How I triggered my child's epilepsy and then fixed it

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As you become familiar with my writing and/or videos you will see that the titles are always literal.

A while back I wrote out the story of how this happened in short form for my facebook page. In that version I remembered my child being around 10 months old. More recently facebook memories brought up a status update that made me realize my child was actually 4 months old when these events occurred.
On the original post I was called a liar and told I was making things up, regrettably I am not.

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In North America and a few other places Eucalyptus oil is added to many products including those intended for young children.
Below is the expanded and corrected story of what happened.

Like many new mums I took great pains to research everything that I could. Typically this means many of us will seek to use natural products with our children, including essential oils.
When anyone encounters someone speaking with confidence and depth on a topic we tend to assume they have accurate information.
Regrettably, this is often not the case with essential oils unless they have taken formal training.

When my child was only a few months old I tried to relieve some congestion by waving an essential oil blend under their nose. In my sleep deprived state I somehow managed to tip the bottle and get a single drop on their upper lip.
While I was trying to carefully wipe it away their father came in and wiped it up inside their nose before I could stop him.
This lead to a frightening experience with the child’s airways swelling shut and copious amounts of mucus pouring out of the child to try and clear the oils out.
I had to keep the child’s airways open using my fingers while they screamed from the burning pain inside their nose. The swelling subsided by the time the ambulance arrived and everything was cleared out of their nose.
Some of the oils in the blend are often recommended for children by those without training due to a lack of accurate information being given by the companies they represent.
Unfortunately the effects of the eucalyptus in the blend would be felt for years afterwards because it triggered epilepsy that would go unchecked until just before their 3rd birthday.
The delay of treatment was due to the type of seizures they were having. There was no physical signs outwardly occurring that made anyone think a seizure was happening and no signs in the brain that show up on MRI. To confirm this type, the seizure must occur while the MRI is being done.

Prior to this event the child had no seizure activity or other physical health abnormalities. The oil blend was also from a reputable company.

By the time seizure activity was finally confirmed I had read multiple studies on Nigella Sativa oil in addition to recent research showing lymph nodes in the brain.
Experiences with how I personally respond to pharmaceuticals meant I still wanted to stick to natural medicines as a first choice wherever possible. I have allergies to 3 antibiotics due to over use as a child with chronic ear infections.
Armed with studies and a resolute mind set I decided that if they didn’t show noticeable improvement within a week of starting the oil I would then pursue medication.

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I started applying the oil topically to a lymph zone (neck, armpits, groin) twice a day. The effect was dramatic with all seizure activity stopping within 48 hours.
Anyone with a pet or child who I have told about the effects of the oil have also reported full control over seizures.

Certain essential oils aggravate seizure disorders, even if they are not active
The Epilepsy Society of the UK explains that are some essential oils which can trigger seizures, among that list is most species of eucalyptus. Will every epileptic react that way? No. But do you really want to learn the hard way?
Eucalyptus is a great choice for breathing complaints when no seizure disorder is present and the child is old enough (10yrs). The leading expert, Robert Tisserand, has revised previous recommended age limits to 6 years of age, however with epilepsy rates climbing in children this can come with growing risk.

For more info on seizures and essential oils see the following:
https://medsafe.govt.nz/profs/PUArticles/ComplementaryCornerDecember2011.htm
http://www.rscdiagnosticservices.com/blog/are-essential-oils-helpful-for-seizure-disorders
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5862119/
https://www.theoilapothecary.ca

As a quick footnote I will not be posting daily because that is tiring. I wanted to build a little bit of a library here on steem to show everyone what kind of content to expect from me.

Full studies can be accessed with sci-hub.
Images are from pixabay with links underneath.