[tri-med] Re: omegas - Jamie or Kristie

>I talked to Jamie at the Denver conference about omegas for our kids.
>Zion was having trouble with seizure activity and Jamie told me you
>thought it was the omegas interfering with the Keppra.  Did you ever
>find out for sure.  I asked Nick's neurologist about it and she said
>she has never heard of it.  She was curious because they give omegas
>to a lot of her patients with behavioral issues and kids on seizure meds.

Jayne,

I don't think they're on the med list, just tri-family. That's
where they always write in.  But I can tell you where they got
the idea that it might be an omega problem, cause it was from
me.  We were talking while waiting for the bus back from
family night out at the Denver conference, when they mentioned
that they'd just started Zion on omegas.  And we had also just
been talking about his very recent break through seizures.  A
few months earlier I'd attended a 1 day seminar put on by the
San Diego Epilepsy Foundation, and one of the talks was by a
pharmacist, who'd mentioned that St John's Wort and evening
primrose oil interfere with seizure meds.  So I put 2 and 2
together, and suggested that might be the cause, since the
break through seizures began right after they started him on
the EFA's.  They said that they would definitely be discontinuing
the omegas immediately, but I've never heard anything about how
that went either.

Below I've listed some references for this EPO/Seizure connection...

Shirley Truesdale Lockwood, LVN
Research Coordinator TRIS Project
Escondido, CA USA
http://web.coehs.siu.edu/Grants/TRIS/

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Case reports have suggested that evening primrose oil may worsen
symptoms in people with temporal lobe epilepsy.39 Until more is
known, people with this type of epilepsy should avoid using evening
primrose oil supplements, except perhaps under the supervision of a
qualified physician. http://www.peacehealth.org/kbase/cam/hn-1212005.htm
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Some herbal remedies such as St John's wort may be helpful for
depression but can interfere with epilepsy medicines. Evening primrose
oil and star oil can trigger epilepsy in some people.
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/epilepsy.html
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Avoid the following herbs:

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) and ginseng (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolius)
have caused seizures in some people.

There is some evidence that GLA, a type of fatty acid found in evening
primrose oil (Oenothera biennis) and borage oil (borago officinalis), may
worsen epilepsy, although it has not been confirmed.

St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) interacts with a number of
medications
and herbs used to treat epilepsy.

White willow (Salix alba) may interact with medications for epilepsy.

Avoid these essential oils:
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare)
Thuja (Thuya occidentalis)
Wormwood (Artemesia absinthium
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/seizure-disorders-000148.htm
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Herbal medicine is not used to treat epilepsy and some herbal medicines such
as Schizandra, Kava Kava & Comfrey may increase the risk of seizures.

Some people with epilepsy have reported having seizures after taking herbal
and homoeopathic medicines or supplements. Substances known to possibly
increase seizure frequency include Gingko Biloba, St Johns Wort and Evening
Primrose Oil.

Talk to your doctor before commencing any of these substances or herbal
medicines as these may interfere with metabolism of anti-epileptic
medications.
http://www.epilepsy.org.au/treatment_comp.asp
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EPO is generally considered safe, but it should be taken with food to avoid
nausea. People with temporal lobe epilepsy should never take Evening
Primrose
Oil.

EPO may interfere with medications used to treat epilepsy and should be
avoided by people taking anti epileptic drugs.

Note: EPO may also interact with:
non-steroidal anti-inflammatories
warfarin
aspirin
neuroleptic agents.
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/eveningprimroseoil.shtml
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Evening primrose oil and borage: Should not be used with anticonvulsants
because they may lower the seizure threshold.
http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/19981201reaction2.asp
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