How can you tell if meds are working?

[Phil]

My daughter, 15 years, has recently, in the last 2 weeks, gotten up to full dose on keppra and has been on Lamictal since August. She has absences and has had 3 tonic clonic seizures since last June. Her last tonic clonic was in Feb and the docs started her on Keppra in addition to the L at that time. Her titration up on Keppra was rough but now that she is on it and its a stable dose every day and she's fully recovered from the last tonic clonic (which took her a few weeks) she seems to be a little less irritable and her motor skills are comming back. Also, it may be my wishful thinking but I think the absences seem less apparent than when she was on the Lamictal alone. But, how do we really know?

She is, of course, set to go into the hospital next week during her spring break for an eeg and I guess that is the real proof but do I tell the doc that I think the K is helping?

What do we do with the Lamictal that clearly has not worked (and in fact, we think it make her worse and light sensitive). Anyone have any views on the keppra question or the Lamictal experience?

What do you all think we should expect to happen next week? My guess is they are still going to find she is having at least some absences. What do you all think they will then recommend?

Sorry for the babbling but thoughts are really welcome.

[RobinN]

She is on both medications? Most research has proven that monotherapy is best, if you are going to go this route.

My daughter had a terrible time on medication. I agree with you, there is no way to know what is med "caused" and what isn't. I prefer to target the cause of the seizures, rather than treat the symptoms. Being off of meds has allowed me to finally prove to the doctors that hers are connected to hypoglycemia. Now to find the cause for this, and we might be on the road to healing the body.

In my experience, the doctors have not been helpful in controlling this. It take far to long to get on the med, then another few months to get off of it. By this time you have gone 6 months, then another trial... and on and on.

We have seen fewer seizures off meds than on them. But I have introduced a combination of nutritional changes, vitamin and mineral support, and neurofeedback.

If you go the med route, it is my opinion that one at a time if far better. It is hard to pick apart the ingredients in a soup.

[hawke86]

Good advice Robin.

[Leanne]

Hmm, well actually I'm on Keppra and Lamictal and it has been working so far. I've been on both of them for around 2 years and I think medication is totally necessary. If it keeps you seizure free, then why not?

[skillefer]

Hi Phil! Robinn's right...monotherapy is best if you can do it. However, there are times when people need a med coctail. As for things to look out for on Keppra, you may notice a higher degree of irritability. Some people have that reaction to Keppra. It's called "kepprage". If Keppra works for your daughter, and the only down side is irritability, you might want to consider using a vitamin B-6 supplement. Others who take Keppra and had kepprage have said that it helped.