Meditation

"Meditation" means different things in different cultures, but all meditation works in essentially the same way. Dr. Hui says that some people, when they feel a seizure coming on, can go to sleep, sleep it off, and believe that their body will be "reset" when they wake up. But not everyone can sleep on demand.

"Meditation is a controlled way, a sure-win way, of getting into that state. If the electrical vibration of the brain is becoming irregular, "meditation is a way to tune that down and recalibrate."

Some forms of meditation use ideas and imagination to focus the mind, but the easiest to learn uses a simple sound. One begins by humming a calming and soothing tone while breathing regularly and slowly. After a while, your mind continues as if it is humming and gradually your body becomes centred. This can calm down brainwave activity. "The brain will be somewhat recalibrated into a basal metabolic rate, and into a most simple fine state, and after twenty minutes you let the body come back, and the body is reset"

Dr. Hui suggests this recalibration is a good way of protecting against overtiredness in your system, like a brief "power nap" that leaves you revitalized rather than, say, longer naps, which may further disturb your body's internal clock. Dr. Hui suggests using a medication audiotape to help promote this "re-setting".

Herbs

Note: Dr. Hui's comments on herbs for epilepsy set him apart from those of his medical colleagues who caution that herbals can indeed be unsafe for patients with epilepsy (see accompanying articles).

Dr. Hui argues that medicinal herbs usually have no serious side effects. "Because they have been tried over hundreds of years, we know they are fairly safe." Medications by comparison, are tested over relatively few years. While medications achieve their intended effects, these are very specific, and they often come with side effects.

Frequently, medications attempt to synthetically reproduce the "active ingredient" of a particular plant or herb, but his approach may miss benefits from other parts of the plant: "Unfortunately, the wisdom of human beings cannot be as good as God's."

Dr. Hui is careful to point out that you should keep your meds! Medications provide excellent, though perhaps not total, seizure control for most people with epilepsy. Medications provide the best protection for you. However, when there are problems, doctors tend to add medications or raise dosages, which often means coping with additional side effects.

According to Dr. Hui, herbs are essentially extra medications with no serious side effects. For those without perfect control, they can provide a little extra protection.

Dr. Hui suggests using the following herbs:

Gaba is calming for people who are overly anxious, but it doesn't make you sleepy. Passion Flower (from the same plant as passion fruit) and Kava Kava also work along the same lines, cutting down on excitablility without drowsiness. Passion Flower is often sold as a tincture (mixed with a liquid such as alcohol). Some who use it feel dizzy, but it is generally safe for most people. Kava Kava is often brewed into a tea.

Tin Ma is another common herb from a yam-like plant. Likely any prescribed mixture of herbs from a doctor in Chinese medicine will contain tin ma as a common ingredient. It is inexpensive, but you may not find it in a health food store; try your local chinese grocery. Its effect is described in Chinese medicine as "cutting down the wind" in your brain. All aspects of Chinese medicine use metaphors from nature; the sense of this description is probably similar to "calming the storm".