New med, keppra.. hmm advice.

[hollyking981]

my neurologist is terrible nad i mean terrible, hes rude, dosent listen to a word i say and i always get the feeling hes trying to get me out of his room asap, so when i went to see him on thursday it was definitly not on my list of fun things to do, anyway, when i got thier i was informed he was away, but he had a fill in, an epilepsy nurse or something, i thought i was just going to get a brief overview, but infact she lsitend spoke about issues and concerns i had, about my future, how i felt on my current meds, ect ect, this may sound normal but to me, was really impressive compared to my usuall, i didnt seem to get on with lamatical, my tonic clonic fits in creased largley i had two withitn 5 minites of each other the other week, which ahs never happend to me before, i explained this to the nurse and she suggested keppra, ive had E since i was seven, and wanting children in the future this seemed like the best option, i started it a couple of days ago, and have found myself abit over emotional. little things, ive cried twice today, nearly three times, and going from bieng like that to on a major high, im not sure if this is just me having a rough day or a side affect, but what are the other affects of the drug, has anone found it useful, would you recoomend it? just some information so i know what to expect,

thankyouu, holly x

[jgbmartin]

well, I have only had seizures for a short time, but it seems like seizures and meds vary greatly from one to the next. Keppra is doing a good job for me...next week it will be 3 months without a seizure.
My initial problem was the drowisness...but that passed after a few months. The kepprage was not a problem...until the last couple of months. When I am sad...I am very desponant..when I am angry...it's just ugly.
I would say give it a while and see if your body adjusts. The benefit of not having seizures are good

[epileric]

& I was also very unsure if I was just having a bad day or if it was the Keppra. The side-effects did lessen a bit but when the dosage was upped I got waaay more emotional & extremely angry.

When you wonder if it's you or the drugs ask yourself if you've ever been this unsure of your emotions before. If not then it's probably the drugs.

[forward2007]

& I was also very unsure if I was just having a bad day or if it was the Keppra. The side-effects did lessen a bit but when the dosage was upped I got waaay more emotional & extremely angry.

When you wonder if it's you or the drugs ask yourself if you've ever been this unsure of your emotions before. If not then it's probably the drugs.

[sixpack]

mood issues is often reported side effect of Keppra.

When my daughter started Keppra, the neurologist also put her on 300mg of B-6 as well. Keppra seems to deplete B-6 so supplementing it may help with your emotional issues.

[drarvindr]

with sixpack abt the B6. The advantage of keppra is it doesn't get metabolized by the liver. If you have liver disease then it's probably better to take it. If however your liver's fine and you feel the mood changes are debilitating , then you can ask them for another drug. What drugs have you tried? Re: your wanting children , i suggest you plan it carefully with your partner. Many anti seizure medications are capable of causing neural tube defects in children , and you will need to be on folate supplements from before the start of your pregnancy to the end. You will also probably need to switch to phenobarbitone during the first trimester. All the best

[skillefer]

Hi Holly! Other people on Keppra reported being highly emotional too. Some take vitamin B6 to help smooth out what they calll "kepprage".

[hollyking981]

thankyou for your advice, i have notcied i am slightly mre emotional. i thought my friend spoke t me in a "tone" today and cried which is so silly and unlike me, ill try thjis b6 thing, hopefully itll work =] and to drarvindr, thanyou for the concern i dont currnetly have a prter =[ but me and my epileptic nurse have chosen keppra because ot lessens the cance of having a defected child if i wish to have them i the future, another thing ill have to look into ey! =] oxoxo

[jgbmartin]

Be sure you talk to your doctor before taking ANY supplements. My neuroligist really poo poo B6...he said he does permanent neurlogic damage. I find several things on internet confirming this. I know others on here take it, but I value my dr knowledge too much to go against his advice.