Every day I would pray, pray that I would go through another day without a seizure. And I would go through the usual exercise routine to prevent my body from becoming excessively sore in the event of a seizure. The daily strength training and aerobic workout are things I love and enjoy. The pills I take afterwards are a pain, knowing what I do about the medications themselves.

Depakote is one of the pills I take, which I consider poison, for the simple fact that one of the side effects is possible kidney failure, and another is depression. How fun is that? And because of me taking this poison, my joints are sore some of the time. And what does the doctor do? Prescribe me on more medication. This time, it’s Fosamax, and this gets me very frustrated. I also take another anti-seizure medication, Trileptal, which actually does have some positive effects, but my goal is to no longer be on these poisonous meds.

Anyway, one day of many, I was doing my research. A while ago, things got to the point where I want to be more proactive in what goes into my body. And so I came across a term I never heard before: Naturopathic medicine. The more my inquisitive mind became active, the more I found out about this concept, which I’m sure isn’t new, but it’s new to me. The thought of taking the alternative route to heal myself is exciting, yet scary at the same time, because it is me trying something new.

Fortunately, I found a doctor who had a private practice about 10 minutes away from me. He’s a soft-spoken gentleman, part-African, and he even graduated from Howard Univ., which is really something because that was the college I was supposed to go to. When I stepped into his office one day, obviously it’s for an initial visit, but what I didn’t expect was the line of questioning. Most of it had nothing to do with my seizures or my previous health issues. It was questions concerning my family life, my hobbies, my stress level, my eating habits, things of that nature.

The whole visit lasted roughly two hours, and cost me $160, but it was money well spent. When he said he was going to prescribe me on some vitamins and an amino acid powder (Taurine is an important amino acid), I was amazed as to how many they were, and how much it would cost me. Still, I pressed on. Even when he gave me my first vitamin B-12 shot, at $25 a shot, I still pressed on, and I faint at the sight of needles.

Now even though the rest of my days have been good ones, of course I wouldn’t recommend dumping your regular doctor, or dumping your regular medication. But being more proactive, and knowing that what your doctor says may not be the right way for you is all the ammunition you need to heal yourself.