Foods to help epilepsy?

[changedmyname24]

I hope this is the right place to post this, thought it might get more traffic!

Can anybody advise on foods we could try to help with DS2's epilepsy? He's been having seizures for about 15 months, he is medicated. He's recently (since starting back to school) been having lots of tiny absent seizures/episodes where he tries to wander off or similar & is 'back' within seconds. He also has ADHD so concentration not a strong point!

School are being very diligent about reporting all these to me & I am obviously passing on to his epilepsy nurse in case his medication dosage needs increasing, as it frequently does (being weight-based & DS being a rapidly-growing teenage boy!). However, I wondered if there are any tweaks I could make to his diet in the meantime? He eats absolutely anything & everything. Also takes 2 x Omega 3 capsules in the morning (paediatrician approved) so am thinking of increasing that to 3.

Should say, he is 13.

My autistic son has epilepsy and is controlled by medication yet whenever he's ill, he has a lot of minor seizures and absences, we have tried limiting his gluten which seemed to help a little but we eventually gave that up as the improvements was so slight and the diet so restrictive...
I do know of someone whose epilepsy couldn't be controlled by medication and he's been put the Keto diet which virtually eliminated his seizures (from up to 30 times a day to only occasional). This is a very difficult diet, luckily he has a very dedicated mum and a good dietician to help make it work.
I think a lot of things could help but often it is the child's own health that most affect the frequency of seizures. If you think the omega supplement helps, you should go for it. Good luck!

PS If he wanders when he has absences, he could get seriously injured (e.g. falls down and hit his head), he may need to wear protective gears or have someone keeping an eye on him at all times.

He has a 1 to 1 TA at school & we are always with him at home. Good point though.

Thank you for the ideas too.

I had keto recommended to me by my daughters consultant for her epilepsy if it became drug resistant, however this is not something I would commence with without strict guidance from the epilepsy consultant and dietician.

@changedmyname24
Please seek actual advice from a medical professional,not randoms on the internet

I am in constant contact with his nurse & paediatrician too, I just wondered if eg eating more fish (random example) could be beneficial.

@changedmyname24 then listen to the professionals, anyone can claim to know or be anything online, why risk your child's health?

I know you just want what's best for your child, but if it was that simple, drs would be saying follow this or that diet. A healthy diet and lifestyle more generally is always good, eating fish twice a week is highly recommended.

It varies from person to person but we found absence seizures were clustered then seemed to wane, my dd is now 9 years seizure free, unexpected by her drs - puberty seemed to be the change, but she knows that pregnancy could be an issue so it is a consideration

There's a very good film (true story) starring Meryl Streep about the discovery of the ketogenic diet used to treat epilepsy in children...

I_

It's very different to keto used for weight loss and is normally done under medical supervision. But it has a long history of being beneficial for epilepsy.

Thank you all for the replies & sorry for a delayed response. We have been having quite a week of it with epilepsy, which has had a knock on effect to pretty much every other area of our lives. So needless to say food has been the last thing on my mind! We were in A&E this morning, who advised to bring forward our consultant appointment (was scheduled for 4 weeks' time). So I will shelve this discussion for now, although it gives me 'food for thought' for the future 😁