kidney infection - not keppras fault

[Lanell]

My sons kidney stones were due to high calcium levels. He is now on a diuretic and a low calcium diet. Not sure if this would work for him.

I have found that since my son does not speak doctors assume he cannot communicate. My son understands everything you say to him and communicates via some sign language and body language. I told the doctors for over a year that I believed he had kidney stones and they would not even check him. I finally took him thru emergency at another hospital and a simple xray showed a stone in the right kidney as large as the kidney itself.

He now has the ongoing infections and I am going thru the same thing with the doctors. I have found that I have to diagnos him and them convince the doctors and I have never been wrong about it.

[angel]

Lanell,

go with your gut....

http://books.google.com/books?id=E4z...ujtE#PPA447,M1


if you read page 447 under common side effects paragraph (31.) it talks about UTIs...
Im not a doctor though.... for myself keppra i dont like at all.... print it out and give it to the neurologist.... or look up keppra uti's infection on www.google.com
love angel

[Lanell]

Thanks for your help Angel. He has an appt with his nuerologist on Monday and I am going to discuss changing his meds. Call it a mothers gut feeling but the Keppra is not working for him. It controls the siezures but the side effects in his case are not worth it. I have already cut the dose in half and he is feeling much better in just 2 days with no siezure activity. I think he is being over medicated.

[angel]

how long ago was your sons surgery? Ive never had a stone that big.... my stones they found in the emergency room through an x ray also....they are stuck to the walls of my bladder and kidneys... i had a lot of pain a few times and passed something really small but im not sure what it was...

my urologist could careless about me right now because i have no insurance... Im thinking im going to go see a nephrologists instead of a urologist.... you might try taking your son to a nephrologists also..

http://www.nephrologychannel.com/nephrologist.shtml


ps. your welcome lanell

love
angel

[Bernard]

Hi Lanell, welcome to the forum.

Keppra is the only epilepsy drug that I know of that is not metabolized in the liver. It puts stress on the kidneys:

Elimination
Levetiracetam plasma half-life in adults is 7 ± 1 hour and is unaffected by either dose or repeated administration. Levetiracetam is eliminated from the systemic circulation by renal excretion as unchanged drug which represents 66% of administered dose. The total body clearance is 0.96 mL/min/kg and the renal clearance is 0.6 mL/min/kg. The mechanism of excretion is glomerular filtration with subsequent partial tubular reabsorption. The metabolite ucb L057 is excreted by glomerular filtration and active tubular secretion with a renal clearance of 4 mL/min/kg. Levetiracetam elimination is correlated to creatinine clearance. Levetiracetam clearance is reduced in patients with impaired renal function (see Special Populations, Renal Impairment and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION, Adult Patients with Impaired Renal Function).

Keppra Clinical Pharmacology

This means, with impaired renal function, the Keppra is not eliminated properly and stays in the body longer, so a reduced dosage should be used. I would think doctors should do some testing to figure out the appropriate dosage.

See this also:

Before you start to take it
...
Tell your doctor if you have or have had any medical conditions, especially the following:

• kidney problems (renal damage, renal insufficiency, impaired renal function).
• kidney stones (nephrolithiasis, renal calculi).
...
Things you must do
...
If you have kidney problems, drink plenty of water while taking Keppra.

This will help reduce the risk of getting kidney stones.

Keppra consumer information

[Lanell]

None of Pauls doctors have said anything to me about Keppra not being a good drug for kidney patients. He has had the large kidney stone and also has reduced kidney function now because the stone was so large and damaged the kidney. He was at 1250 mg morning and night. I now have reduced it (slowly of course) to 500 mg morning and night and he is having no siezure activity at all. He also takes 2 600mg Trileptal morning and night. I don't think he needs the Keppra at all. They had him on Topamax and it made him like a zombie! When they took him off that they immediately put him on the Trileptal and Keppra at the same time. My son's siezures are mild and I don't think he needs 2 drugs to control them.

My son is a Medicaid patient and it seems finding good doctors, even in the Dallas area, that take Medicaid is very difficult. His Neurologist has been treating him for almost 2 years and has changed his meds 4 times without ever doing any kind of blood levels. I have him scheduled with a new neurologist in Dallas on Monday and I am in hopes this one will be better!

Thanks so much for all your help and information. This site has truly been a life-line for me and am so glad I have found it.