Side effects vary considerably between individuals depending upon their tolerance to diet; examples of possible complications are: feeding difficulties, psycho-social problems, dehydration,vomiting, constipation, growth problems, disturbed blood glucose and lipid profile ... etc. A reasonable and  detailed view of this subject  may be found in a review paper with the following link: 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4162008/

Many thanks for your responses Dwight and Mousa. Much appreciated.

It works magic for kids, if applied well, the seizures reduce considerably and even stop in many cases. Parents are really happy when the see their children not seizing, more alert, improvement in mental abilities etc., and more happier when their anti-epileptics are discontinued. I am a Dietitian, I run a very active Ketogenic Diet Clinic, The Ketogenic Diet a herculean task for the mothers

• to calculate the Macronutrients, it has to have accuracy & precision
• to manage the child on the Ketogenic Diet when, the child has one or more siblings who are normal.
• to monitor the ketones and blood glucose especially on sick days
• to plan and prepare snacks and meals for school
• to look into the details of all ingredients not only food & medicine but also things like toothpaste, lip balms, sunscreens and much more

Besides the above, the diet is primarily fat (80% and above), so the child may have hyperlipidemia, Kidney Stones, constipation, and all other complications related to a very high fat diet. When the child has sick days then they have more complications and frequency of seizure may increase.

In my experience, Ketogenic Diet is a very effective treatment for intractable epilepsy in kids and I strongly recommend it.

Bathool,

Are children likely at some point to transition to the modified ketogenic diet?

Pat

Dear Patricia

Yes, we have kids who transitioned to Modified Ketogenic Diet when they become seizure Free for a specific time duration depending on the type of disease or metabolic disorder they have; that has been causing the seizures, however, for GLUT 1 Deficiency Syndrome, kids have to be on a Classic Ketogenic Diet for longer times until they grow up to be young adults.

Thanks & Regards, 

Thank you. I have worked with patients in the initial phase, but they were often sent to specialty clinics for long-term follow-up. Glad to hear that for some sticking it out with a very difficult diet may lead to a less restrictive future.

Pat