Keppra

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Anna, my son has been on Keppra since he was diagnosed 9 months ago and we have had some side effects such as insomnia, and some rage but the GREAT news is he has not had any generalized seizures since. His seizures are also nocturnal and while he has still had partial seizures we have been able to gain control of his life. I agree that the reason it was given to him and to children in general is because of how the body processes the drug. The one thing that he hates is the constant blood work. Kids grow so fast and he is an 8 year old boy with an metabolism like an athlete so we have to constantly monitor his levels, we have increased the dose substantially since his onset. We are currently at 10ml in the AM and 7.5 in the PM. The sleeping side effects have been kept in check with Melatonin, but ask your doc before giving it to you son. I wish we could take epilepsy away from our babies but since we can't I am certainly happy that there is Keppra, without it my son would not be living a relatively normal life. Good luck, I hope it goes well.
 
I have taken Keppra on top of Lamictal for the past month and have noticed a reduction in nighttime seizure activity and have noticed weight loss...I am a healthy weight and so I was like "?!?!?" to my neuro hahaha.

I noticed if I miss a dose or take it early/later than my 12 hour mark (both accidental or after a seizure when I sleep through my Nurse Ratchet "Medication Time...Medication Time..." alarm :) ) that I get weepy (I was seriously weepy when I first started on Keppra-that was the cause of what is probably my very favourite epilepsy story haha I cried at one of those Trident Layers gum commercials because that poor guy "never got paid in gum" hahaha!!-)

Keppra is a good drug- it works well, I haven't noticed anything weird with me or my moods (besides the occasional sniffle, usually when things are touching, like a sweet movie, that is a little more emotional that what would probably be normal haha) and I feel good besides the occasional serious dizzy spell.
 
i am on keppra as well as tegretol... and i went on keppra about 7 months ago and have felt nothing more than i usually do from the tegretol, so i dont think its gave me any bother just the damn tegretol!
 
I take both Tegretol & Keppra to help control my seizures.

I've been on Keppra for 4 years & don't seem to have had any problems or side effects with it. I guess I am 1 of the lucky ones who takes Keppra because I have never had any problems with Kepprarage.

I am due to see the neurologist in March & they are going to slowly take me of one of the meds. At this stage there is talk that it will be most likely be the Keppra that I get weaned of.

Anna - Best of luck to your little boy, I hope the Keppra helps with his seizures & he doesn't have any bad side effects from it.
 
AnnaM said:
.But I am giving him benedryl due to the lamotrigine rash he got..I will stop giving the benedryl in 4 more days.
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Did the doctor OK the Benadryl? I've heard that Antihistamines can aggravate a seizure disorder and cause more seizures. I don't take allergy meds for this reason even though I have pretty bad seasonal allergies in the spring and summer.
 
I have given my son Benadryl with no issue, I was told it was okay, but always best to check with your own doctor. The other good thing about Keppra it has very little interaction with other drugs.
 
Krista2882 said:
Did the doctor OK the Benadryl? I've heard that Antihistamines can aggravate a seizure disorder and cause more seizures. I don't take allergy meds for this reason even though I have pretty bad seasonal allergies in the spring and summer.
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Yes, due to his allergic reaction to the lamotrigine. He will be off in a few more days.
 
I use to always take Sudafed for years when I took Carbatrol and Keppra together. But since they took me off of the Carbatrol and Im now only on the Keppra, I had a bad cold just after getting done with the VEEG and sent home only on Keppra, so I took some sudafed, and had seizures! My dr explained to me that probably what happened was that the carbatrol was like a back up for me, and prevented the seizures from coming for all those years I was on the Keppra and Carbatrol. But now that I dont have that "Back Up", the Keppra can only do so much, and with taking the Sudafed, it wasnt enough to prevent the seizures from not coming. So, I was told to not take the sudafed no more. But they did give the ok to take Benadryl or use nose sprays if I get a cold, etc.
 
AnnaM said:
Too add to my above post - My sons pedi said if he develpes mood/anger issues (he already has mood/behavior disorder seizure related) that she can put him on B6 - supposed to help. Anyone ever have this side effect and try the B6 and have it work?
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B-6 is wonderful. I give it to my daughter everyday. It really helps with the mood swings. We use liquid B-6, our neurologist highly recommended it.
 
Eli said:
my bra cup size went from a "b" to a "d".
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Oh very good point! I didn't even consider keppra being to blame for my sudden two cup increase. That makes me want to go off it even more! I've had a little bit of weight gain but the most annoying, nasty side effect has to be my depression and "anxious anger".
 
I have no good stories to share about Keppra. I started with the smallest dose, and seizure after seizure increased to the maximum dose. BUT, the only really side effect I got was the rage, and a bit of stupidness... Now I am on Topamax, which seems to be working for me. What works for every one is different, so even if everyone one on this form said that Topamax said it didn't work for them, it doesn't mean it wouldn't work for you...
 
The best of luck to you and your son Anna. I have started Keppra and have been on the Keppra/Ox cocktail for roughly 6 weeks. Nothing bad to report, but like others I get weepy, and a little dizzy, but no rage. I have weaned myself off the Zonisamide as I didn't get a response from the doc once he prescribed the Keppra and told me to stop taking the Zoni. I am so grateful I'm off that one as it made me feel "dumb". It's been 6 weeks now and no seizures tho, and my urine doesn't smell bad any longer.
 
I've been on Keppra for almost a year now. It took me 6 mos to get past the overwhelming fatigue, and although that is better now, I still feel more fatigued and weaker than before I started on Keppra.

Also, my libido and sexual function has suffered. That is SLOWLY coming back, but still not anywhere close to what it was before (when I took Dilantin).

I am thinking of switching back to the dilantin both for the sexual issues and the fatigue, and the fact that even after a year, I still sometimes just dont feel mentally sharp.

Overall, it hasn't been terrible (especially after the first 6 mos passed), but I want to live well, and not just get by feeling good enough.. By the way, I didn't get the rage.. if anything it has reduced my emotions.. I don't laugh as much either.. just more muted emotionally.
 
Sheripark: I stopped Dilantin because it was negatively affecting my bone density.

I am male and in my 30s and I am now classified as osteopenia. Not bad, mind you, but just a little low. That and the fact that I had been on Dilantin for over 15 years made the doc want to switch.

I didnt go straight to keppra though. I just stopped the Dilantin and went with Neurontin only for a year (I had taken them both together for a long time), but once I was on Neurontin alone I felt like crap all the time (dizzy, low libido, etc). Then after a year on Neurontin, I had a big seizure, so they decided to go with the Keppra.

Aside from the bone loss, I really felt fine on Dilantin though (aside from probably sleeping later while taking it than I do now on Keppra) which is why I am considering going back to the Dilantin.

I do take calcium and vitamin D supplements now, so I hope that may be enough to hold off the bone loss, although the long term effects of Dilantin can be scary to think about. Of course, the long term effects of any of these newer, supposedly better meds, are still largely unknown. So, it may just be a crapshoot anyway..
 
Good point! Keppra will give your liver a break though. I don't know, it all scares me. I took my last topomax last night and today I will double my keppra dose only be on that. Keppra does make me tired and emotional but I hated the topomax. I Can't believe I put up with it for a year!! My hair started coming out bad with topomax, that was it! Not to mention I had seizures everyday!! I hope keppra doesn't effect my hair. I have beautiful blonde hair, I want to keep it!
 
All I know is that each individual seems to react to each med differently. So, hopefully, Keppra will be the one for you.

I can say that Keppra made me extremely tired and foggy headed at first, but that did slowly improve. It took about 6 mos to adjust to the fatigued feeling, but even now I still can tell that I feel more physically fatigued than before I started taking it.

And, at times I don't feel mentally sharp.
 
I've noticed Keppra might be making it hard for my son to fall asleep. He keeps saying he is trying, but can't. He finally passes out after 30 or so minutes. I give him 1ml (morn/even) now (working his way up to 2ml morn and 2ml evening) around 7:15pm. He is working on sleep a bit before 7:30. He is newly turned 4yrs old and takes no nap -wakes at 7am every day. For the past 2 nights he has also complained of his head being itchy during the time we are working on sleep. Anyways, anyone know if this is a keppra side effect?
 
I'm on Keppra and Epival, my seizures are still not under control, but I'm not experiencing some of the off the wall side effects that the other drugs hit me with. I can get moody/depressed but no Kepprage. I put on about 5lbs but at 5 foot 4 and 125lbs I'm doing fine.
 
AnnaM: I noticed that I sometimes have a hard time falling asleep on Keppra as well. Or, I'll sleep but just not very soundly, so I wake up tired even though I actually "slept" through the night.

I've also noticed that sometimes I just wake up, much earlier than normal. For example, I'll wake up at 4:30 am when I don't have to be up normally till about 7:30. When that happens, I can usually get back to sleep, but it is a really light sleep. Otherwise, I can get up and just be wide awake.

In my opinion, Keppra does have some affect on sleep patterns, although I don't know how much different this would be for children versus adults.
 
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