Outshine Epilepsy Health Coach

‘…the severity of attacks can be influenced favorably when emotional problems are properly handled’ (Wilder Penfield, neurologist)

2011-07-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

:)

Looking at this picture up close, ask yourself; could I lower my seizure activity?

The answer is Yes! There is way you can restore your feeling of well-being and health. When you find the keys to keeping your brain from having seizures, secrets that work only for you, you will feel better.

In my experience, doctors do not take the time to find out what your triggers are. It requires commitment, as some of your triggers might not be so obvious to you.
I found that the answers to reducing seizure activity are as individual as people are. A change in diet could do the trick, or observing a core emotion in you, or a combination of things.

Did you know that research shows that when you are happy, you have no seizures...
But when there is tension in emotion, body or mind, you are more likely to have seizures.

There is so much you can do to not have seizures. The key is to find out what works for you. Did you know that yoga can reduce seizures by 86%!

I love to help you discover what the triggers are that lead to a seizure in you. And what you can do to manage your seizure disorder. Contact me at Xandra@mchsi.com.

Please see disclaimer at the bottom of this page.

Why me?

2011-06-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

When you are diagnosed with Epilepsy you might ask yourself "Why me?". Epilepsy is not an easy disorder to have, I know from experience. For me, it was better not to hang on to that question for too long. Even if I had an answer, I knew it would not make any difference. If you want to be happy, even though you have this condition, you can make a choice. Instead of wondering 'Why me?", consider "What can I do today?" and "What is the lesson in this circumstance". You might find all kinds of answers in yourself that brighten your life, move you towards self-healing and taking better care of yourself.

My friend John

2011-04-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

My friend John has had seizures since he was young. I really want to help him overcome his seizure disorder, so I offered a trade. He is helping me around the house and we talk on a regular basis. He was very grateful to finally talk about his seizures, to someone who understood, who was not afraid of epilepsy. After a few sessions, he saw a pattern in his life. His seizures had an emotional component he had never even thought about. He began observing this pattern in himself and began to suspect that the seizures were caused by this and the stress associated with it. He also realized he had given up, in a way, to ever become seizure free and be able to drive again.
He had observed his triggers for years and knew what they were; not enough sleep, flickering lights, flying and a lack of exercise and fresh air, office jobs, lack of water intake and emotional upset could trigger a grand mal seizure.
Unfortunately he had a seizure just recently, and he was in bad shape. He had banged up his face and nose badly and was hurting for days.
Even though he knew what his triggers were, he was not aware of his pre-seizure activity. So we went on a long walk and talked. I asked: What did you do the days before the seizure, and what happened the morning of the attack?
His eyes lit up when I told him that his brain was already in seizure mode in the morning of the seizure. It was obvious to me when he told me he had difficulty reading the morning. OMG he said, why did no neurologist ever tell me this???
I said, I do not know, but from now on, if you have difficulty reading in the morning, do not go to work, stay home and rest!
Once you and your brain know how to prevent seizures, you have a change to be seizure free the rest of your life, I told him, looking into his sweet blue eyes.
He smiled. He understood.
We both were happy, it was a good day.

What is Health Coaching and why would you do it?

2011-03-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Health coaching is a method of guiding others to address their health and, if need be, make behavioral changes to improve health. Like traditional coaching, health coaches utilize goal setting, identification of obstacles, and use of personal support systems. The relationship between the coach and coachee is an accountability partnership focused on the overall health outcome goals as defined by healthcare practitioners and the patient/coachee.

The roots of health coaching began with psychologists treating persons addicted to alcohol. In the early 1990s, The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted a study that compared several methods of treatment for alcohol addiction. They included: cognitive behavioral therapy, a twelve-step program approach similar to Alcoholics Anonymous, and motivational interviewing.

The findings demonstrated that while all were equally effective, motivational interviewing was more cost effective and timelier in reaching the desired results.

Due to the success of this project and others, researchers have been keenly interested in using this approach and studying how its use may affect health behavior change in persons with chronic conditions. Studies are likely to continue in this arena as this is a relatively new approach for many healthcare providers.

Difference from traditional patient education

The traditional approach to patient teaching and education is one that directs information "at" the patient. In essence, the goal is to have the patient do the things prescribed for them to do. Healthcare professionals have the knowledge about disease processes, exercise guidelines, special diets, and medications that must be imparted to the patient and caregivers in many forms: booklets, pamphlets, audio CD's,and the like.

Health coaching, by contrast, guides patients to talk about what is most troubling to them about their conditions, what they most want to change, what support they have to foster change, and what obstacles or difficulties must be removed or minimized to advance healthy behaviors. It is not the main role of the health coach to teach, advise or counsel the patient. Health coaching focuses on the special issues and concerns unique to the individual patient that fit into the context of the patient's life.

From Wikipedia

Read, read and read!

2011-03-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

When I was a child my mother took me to the library every week on Wednesday. I was a pleasant walk, I enjoyed holding her hand and talking. I loved the library, as it was a happy place to be. I would find plenty of books to take home for the week, and my mom and I walked back, happy, as always.

I learned that books were a source of incredible wisdom one could not find anywhere else. I became a book publisher later in life, and also continued to see books as a source of inspiration and knowledge. When I was diagnosed with epilepsy, I bought many books about alternative healing methods and epilepsy.

These are my favorites:

1. Epilepsy: a new approach, what medicine can do and what you can do for yourself. By Adrienne Richard and Joel Reiter
2. Treating Epilepsy Naturally. A guide to alternative and adjunct therapies. By Patricia A. Murphy
3. Complimentary and Alternative Therapies for Epilepsy. By Orrin Devinsky and others
4. Love, Medicine & Miracles. By Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.

What are your favorite books on epilepsy and healing?

Alternative and holistic approach to epilepsy

2011-03-06T13:26:00.000-08:00

The Andrews/Reiter approach sees epilepsy as a behavioral disorder with functional symptoms. The seizures are triggered by emotional reactions and stressful situations. The seizures are not caused by damage to the brain. Rather the damage has lowered the threshold at which the brain can no longer handle or recover from an Overload on its circuitry. When the overload threshold is passed, a seizure occurs. In some cases it may take weeks or even months to reach the threshold, in others as little as 30 seconds. Instead of shutting down brain functioning through drug therapy to prevent seizures, a self-discovery process is implemented relating the personal responsibility of the individual to the occurrence of their seizures. It minimizes or eliminates drug therapy, and reestablishes personal dignity by allowing the individual to achieve a normal and productive life.

I advise you to listen to a talk about the most comprehensive alternative and holistic approach to epilepsy with Donna Andrews, Ph.D. and Joel Reiter, MD.
Donna Andrews took me on as her patient in 2007 and she helped me to reduce my seizures to hardly any and gave me back my life.
To listen click here.

Miracles

2011-02-08T21:52:00.000-08:00

Susan stopped having drop seizures after three months of investigating and making changes. Ben is not afraid any more of his seizures, he knows how to manage them now and is looking forward to start his new studies to become a lawyer. Sonja had no seizures in a half a year or more. She is very happy. This month she worked hard to buy a house, she added two more staff members to her crew and increased sales for the company she works for.

Diet and Epilepsy

2011-01-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Diet is key in healing. And that is true for epilepsy as well. I am sure you are aware of the Ketogenic diet which is used to reduce and even eliminate seizures in children. Changing your diet is not easy, but neither is having seizures, not being able to drive, being dependent on others, having to suffer side effect of drugs, wondering what the future will bring ...

Your brain is one of the biggest organs in your body. And you use it all the time, even when you sleep. It needs very good nutrition in order to function well. It is asking for your help.

You might be able to reduce seizure activity by changing your diet. Of course, you would not change your diet overnight. It takes a while to eliminate certain foods that are not good for your brain and add other foods or supplements that help your brain. You have to find out what works best for you.

I took on a diet that was better for my silly putty brain and went from daily seizure activity to only a few seizures last year!

Looking at diet is key for recovery and an integral aspect of my work with my clients. One of my clients reduced seizure activity drastically by simply changing her snack habits!

Below you will find a link to a website from Dogtor J. Since 2001 Dogtor J. has been successfully treating pets with epilepsy using diet changes alone. He writes: "The results have been as astounding. At first, I knew very little about how and why the response could be so dramatic when a patient was placed on this restricted diet. But over the past 5 years, I have come to understand many of the pathomechanisms of food intolerance as well as other secondary factors that lead to this 'syndrome' we call idiopathic epilepsy. I have also been pursuing research into supplements and other auxiliary therapies as well as helpful diagnostic testing in an attempt to insure and speed recovery."

Here is his approach:
http://dogtorj.com/