Can Keppra actually cause you to have seizures?

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forward2007

forward2007

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I know this might sound paranoid, but I have had three of what would be considered partial simple seizures since I started taking Keppra on 12-14-07. Yes I have had simple partial seizures before, but I wasn't having them as often. :ponder:
 
Amongst other side-effects the number of sz I had also increased when I was on Keppra. I've never been photosensitive to flashing lights but I was when taking Keppra.

According to my neuro it can (though not always) increase sz frequency or intensity.
 
Keppra didn't cause seizures but it gave me .....

When I was on Kep-RAGE, I was
experiencing auras that I didn't have
before! But no seizures, just the auras!

I mean it was strange! I was seeing
shooting stars zooming inside of my
eyes in broad daylight (but of course
I was at 3000 mg daily at that time
and was also in a state of Psychosis
and other things), just like you see
falling stars or meteorites falling from
the sky at nights? Just like that;
only inside of my eyes. It freaked me
out! And I was seeing things that
weren't there for split seconds. Then
I would be getting these lights, I
mean, it was CRAZY to the "T"!

I actually wrote an email to my Epi
and his Nurse, that if I see one more
zooming star inside my eyes, I'm going
to commit myself!

My Epi had me set up and blocked to
a vEEG and had me OFF of Keppra,
I mean Kep-RAGE. I was whacked
out to the core!

In addition, it caused me to bleed,
I didn't know if my monthly cycle was
starting or what, I would have one for
1 day and nothing the next, and then
for 1.5 days or 2 days, then nothing for
a couple of days, then 1 day, and it was
pure insanity!

Freaky freaky freaky medicine!

Things went back to normal once I was
off of Keppra! Keppra is on the AED
allergy list for me - that med had more
side effects on me than any AED I've
been on!

MY GOSH!
 
It has been my observation with Stacy over the last decade that seizure patterns can change with a change in treatment - whether drug based or otherwise. I'm wondering if it is more correct to say that a drug is causing newer/different seizures, or if the brain is adapting to a different seizure pattern because the primary pattern is now being hindered/blocked. If the second statement is true, then it would seem the AED is only a partial solution.
 
today i had a sps and saw colors around everything for a few min never had that kind before so who knows...


hang in there forward

love hugs
angel
 
We have only tried four meds but I saw seizure patterns change too Bernard. Very definitely. My thought was that the drug caused new different seizures, as the changes went away when the medicine was stopped. I will however consider your second theory though.
 
forward2007 said:
I know this might sound paranoid, but I have had three of what would be considered partial simple seizures since I started taking Keppra on 12-14-07. Yes I have had simple partial seizures before, but I wasn't having them as often. :ponder:
Click to expand...

To be more specific, I had several photogenic caused seizures while I was on my home computer back in mid to late January about a month after I had started taking Keppra. I only had three seizures and I haven't had any since January 28th. But I have had Epilepsy since I was 5 and I NEVER had had a photogenic seizure before I took Keppra. Has anyone else had any similar experiences after trying a new anti-epileptic drug?
 
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yes, it seemed that levetiracetam actually caused more events. the neurologist says that isn't true. any input
 
hi

my 5 year old was taking keppra and i found that apart from the keppra rage he also appeared to have more absence seizures then before, now i have the interesting development that he is getting weaned off the keppra and he is having more tonic clonics then before. i know that not every med works on everyone but he is now on his 6th medicine( tiagabine).

maybe an idea is to look online for the med info and interactions.i tend to find though that they look a bit scary when you look because they have to put all the possible side effects even if they dont occur.

i hope that helps :)
 
I had more simple partials when I was on just Keppra, BUT my simple partials were continually increasing up until my last T/C seizure, so in some ways I think that tonic clonic opened me up to a lot more issues. The simple partials I had on Keppra were the same as they were BEFORE I was on any medication. Now that I'm on Lamictal as well, the simple partials have decreased from where they were on Keppra alone, but still more common than they were before that last T/C seizure.
 
Is that med here in the U.S.? I wonder. I think that all the drugs are 'experimental' and we are guinea Pigs in a big experiment on mass -people control. So, do your own research as much as possible, is my motto. I really believe I never had a seizure until I started taking Dilantin back in the 1980's. And how could I know if the Keppra is making me crazy? Would I be the last to know? I wanted to ask a cop last night "who are the dirty cops in town?" but I realized that would just make me more 'watched' And when I was in city hall last week to ask about permits for painting a mural on my house front, I had been waiting for an hour for the sec to get off the phone and when she spoke to me, my first question was "can I smoke in here?" She said the green stuff? I said no, tobacco. She said no, that is illegal, I said "its a medical need!" I will get a doctors note if you want! this is clear discrimination!" I was secretly being facetious. but always a poker face. Just to have fun with the establishment. I did not smoke of course. Can I blame this egregious behavior on Keppra?
 
Jonathan has been on Keppra for 5 days. No change in tonics, but he's having what appears to be gelastic seizures frequently, and also is doing this shuddering thing in his sleep. And wierd breathing patterns.

I also wake up in the middle of the night to having him pounce on me and pinching me. I have huge bruises now. And he's throwing chairs around the room...that sort of thing.

He IS having photosenstive seizures, but they started about 6 weeks ago...before going on Keppra -- I believe they started when he was put on Zonegran and Diazepam. Prior to that, his seizures were mostly at night, and not photosenstive related (that I noticed), except for gelastic seizures which did seem related to TV flickering, and other light issues -- but at the time, I didn't realize that a gelastic seizure was a seizure, so wasn't logging them.
 
Urggh...we got our hopes up when Jon went for 2 days without a tonic (although he had a severe gelastic that laid him low), but last 2 days have been horrific -- one tonic after another...poor little guy...and these shudder things when he's sleeping and gelastics. And he has this horrible explosive diarrhea (which is probably keeping him from absorbing ANY of his meds).

So...yeah...Keppra DOES seem to be increasing the seizures. Maybe if it weren't for the diarrhea, it might help, but all 3 of his meds are tearing up his GI tract.
 
thank you Karen. Maybe the doctors will listen to us as more people report additional problems with the keppra, Is it generic? My thoughts are with you and your son.
 
NO...it's the brand name Keppra purchased from hospital pharmacy. I did go and double check ALL his meds, just to make sure we nothing had changed with any of the others.

Actually, using generic shouldn't be a problem unless switching from brand name to generic or vice versa, or if the pharmacy changes out the generic and gets it from a different company. But we always use the brand, just to be on the safe side.

More seizures last night and this morning -- some of the tonics are also ending with mild clonic. I think all the meds together are causing the diarrhea -- the Keppra seemed to tip him over the edge with that -- and that's causing absorbtion issues -- if he's not absorbing his meds, he's going to be in trouble.

It may be that the Keppra would help IF it weren't contributing to the GI issues. Contacted his doc who said to stay on it for 3 more days til his appointment.
 
keppra - ugh, what is this stuff

yes we've noticed increased tonic-clonic siezures with Keppra with 10 year old son. It's worrisome, because all the doctors seem to be (s)telling us this as the best..., but as we have increased the dose, the seizures became more intense and frequent. (If the kaiser doctors actually paid any attention to our son, we might have had the keppra reduced sooner. we had to insist over and over for every test, appointment, request for for advice, etc.. just criminal) We are now decreasing the Keppra and are worried that it will trigger other seizures as he comes off of it. currently onto depakote which has stabilized the tonic-clonics that started 2 days after the keppra was started. we seem to think that we should have skipped the keppra and gone right to the depakote for the partial/focal/motor type seizures he was having at the start...
 
If you do a slow wean off the Keppra, shouldn't be a problem. Jon was on Keppra as a baby, then weaned off and put on Topomax, and no seizures during wean.

Depakote is a good all-round medication good for lots of seizures, probably best for tonic-clonics. Just make sure your son gets his liver enzymes checked about once a month, and also that he has a CBC about every 2 or 3 months. Depakote can cause issues with both liver and bone marrow (it did both with our son). And it does tend to cause cognitive dulling, but that's probably better than frequent tonic clonics.

*****
Our most recent experience with Keppra -- Jon ended up in hospital, had 18 tonic seizures in 2 days. Doctor thought it was because diarrhea was keeping him from absorbing his meds (which was my theory as well). So, they put him on Keppra by IV, and increased his oral dose of Zonegran, and got the diarrhea stopped, and eventually got the seizures stopped.

But now we're not sure if it was the increase in the Zonegran or the Keppra that worked. At first, it seemed like Keppra was causing seizures, because after the first IV dose, he had a seizure 30 minutes later, and after the second dose, he had a seizure 30 minutes later. But then he had several other doses of Keppra with no more seizures. So...hard to figure out -- were they causing the seizures? Or just not stopping them?

My guess is that it is the Zonegran that worked because:
1) They had previously stopped his strong tonic-clonics -- he hasn't had a tonic-clonic since he started Zonegran 2 months ago.
2) He was started on the higher IV dose of Keppra on the first day in the hospital, but continued to have a seizure every 2 to 4 hours until the next morning when the dosage of Zonegran was doubled. That's when the seizures eventually stopped.

However, the doctor doesn't want to increase Jon's Zonegran for a prolonged time, because of side effects. Apparently you can be on pretty high doses of Keppra without significant issues. So I think the doctor has convinced himself that it's the Keppra, because he can increase the Keppra, but can't increase teh Zonegran.
 
Hi everyone

Xavier has been weaned of keppra properly as of today. He had all up 5 seizures today of what I saw and he had been tapered by starting 3.5 ml twice daily decreasing .5 ml a week.

I have been to the doctor after xavier's blood test and he said that his tegretol levels were at 5 and they should be 6-12 range. I am going to speak to the epilepsy nurse tomorrow and see what to do next.

Hugs to all
 
Keppra withdrawal

Hi everyone

Xavier has been weaned of keppra properly as of today. He had all up 5 seizures today of what I saw and he had been tapered by starting 3.5 ml twice daily decreasing .5 ml a week.

I have been to the doctor after xavier's blood test and he said that his tegretol levels were at 5 and they should be 6-12 range. I am going to speak to the epilepsy nurse tomorrow and see what to do next.

Hugs to all
 
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