How to wean off of Keppra XR safely?

[boochie09]

Hey everyone,

I've been on Keppa XR since end of May. I've noticed my moods have just gotten worse and worse and now I really think it's just causing me to be depressed. I don't have that severe of epilepsy. I've only had two convulsive seizures and they were two years apart. Other than that, I just had partial seizures where I zone out for about 30 seconds to a minute. I would just rather go back to having rare and sporadic seizures than feeling like this every day. Does anyone know how to safely taper off Keppra? I take 1500mg a night. I'm scared to talk to my neurologist about it because I don't want to try anything else. Any suggestions on how to safely do this?

Thank you

[Nakamova]

Hi boochie09, welcome to CWE!

I know you don't want to, but...you should talk to your neurologist. Yes, you may be given an earful about other medications to consider, and reasons to stay medicated. But your neurologist can't force you to take medication if you don't want to, and he/she can give you advice on the best way to taper off, as well as prescribe smaller pill sizes to help in the tapering process. It's also important to let your doctor know what's going on just in case something happens while you are going off medication.

The general rule of thumb for tapering is to go at least as slowly as when you ramped up. Ideally the increments should be very small, and you should wait two weeks at each level before moving down to the next one. Going slowly can't hurt, and it can definitely help by allowing your body to adjust and recalibrate at each level.

If you do go med-free, plan to do everything you can to keep your seizure threshold high. be proactive about your health, avoid any known seizure triggers, and pay attention to how you are feeling. One risk of going unmedicated is that your seizures can start to progress in frequency, kind, or duration. If this starts to happen, you might want to re-visit the issue of medication, especially if you will be driving.

Lastly, consider using non-medication treatment approaches such as diet or neurofeedback to help control your seizures. More info here about tips and treatments: Proactive Prescription for Epilepsy

Best,
Nakamova

[boochie09]

Thank you Nakamova! I've been toying with the idea of stopping for a while now. After viewing this site as well as others, it really seems best I consult with my neurologist. I'm going to call him tomorrow. I just know I cannot stay on Keppra anymore. It's making my moods awful. But I want to get off of it as safely as possible.

Thanks for all the tips and information!