An epileptic toddler is now seizure-free after using hemp oil. We caught up with his mother to learn more about their family’s journey into CBD.
In Illinois, a toddler is now seizure-free after using hemp oil. His story is a triumph for both himself and his parents. And thankfully, it’s not at all a fluke. Now that more research is being conducted on medical cannabis, greater numbers of patients are finding relief thanks to the plant.
Epilepsy
Before we talk about getting seizure-free after using hemp oil, let’s go over what seizures actually are. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, seizures are “sudden surge[s] of electrical activity in the brain.” These surges often cause convulsions throughout the body and may even cause a loss of consciousness.
However, there are few different types of seizures, broadly categorized as focal seizures and generalized seizures. While not every type of seizure causes full-body spasms or a loss of consciousness like you would commonly see in the media, it’s important to be aware of seizure symptoms and treatment.
Epilepsy is the most common cause of seizures, but other factors, like a head injury or high fever (especially in children), can cause them. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder that can affect anyone and can be either congenital or can stem from an illness or injury.
Treating Seizures With CBD
While epilepsy can range in severity, most patients find the disorder manageable with medications that their doctor prescribes for them. But what if those medications don’t work or have even worse side-effects?
For those with epilepsy who need a better medicine, Dr. Mary Jane might be the answer.
With the continuing research conducted on medical cannabis, there are now doctors who prescribe it for patients suffering from epilepsy. And a number of these sufferers are pediatric patients. One such patient is Silas Algire. He’s a two-year-old living with his parents in Illinois. He is now seizure-free after using hemp oil administered by his parents. We got in touch with his mother, Kiana, to learn more about their journey.
Silas And Kiana Algire
“He first started having seizures a little bit after he turned one,” she said. “The first neurologist we went to said that he had breath-holding spells, which just didn’t make sense, so we went for a second opinion. The second neurologist said, without a doubt, [that Silas had] seizures and diagnosed him with epilepsy.”
The doctor prescribed Silas the drug Trileptal. Kiana recounted that it made her baby extremely fussy. And it didn’t stop his seizures.
By chance, Kiana had a friend whose son has infantile spasms. Her friend introduced her to the idea of treating Silas with CBD oil and introduced her to the nonprofit organization ECHO Connection. ECHO Connection works to educate people about the healing powers of cannabinoids and even gives charitable donations of CBD products and/or financial aid to patients and caretakers in need. The company HempMedsprovides many of the CBD products that ECHO Connection distributes to charity-receiving families—including Real Scientific Hemp Oil, which is what Silas takes.
Kiana explained that she gives Silas a “Cheerio-sized” amount of CBD oil mixed in with his breakfast every morning. He’s only had one seizure since starting the regimen. And it only occurred because he hit his head.
Kiana also told us that when Silas first started having seizures, he had mild developmental delays. But ever since he started taking CBD oil, he’s been a full year ahead in his development.
Final Hit: 2-Year-Old Celebrates Being Seizure-Free After Using Hemp Oil
Silas isn’t the only one who is now seizure-free after using hemp oil. With the advances in medical research, more and more patients with epilepsy are turning away from traditional anti-seizure medications in favor of medical cannabis. And many of those patients are kids. The deviation is mostly because of ineffective anti-epileptic meds. And undesirable side-effects that negatively impact the patient’s quality of life.
For the vast majority of patients, medical cannabis does not have the level of side-effects of traditional pills.
“Before, I never understood why people would not just use the medicine that doctors gave them,” Kiana said. “But then it happened to my kid. I understand now.”
