Devin’s Health Issues
Devin had health issues such as chronic indigestion, constipation, chronic migraines, and headaches all her life. Because her mother had them, too, she thought it was unavoidable.
Trying Anti-Seizure Medication
After one migraine, she ended up in the hospital. Her doctor did a spinal tap because he thought she had meningitis.
When she woke up in the morning, something was wrong. “I ended up having a spinal leak, so when all the spinal fluid, so when all my spinal fluid was leaking out of my skull, my brain was resting right on my skull.”
“So, when I would sit up, it would feel like it was crashing onto a skull, which caused lesions, and a few months later is when my seizures started.”
Devin’s seizures gradually built from one or two a year to four or five a year, and in 2016, she had three or four a month. Her doctor recommended anti-seizure medication because she thought, “It’s obviously progressing.”
Devin, however, began doing her homework. “I looked at all the side effects for said medications. I really didn’t want to be on this for the rest of my life.”
Discovering The Ketogenic Diet
Devin had a niece who had multiple seizures per day due to birth defects, and she recalled that her doctor had put her on a ketogenic diet. She looked into the diet and talked to her husband about it.
His response was less than supportive: “he basically laughed at me and said, ‘It’s snake oil-you can’t stop seizures with diets,’ and I said, ‘I’m going to try it for 30 days and see what happens, and if not, I’ll fill my prescription.”
The 30-Day Experiment
The 30 days went by, and Devin didn’t have a seizure. Her husband still didn’t believe it was possible and said, “It’s a fluke; don’t get your hopes up.” Devin decided to try it for another 30 days. “March will be four years, and I’m still doing my 30-day experiments, and I’m still seizure-free.”
Transitioning To The Carnivore Diet
After a year, Devin’s husband wanted to give keto a try. She prepared the same food for him, and he almost went into a state of depression: “I can’t have cookies anymore.” Devin felt bad for him, and “I got every keto cookbook that was ever made, and I started making homemade ice cream, cookies, and pizza.”
Devin started eating those foods too, but all of her problems, including seizure auras, started to return. She asked her keto coach for help!
Her keto coach set a goal of under ten carbs, and the problems started lifting. Her coach suggested Devin try 30 days of the carnivore diet.
Remaining Seizure-Free On The Carnivore Diet
“All my stuff started lifting. The headaches were gone; I was going to the bathroom every single day; the nerve pain and skin crawling stopped, and I was sleeping better.”
When she tried to reintroduce foods, she realized that that made the problems come back, so she stayed on the carnivore diet. She remains seizure-free.
“Just overall, I feel better!”
