non-referenced so I provided those for anyone who wants to dig deeper.
Our Journey with Epilepsy
In 2012 at age 3 and a half, my child experienced sudden onset epilepsy, which we found out was a combination of atypical rolandic epilepsy and a rare epilepsy syndrome called ESES (electrical status epilepticus in sleep). Nothing could have prepared us for our child’s epilepsy diagnosis. We were scared! Scared we might lose her, worried about the side effects of medication, and scared about what this meant for her future.
At age 5 my daughter had regressed from a neurotypical 3-year-old to non-verbal, back in nappies and having thousands of seizures a day. We’d been through multiple drug failures (the medications weren’t working) and were dealing with the nasty side effects including mood, behaviour issues and lack of sleep, but nothing seemed to be working.
After a deep dive into the different dietary and lifestyle changes we could make to potentially enhance her quality of life, and drawing on my skills and a deep understanding of the body, we began to use diet and nutrition as a complimentary support.
The results have been nothing short of a miracle for our family, our daughter has been brought back to us. As of 2017 the seizures have ceased and in 2019 she was no longer classified as epileptic and we had weaned her off all her medications.
During this time I developed some amazing “life coping skills” which led me to also become a certified Beautiful You life coach. I wanted to help others navigate this tricky and often unspoken-about path. Childhood illness affects everyone deeply, and I wanted to be equipped to not only help heal other families through food and nutrition but to hold space for them to also walk this path and still achieve their personal goals.
ABOUT
Sonya Reynolds
I’m Sonya Reynolds, a Sydney-based degree certified Nutritionist and Life Coach with over 14 years of experience. I use a holistic approach to food and mindset to help my clients achieve their health and wellbeing goals.
