Keppra blues

[wonderdogs]

I have family coming for a pre-Christmas brunch on Sunday so I have been trying to clean my house a little every evening after work. I am SOOO drowsy from the Keppra (which I am still gradually increasing) that I can't hardly get anything done. My husband has a deadline at work that was just moved up to Friday so he has not been getting home until 8 or 9pm. I see my neurologist again on the 31st to see how I am doing. I want to give Keppra a fair trial so I am taking it until then and if I cannot overcome the drowsiness by then I am going to beg for something else.

[RobinN]

Can you afford to be kind to yourself and pay someone to do the cleaning for you?
Seems that this is an underlying theme with many folks here... too much to do, and not enough energy to do it.

[forward2007]

If you can afford it, get a maid. At least this one time. Bachelors would be in big trouble without maids.

I just started taking Keppra too. Are you still on your previous anti-epileptic drug while you increase the amount of Keppra you take?

[wonderdogs]

If you can afford it, get a maid. At least this one time. Bachelors would be in big trouble without maids.

I just started taking Keppra too. Are you still on your previous anti-epileptic drug while you increase the amount of Keppra you take?

I was just diagnosed on 12/6/07. Keppra is my first trial of an anti-epileptic drug.

[forward2007]

Good luck with the Keppra. We will have to trade notes on how well it works. I have only been taking it for one week and I am still taking my full dose of Tegretol XR.

[angel]

Ive been taking keppra 1000mg for about three months and all i can say is im tired all the time and sometimes get really spacey..... it wasnt like that on lamictal but lamictal i cant take..... if i dont nap at least two hours during the day after my 2nd dose i cant think..... hope im making since i have this really bad flu head cold thing I'm tired keppra has made my seizures go away though except for little auras around my ms....

[wonderdogs]

Ive been taking keppra 1000mg for about three months and all i can say is im tired all the time and sometimes get really spacey..... it wasnt like that on lamictal but lamictal i cant take..... if i dont nap at least two hours during the day after my 2nd dose i cant think..... hope im making since i have this really bad flu head cold thing I'm tired keppra has made my seizures go away though except for little auras around my ms....

Ugh, I was hoping someone would say the drowsiness would go AWAY!

[angel]

Ugh, I was hoping someone would say the drowsiness would go AWAY!

as long as you get enough rest it's not that bad.. I have kidney and bladder stones which cause infection also... so that too might be why I'm so tired... Im thinking about switching to tegretol..... everyones different on each med because we each have maybe other health problems so you cant fully judge by what another has to say about personal experiences... Im not as tired as i was when i first started taking keppra so yes, it will go away after a while...

love angel

[emilyobryant]

I have been on Keppra for a year now.

I started out at 500 mg twice a day, and after a few weeks I had another bad seizure. Then it was upped to 1000 mg twice a day. Well, taking the 1000 mg in the morning made me so sleepy,drowsy and dizzy that I knew I couldn't go to work that way. I called my doc after a few days and told him that I would take 500 mg in the morning and 1000mg at night. He was cool with that and it worked out really well for a long time.

Until my last seizure on Nov 4th - now its back to 1000 mg morning and night. but i guess i had gotten used to it so i don't have the sleepy/drowsy problems anymore.

[angel]

I have been on Keppra for a year now.

I started out at 500 mg twice a day, and after a few weeks I had another bad seizure. Then it was upped to 1000 mg twice a day. Well, taking the 1000 mg in the morning made me so sleepy,drowsy and dizzy that I knew I couldn't go to work that way. I called my doc after a few days and told him that I would take 500 mg in the morning and 1000mg at night. He was cool with that and it worked out really well for a long time.

Until my last seizure on Nov 4th - now its back to 1000 mg morning and night. but i guess i had gotten used to it so i don't have the sleepy/drowsy problems anymore.

yesterday, I started having blurred vision really bad its so bad even today i can hardly see ringing in my ears and when i tried to go to bed last night i kept having really weird feelings in my head little electrical shocks numbness like a rushing feeling.... Im backing off 1000mg of keppra today to 750mg until i can see my nuro I think im going to have to change meds teg is next.....

[Tate]

Ugh, I was hoping someone would say the drowsiness would go AWAY!

Hi wonderdogs.....

Whe I was put on Keppra.... I like you was so so tired and lathargic... I would just start to pick up when I had to increase my dose.... I am on 1000mg in the morning and 1500mg at night....

It took proberly around a month for me to get use to them and the fatigue to ease.... and proberly 2-3 months for me to be able to be able to say I had the same energy levels I did b4 I was l was placed on it. I have been on it for proberly 5-6 months now I also take 300mg morning and night of lamictal with it.... and when I was first placed on Keppra I was weaning off topmax and tegretol CR.....(which I am wandering is equivalant to tegretol XR there CR here equals contolled release...

I now find I dont have any real side effects that disrupt my day...... they may still make me more tired .. but as it isn't severe I would proberly have to wait till I was taken off it to see if I have more energy..

Ciao for now

take care everyone
Tate xx

[wonderdogs]

Thank you everyone, I do thing the fatigue is improving though my neurologist may increase the Keppra again when I see her on 12/31.

[Sandee]

Looks like there is hope for the fatigue to eventually go away. My husband tells me I get spacey in the evenings. I'm so tired by then I can't tell

[alivenwell]

You might want to get an iron level check. I am anemic and experience fatigue if I do not take iron supplements. It's heriditary in my family. My grandmother had to have vitamin b6 shots as well. I haven't gone for the shots 'cause the iron (300% daily value) works.

[Sandee]

Thank you for the information. I will check with my dr at the next visit about having iron level checked. It's amazing the information to be gathered from these forums. Thanks to all for sharing their stories and experiences. I love this house!!!

[elainiess]

Hi there. I'm new to this site.

I was diagnosed (FINALLY... after years of suffering and annoyance) with myoclonic epilepsy and my neurologist put me on Keppra after my first serious seizure in July 06. I suffered from what I called "jumpies" where my entire body would spasm... felt like getting an electric shock. Sometimes I'd be in mid sentence and I'd spasm and completely forget what I was talking about or where I was... and people would look at me wondering what drugs was I on! haha! Or the coffee in my hand was the worst of all... it would just go EVERYWHERE!

Anyway, from the 2 and a half years that I have been on Keppra, I have always suffered from fatigue, drowsiness, dizzy spells, mood changes and I'd often be a bit spaced out and on another world sometimes ... so unfortunately, I don't think it ever goes away... although it does get better after a few months. But I have also started to consider taking iron supplements so I'm going to see if it makes any difference. Although I've had blood tests done 6 months ago and my iron levels were perfectly fine.

But refuse to complain about any of my side effects. I'm convinced Keppra has not only sorted out my myoclonic annoying "jumpies" and scary seizures but it's also cured my migrane problem too.

[Sandee]

I am curious about your migraine problem and the Keppra. How often did you get migraines? My husband has a problem with them and maybe the neurologist should give him some Keppra to see if it would help. I'm so happy the Keppra has helped you. I suffered fatigue with the Dilantin but it seems more pronounced now. Although I find that on days where I wake up on my own and not to a clock I do much better. Welcome to this wonderful world I now call my second home!!!

[elainiess]

Hey ya Sandee,

I got migranes quite a lot. I used to be on super strong pain killers that the doc would prescribe because normal paracetamol just didn't do it. I wasn't sure if my migranes and headaches were genetic (my Dad suffers too) or if my epilepsy was causing my migranes all those years, but they definitely went away since I started taking keppra anyway. Still get the occasional headache but nothign as bad as I used to get.

Might be worth asking the neurologist

[Bernard]

Vitamin B6 is said to help curb a lot of Keppra side effects (mostly related to moodiness).

Check out this thread for interesting info about migraines: Oxygen Therapy For Headaches

[Elaine H]

Hi Wonderdogs

I'm on Keppra 1500mg am and 1500mg pm, I don't get drowsy, I'm the complete opposite, I just can't sleep, I've lost my appetite, lost weight, and I'm still having Simple and Partial seizures all over the place, I must have tried every drug on the planet, and none of them work, lets hope my second lot of brain surgery does the trick, do they know what triggered your seizures? I was 23 when I was diagnosed, and I'm always intrigued to know what causes perfectly normal healthy people to suddenly have seizures! I was a forceps delivery, one lot of surgery in 2000 removed the scar tissue, this time I'm having my right hippocampus removed, oh lucky me eh?! Would be great to hear from you mate!

Cheers
Elaine