keppra

[doclotus]

I'm on 3000mg per day and generally tolerate it well. I'm 6ft 250 though so for some of the smaller girls/women on 1000mg that seems tough to metabolize and might make the side effects more acute.

My biggest issue is a shorter fuse/more sensitive. I'll put up with it if it keeps me from losing conciousness and wondering where the last hour went.

[skillefer]

Hi snorider and doclotus! Sounds like you may be suffering from kepprage....yes, that aggro feeling actually has a nickname....Some people on keppra get really irritable. Some others here at the site have found that a vitamin B-6 supplement takes the edge off.

[Ruth]

Hi Alex, snorider and doclotus. I am still on Keppra. I am on the generic. I take the whole B-Complex.

[tripletdad]

Nice term, LOL

I just started on 3000 tonight, as I have been stepping up slowly from 2000. I usually can tell when my keppra levels get low I get REAL AGRO, irritable even irrational. I drove my poor wife to a weeping fit Monday morning because I had missed the dose the night before and woke up in a RAGE. I have tried a new technique that seems to help. Tonight when I was starting to get real irritable I went into the living room and tried to gather my emotions. It seemed to help, and as fate would have it my 6 year old daughter started playing piano for me and that seemed to get me to my 8pm dosage. Once i took the dosage i was fine about 15-20 minutes later.

[Ruth]

I am on 2500 mg a day of Keppra. If I had known about the rage, I never would have started it.

[wowthissuxass]

I have been on 3000 keppra a day for almost a year now. I have also cycled between maximum doses of Lamictal, which was ineffective, and Trileptol, which I am on now. I have never gained anything close to 100% control, and have now been referred to the epileptologist, who wants to talk surgery. They say my epilepsy is refractory.

The emotional ride associated with epilepsy in general is tough. When you start adding all of these medications, it only gets tougher.

Like many of us here, I have also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and take 300mg a day of Seroquel. While I do try to take my medications at the same time each day, I don't usually pay attention to the symptoms that occur after a missed dose.

I will say however, there are days when I have the same types of thoughts that everyone here talks about. Days when I feel like I don't want to do anything but shit under the water in the shower.

[alex]

will chat in a min, on the phone 2 my sis

[alex]

r u still on line?

[alex]

r u on it 4 epilepsy or bi pola?
i got a virus called encephilitis which affected my brain resulting in a head injury which left me with epilepsy.
i am on a very high dose off keppra & lamotragine day & night.
as im still having fits my doctor has decided to wean me off so i can try somethin else.
he wants me off keppra 1st so i came down 5oomg to start with (i think that was to much) i was nausious, off my food & tired. my body muct of been withdrawing.
iv since looked back over my seizer diary & realised my fits got worse when i started takin lamotragine. i have decided i wont wean off any more of keppra & have now started to lower the dose of lamotragine.
i know keppra doesn't work 4 many people & the ddoctors don't to like it, but it seems to work for me.

[maureen]

My epilepsy is caused by a head injury too. I was on Dilantin for a couple of years then switched to Keppra (generic). I think I am more moody, pissed off, irritated etc. than I was before. I think it may be the Keppra, but also I am heading into menopause - not quite there yet, I also don't particularly love my job so there are a number of things that may be causing the less than delightful moods. I think I am able to take a few deep breaths and take a step back from whatever is irritating me.

I sometimes wonder if some of the other drugs would work better for me, but the time it takes to go on a drug, wean off a drug, get used to it etc., etc., I'm not that patient!

[alex]

personaly i think that maybe people are to quick to blame the drugs for all there problems. if you read about all the side affects the drug MAY cause you start thinking you suffer from those side affects when infact you don't it's all in your head.
i'm a great believer in mind over matter. you can make your self worse off by believing you have all the side affects or you can put your P.M.A (positive mental attitude) to work ignore the POSSIBLE side affects get on with life & be thankfull for what you have (things could be so much worse)

your bound to be moody after a brain injury (i know i was for years) it puts a major speed bump in your road.
only being 25 i don't know much about menopause. but i do know your hormones will play hell with you. i'm moody enough when i'm on a period.

have a go at tackling anything else that might be causing your moods.
it's so much easier then messing with tablets, on you & your insides.

[epileric]

i'm a great believer in mind over matter. you can make your self worse off by believing you have all the side affects or you can put your P.M.A (positive mental attitude) to work ignore the POSSIBLE side affects get on with life & be thankfull for what you have (things could be so much worse)

After starting this thread stating your side-effects with keppra I'm surprised you'd say that if we're positive we can overcome it. Yes people can bring on their own side-effects but keppra (as well as other anti-epileptic drug's) can have very strong mental & physical side-effects even if not everyone gets them. When I was on keppra by the time I'd finished reading a sentence in a book I'd forgotten what the beginning of the sentence, even after reading it 3 or 4 times. That sort of effect is not imaginary or self-induced. I've been told a few times that I could stop taking my meds & nothing bad would happen , just remember.... mind over matter and my seizures will stop. Somehow that just didn't work. That doesn't mean I have self-pity & bring the seizures on myself, have no positive mental attitude or that I am not thankful for what I have but lets get real, side-effects of drugs do exist.

Maybe we should be careful not to perceive side- effects that aren't there (as you seem to imply people do) but we should also be careful not to ignore what actually is happening to our bodies & minds when taking anti-epileptic drug's. Only if we are aware of how we are effected by our meds can we can know our limitations to be able to act appropriately & safely. I would hate to think that I could work high up in construction knowing that my tegretol effects my balance, perception & co-ordination. Telling myself that I can do it if I"m positive enough would be suicide.

[Ruth]

I do not think Alex meant that literally, just that PMA helps. I was having problems remembering before I started Keppra. Keppra did not cause my confusion, repeating myself, saying things I do not remember and getting lost. Having my first status epilepticus in 1979 caused though things. Having my second status epilepticus in 1985 or was it 1995, made all of those things worse.

It no longer matter what medicine I am on, those synapses in my brain can never be repaired. The damage done to my neurotransmitter can never be repaired. I keep a PMA, it does help me. We could not live our lives without a positive mental attitude. I have said this for the last 40 years.

[alex]

did i say if u stop takin ur meds ur fits will stop. of course they wont. meds r there 4 a reason but unfortunately all meds come with side affects. now u can either accept ur side affects & learn they r apart of u. try changin ur meds but thats gonna take years & ur still gonna get some sort of side affect.

if ur epileptic ur more then likely gonna be on meds 4 the rest of ur life so whats the point in wingin about side affects when there here 2 stay, or u could come off ur meds & waste ur life fittin.

i truely believe a positive attitude will improve ur life.
if u wanna sit & sulk thats ur choice.

[maureen]

I take 1000mg of Keppra twice daily. I know it is created to be convenient. I was wondering, does anyone know if taking the same dose, spread out over the day reduces side effects? If it did I'd be happy to take it 500mg four times daily - same total just spread out.....?

[Ruth]

Hi Maureen

I take 1500mg of Keppra twice a day. I take 2 in the morning and 3 at night. My other medicines are spread out during the day. I am on 5 seizure medications. I cannot tell if it reduces the side effects.

The fact that the doctors spread it out during the day, suggests that it does reduce the side effects. You will have to ask your neurologist about spreading it out. Do not do it on your own.

[janey]

I was on Keppra for about 3-4 months last summer/fall. It was one of the worst times of my life. Crying (really sobbing) for about an hour every morning then yelling at my husband in the evening. Total feelings of no worth.

My new doctor was switching me to Lamictal, and had hoped that I'd be able to stay on the Keppra until I was up to dose on it. We realized just how bad it was, and he took me off of it very quickly, put me on Dilantin until we could get the Lamictal up to a therapeutic level. We did it much more slowly than the manufacturer said, and I had no problems with the titration. (I'd had issues with my gums on Dilantin previously, so I'm really glad that I didn't have to go back to that.)

Right now I'm just really glad the Lamictal is working. I feel better about myself than I have in years. For the first time in over a year, I'm not having to think about how I feel, either physically or mentally -- I just feel GOOD. I'm lucky and very blessed at this point.

[No Shame]

Are you trying a different type of medication now or just weaning off to see if you can go med-free? Be careful whatever you do, and listen to you body, not your mind---it can go free reign into doubt land. I am trying meditating and doing yoga (shaking like Elvis himself has control of my body)...but progress nevertheless. Write on Alex--keep us posted!

[nana1]

Hi Alex

I am on Keprra 1000mg twice or was. The goverment changed it to gengric, but my body could not handle genric, so my doctor had to request brand back. At first the government denied it, but finally they ok my Brand Keppra but wrong mg only gave me 500mg. So doctor and i figured since goverment at least gave us Brand keppra we would get it up to 2000mg a day. So know i take 2 -500mg pills in am and 2- 500pils in pm. Plus i take Lamictal and zonegran also. The only side efect i know for sure i have from keppra is my 24/7 headachs. Yes i do get moody, but i am a moody person anyway. I do not have any suicide thoughts at all.

i have had my seizures all my life. still not under control and i am in my 50s
have no idea when my seizures are coming on. I have taken alot of drugs in my life time ( have stopped counting).

nancy

[Ruth]

Hi, besides Keppra, I take Lamictal, Neurontin, Clonazepam, and Mysoline for my seizures. My neurologist is slowly putting me on Keppra and slowly taking away my Neurontin. He is doing it slowly because I have had 2 status epilepsy. Both of us do not want that to occur again. He is doing it every 3 months.