Medications and theyre side effects

[Jayrpt]

I am not familiar with many of the medications associated with Epilepsy and I'm interested if others suffer the same side effects that I do. I have been on 350 mg's of Dilantin daily for 3 years but... I recently had a grand mal because I hadnt been fully compliant with my medication and my therapetic blood range was very very low. My medication has been increased to 450 mg's and I have noticed that I am experiencing many of the side effects. They include...

- feeling overly tired
- increased hair growth (my back and shoulders included)
- eye twiching
- swelling of my gums
- memory problems

I have an appointment to see a neurologist in a few weeks and I am considering experimenting with another epilepsy medication. Most of these side effects I can deal with but I don't want to have to deal with them if there is another option.

[POSITIVEPERSON]

Hi: All the meds have side effects and adjustments. What you want is the med that will
have the least adjustments for you . That you need to discuss with your Dr. I don't know your Dr and if he will be willing to discuss alternative treatments????

Wishing you a seizure free life and a quality life
Riva

[RobinN]

My daughter is on her fourth med, and they all had side effects that were not tolerated. We are slowly increasing this one. In fact I am trying to decide if I will go slower than the neurologist wants, due to the fact that there is something very important in Rebecca's life and I don't want her to be suffering from side effects. She has worked too hard, to have a med interrupt her chance.

[Bernard]

My wife is currently taking Dilantin (alternating doses of 300 & 400mg/day). She has not complained of any of the symptoms you mentioned (at least specifically reated to the Dilantin - the memory problems are more related to seizure activity for her).

When her blood level goes toxic, she complains about non-stop tingling sensations in her fingers and toes. She may also be a bit more unbalanced/clumsy than usual.

450mg might be too much for you if you had good control when you were taking the 350mg diligently. A blood test will confirm if 450mg is too much.

Do you have a pill box or system in place to make sure you take every dose?

[bdkelly]

I am new to these kind of meds. I can only give you feedback on two of them. The first one I took was Lamictal.
Everything was fine for 2 1/2 weeks then I got the dreaded rash. Next she put me on Topamax. That didn't work at all. By Sunday, I had people telling me they thought I was hypoglycemic. Monday, I had to be taken home from work. This is my first day back. I couldn't think - at all, speech was slurred, etc. Just be careful. Changing meds is tricky.