Summary

see also Epilepsy

Unusual electrical signals in the brain cause seizures.  These occurrences can be triggered by a variety of temporary conditions such as a high fever, a reaction to a drug, trauma to the brain, or more permanent conditions such as congenital defects or aging problems.  If the seizures do not repeat after an underlying condition is corrected then the seizures are not considered epilepsy.

There are a several types of seizures.  Grand mal is when the electrical abnormality affects all areas of the brain.  Partial seizures occur when only part of the brain is involved and the symptoms of twitching or rhythmic movements may only appear in one part of the body.  A blank stare or repetitive blinking for a few seconds characterizes a petit mal or absence seizure.

If someone experiences a generalized seizure (grand mal) they will usually experience two phases.  first there is stiffening (tonic phase) then jerking (clonic phase)   They may appear to stop breathing, they may make unusual sounds, there will be thrashing of the arms and legs, the eyes will be open, and they may lose urine.  The return to consciousness will be gradual within a few minutes although the person will be confused for some time after the seizure.

The general procedure for helping someone suffering from a generalized seizure is to guard them against any injury during the uncontrolled movement phase but do not try to restrict their movements.  Make sure their air passage is open; usually having them lay on their side is sufficient.  If the seizure lasts more than 2 minutes or a second seizure starts before the person gains consciousness from the first you should seek medical attention.

 

[convulsions, fits. tonic clonic, grand mal, petit mal]

Oils, blends & products recommended:

Oils & Blends:  Balance^C, Elevation^C, Frankincense^C, Serenity^C

Essential oils based products: AromaTouch Technique (see note below), Life Long Vitality supplements

Also consider: Clary Sage^C, Lavender^C, Lemongrass^C

Note: to understand the E and C superscript go to Home and scroll to New Helps.

Suggested protocols:

There is reported success applying Balance and Frankincense topically daily to bottom of feet and at brain stem or head area.  Serenity was topically applied to the heart area and around the neck.

Also consider periodic AromaTouch Technique with appropriate oils.  (With the ATT consider replacing On Guard with a blend of Cinnamon, Clove and Wild Orange and Deep Blue with a blend of Helichrysum and Peppermint.)

Special Precautions.  For those with epilepsy it is advised to avoid the use of Basil, Rosemary, and Wintergreen oils for those that suffer from epilepsy.  Also mentioned from other sources and experiences are these oils to avoid or to use with care: Camphor, Eucalyptus, Hyssop, Sweet Fennel, Sage. Note: Deep Blue has Camphor and Wintergreen and On Guard blend has Eucalyptus.

 

Experiences and Testimonials of others

Tamalu gave permission to post this on  EverythingEssential.me.  Our thanks to:

      Tamalu Watkins
     

When my friend's son Jade was born, his left brain was not developed, and as he grew, the back of the left side of his head sank in. He began having seizures at 9 months, and was very much an infant in behavior and ability for a long time. I approached his mother about using oils, and she really was not very interested.

Months later, (April 2008) I was approached by another dear friend, who insisted that I try again to get oils to Jade. This good person had known the family for years and felt a debt of gratitude to them. I did try again, and failed again. For some reason, she did not want to pursue it. By now, Jade was just over two years old and beginning to army crawl. The doctors were "cautiously optimistic"; they expected his cognitive development was close to complete. I was still thinking and praying about him and for him, working out some kind of solution.

In August 2008, I received a dinner invitation from a friend and client who had a friend (we'll call him Gene) coming in from another town. "For some reason", they said, we needed to meet. During our casual conversation, we found several common interests, including a passion for healing (he is a doctor) and myofascial release skills. Our host had injured himself and asked for my attention. While I was tending to our friend's injury, Gene was curious about my oils and we discussed them briefly. I mentioned the little boy and asked if he would meet with me and Jade's family. He agreed.

The next morning we met together and I worked on Jade while Gene explained what I was doing. He recommended that I continue working with Jade on a regular basis, and left for his home. Jade's mother was excited to have me work on her boy, especially now that a doctor had recommended it. I went to their home weekly and began teaching this family how to apply oils as I worked on him. Jade's mother continued to have him monitored through her already established medical program. She applied oils on the days I did not come to work on Jade, and as needed. We discussed Dave Stirling's little girl and how her body was overcoming seizures using Frankincense oil. We watched the back of Jade's head round back out within the first two weeks (Balance applied daily to the brainstem and misaligned areas). I applied Frankincense to his head and feet, Balance to head, feet and spine, Serenity to his heart and around his neck. He soon got to the point of choosing his own additional oils of the day out of my bag. As the majority of the tension was released from his body, we watched him learn to crawl and stand without support. Our sessions began to include massage, especially his thighs, because of his increased activity. The end of September, physical and occupational therapists were called in to work with Jade, and he was learning about one new word a week. By November, at two and a half years old, he was walking. We rejoiced at his progress, laughing and crying at each new antic. His doctors were baffled. He had not seized in months. He began running. In January, before we could start one of our sessions, he had to sing the Barney "I Love You" song and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" (with all the actions). His other therapists said the work with the oils made all of their progress with him possible.

There have been challenges for Jade. He did begin seizing again. This could have been due to habit formed in the brain, reverted back to because of such huge advances in such a short time. We are still learning about the brain, and the causes of seizures are still somewhat of a mystery. Frankincense, Balance and Serenity have been tremendous tools for him and his family. I honor Jade's mother for her diligence with him, and for supporting his growth. I watched her wrestle with him in church as he went quickly from a passive 2-year-old infant to an active toddler. She has had to make huge shifts in her beliefs about him. I honor doTERRA, for the amazing pure oil offering we have here. And I honor those dear good friends, Emily and Korey Wright, for setting me to this task and urging me forward to work with our mutual little friend, and helping provide oils for Jade out of their own pocket. It has been a witness to me of the intent of this company, to help people and bless lives. I'm grateful for the doctor, who showed up when he was needed to get us in the door. Yes, he enrolled with doTERRA. How could he try our oils and not enroll?

For those who do not know Jade and his story, he appears to be a normal, healthy 3-year-old. The rest of us marvel at him, at who he is becoming. We don't know what challenges await, but his story has been rewritten due to our essential oils. Thank you, doTERRA. There are many people looking for answers, and we have answers in our oils when we push forward in our resolve. Let's do some more good! Love, Tamalu

 

Rob - David Stirling, doTerra's CEO had a small daughter that started suffering from seizures several times per day right about the time he and the other executives were putting doTerra together.  Not long after they got their first CPTG Frankincense, they began using it on their little four year old.  It took some time to gradually get her off the powerful anti-seizure drugs (which did not help) but soon they were completely controlling the seizures with Frankincense and good diet.

They still apply Frankincense daily to her feet.

For an adult, you could definitely try the same, or use Frankincense as part of a spinal treatment or applications to the head, or brain stem.  Also consider a couple of drops under the tongue.

 

Jenyce -  I have a friend whose 16 year old daughter started having seizures and they are trying to figure out why. She is waiting to see a specialist. I have heard about Dave Sterlings daughter but I am not sure about the details. Also I have read Tamalu's amazing brain development story. These leads me to Frankincense oil but I would like to know more.  Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks so much!

Loryjean - My sister who has seizures uses Balance, Elevation, Serenity and Frankincense.  Plus the LLWP for nutritional balance; which also makes a big difference!

She has had to learn to interpret how she feels and what she needs to help her deal with it; in my opinion, the oils don't "fix" emotional problems (which seizures often are*), but they give you a window so you can see what triggers them and then you can start to deal with it. There are therapists who specialize in helping people with non-physically caused seizures. About 98% of seizures fall into the “no physical reason” for them category*.

I have been telling everyone I work with if they have any physical or emotional issues to start with Balance.  Also, listening to Laura Jacobs really helped me to see the benefits of Balance, Elevation and Serenity. Step up and be as supportive as you can.  A lot of people don't offer help because they aren't sure how to help. Don't be pushy, but offer what you can. Good luck!

* Editorial note:  The comments concerning emotional seizures vs. physical seizures are probably not statistically accurate and may offend some that deal with seizures therefore they were crossed out.

Submissions directly to  EverythingEssential.me.  Our thanks to:

      Dani Garn
      djandt22@yahoo.com

Dani - I have had many experiences with doTERRA essential oils in the last few months and I would like to share them with others.

I am personally acquainted with Mr. Stirling’s daughter’s story and I also had a personal experience with a seizure incident just the other day. My sister brought over her friend who has recently started having seizures (unknown causes). Her brother is on medications for seizures, as well, and after witnessing the effects of the medications, she opted to not use the medications and started taking some herbal supplements. They help, she says, but not completely. When she showed up, I immediately started questioning her about the seizures and then looked up some tips online (everythingdoterra.com). She kept commenting on the strong smell in my house (On Guard I had used on my fiancés feet earlier to fight a sickness). She started getting red in the chest and light-headed. Right then, I read that On Guard is one of the oils that may trigger seizures. She told me she knew she was about to have one. So, I quickly handed here the Serenity and told her to put it on her chest. Then, I got the Frankincense and the Balance and put them on the bottom of her feet. SHE WAS AMAZED! The feeling went away so fast she couldn't believe it! She immediately stood up and walked around in disbelief. She is planning on acquiring some of those oils!!

Protocols folks recommend for children

 

 

Diet and Nutritional complements to essential oils

 

What Science & Research are saying

These studies at the University of Calabria are initial research into the benefits of Bergamot Essential Oil and brain functions (from PubMed):

2009;  85:389-405. (Cerebral Ischemia is a stroke)

Prevention of Glutamate Accumulation and Upregulation of Phospho-Akt may Account for Neuroprotection Afforded by Bergamot Essential Oil against Brain Injury Induced by Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rat.

Amantea D, Fratto V, Maida S, Rotiroti D, Ragusa S, Nappi G, Bagetta G, Corasaniti MT.   Department of Pharmacobiology and Center of Neuropharmacology of Normal and Pathological Neuronal Plasticity, UCADH, University of Calabria, 87036 Cosenza, Italy.

Abstract

The effects of Bergamot essential oil (BEO; Citrus bergamia, Risso) on brain damage caused by permanent focal cerebral ischemia in rat were investigated. Administration of BEO (0.1-0.5 ml/kg but not 1 ml/kg, given intraperitoneally 1 h before occlusion of the middle cerebral artery, MCAo) significantly reduced infarct size after 24 h permanent MCAo. The most effective dose (0.5 ml/kg) resulted in a significant reduction of infarct extension throughout the brain, especially in the medial striatum and the motor cortex as revealed by TTC staining of tissue slices. Microdialysis experiments show that BEO (0.5 ml/kg) did not affect basal amino acid levels, whereas it significantly reduced excitatory amino acid, namely aspartate and glutamate, efflux in the frontoparietal cortex typically observed following MCAo. Western blotting experiments demonstrated that these early effects were associated, 24 h after permanent MCAo, to a significant increase in the phosphorylation and activity of the prosurvival kinase, Akt. Indeed, BEO significantly enhanced the phosphorylation of the deleterious downstream kinase, GSK-3beta, whose activity is negatively regulated via phosphorylation by Akt.

 

April 2009

Effects of systemic administration of the essential oil of Bergamot (BEO) on gross behaviour and EEG power spectra recorded from the rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex.

Rombolà L, Corasaniti MT, Rotiroti D, Tassorelli C, Sakurada S, Bagetta G, Morrone LA.  Departmentof Pharmacobiology, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy.

Abstract

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia Risso et Poiteau) is a citrus fruit growing almost exclusively in the South of Italy. Its essential oil is obtained by cold pressing of the epicarp and, partly, of the mesocarp of the fresh fruit. Although this phytocomplex has been used for centuries, reputedly effectively, as a traditional medicine, there is very little verified scientific evidence to support this use. This paper reports original daUnita on the systemic effects of the essential oil of Bergamot (BEO) on gross behaviour and EEG activity recorded from the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of the rat. The Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) was used to analyse and quantify the energy in single frequency bands of the EEG spectrum. The results obtained indicate that systemic administration of increasing volumes of BEO produces dose-dependent increases in locomotor and exploratory activity that correlate with a predominant increase in the energy in the faster frequency bands of the EEG spectrum. These data contribute to our understanding of the neurobiological profile of BEO.

 

January 2010

Neuropharmacology of the essential oil of Bergamot.

Bagetta G, Morrone LA, Rombolà L, Amantea D, Russo R, Berliocchi L, Sakurada S, Sakurada T, Rotiroti D, Corasaniti MT.  Department of Pharmacobiology and University Centre for Adaptive Disorders and Headache, Section of Neuropharmacology of Normal and Pathological Neuronal Plasticity, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, CS, Italy.

Abstract

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia, Risso) is a fruit most knowledgeable for its essential oil (BEO) used in aromatherapy to minimize symptoms of stress-induced anxiety and mild mood disorders and cancer pain though the rational basis for such applications awaits to be discovered. The behavioural and EEG spectrum power effects of BEO correlate well with its exocytotic and carrier-mediated release of discrete amino acids endowed with neurotransmitter function in the mammalian hippocampus supporting the deduction that BEO is able to interfere with normal and pathological synaptic plasticity. The observed neuroprotection in the course of experimental brain ischemia and pain does support this view. In conclusion, the data yielded so far contribute to our understanding of the mode of action of this phytocomplex on nerve tissue under normal and pathological experimental conditions and provide a rational basis for the practical use of BEO in complementary medicine. The opening of a wide venue for future research and translation into clinical settings is also envisaged.