Lifting the fog Q: Please address the issue of seizures. My husband developed them after heart valve surgery 11 years ago but they were not diagnosed until two years ago. Since that time he has been on Dilantin, Neurontin, and now Keppra with varying results. The worst part of the medications is that he is so "foggy" mentally, and that is with a small dosage. Is there some natural alternative to try? There is no way that he can tolerate larger doses of medication -- not to mention the fact that they are all so expensive. JVW: It's not at all safe to try natural alternatives for seizures without working closely with a local physician skilled and knowledgeable in nutritional therapies. (The American College for Advancement in Medicine -- 800-532-3688, www.acam.org -- can help you find one near you.) However, clearing the mental "fog" so frequently caused by anti-seizure medications is safe and (relatively) easy to do. Seizure medications interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12, folic acid, calcium, and vitamin D. The quickest way to clear the mental fog is to take injections of vitamin B12 (2,000 micrograms) with folic acid (2 1/2 milligrams) and the entire B-complex (1cc), twice weekly until the fog clears. Then those dosages can be tapered down according to the patient's response. If injections aren't available, your husband can try sublingual vitamin B12 (5,000 micrograms daily), folic acid liquid drops (2 milligrams daily), and a "B-100" capsule (a supplement that includes 100 milligrams of most B vitamins) twice daily. Taking vitamin B12 and folic acid orally doesn't work quite as well as injections, but if your husband is persistent, they'll likely do the job. There are a few other nutrients he should take along with the B-vitamins: 1,000 milligrams of calcium (from citrate or lactate) daily, along with 400 milligrams of magnesium (from citrate, aspartate, taurate, glycinate) daily, and 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily. This should help make up for the malabsorption of these nutrients caused by anti-seizure medication. And I can't stress this point enough: Please make sure to work with a doctor near you who knows all about natural medicine. | 
