Oops, forgot meds, how bad is this?

[froggy]

I know every person and every med are different. But I forgot my morning dose of keppra today (its my cat's fault, that's my story). I've never missed a dose since I was put on it. I'm just wondering what the odds are of me seizing again because I missed it.

[CathyAnn31]

Well don't quote me on this, but I think you'd be okay after only missing a dose on rare occassions. It's when you keep missing doses that gets risky.

[Endless]

Hi, Froggy,

Your neurologist knows you and your history. This is a good question to call him with.

Some of our anti-epileptic drugs are longer acting than others. Lamictal, even the regular, not XR version, is longer acting. Even so, if I miss a dose I really notice it the next day.

I was on Trileptal for awhile. If I was even a couple of hours late with that I got seizury.

How it affects you depends. How does your body react to getting a late dose?

[Bee91]

It usually takes me two doses before anything happens. One dose just makes me a little dizzy. Meds can stay in your body for a certain amount of time, but you are supposed to take them at the same time every day to keep the levels in your body the same.

[Nakamova]

Safest bet is to talk to your doc. If can't reach him or her, then try and make the call based on how sensitive you are to fluctuations in you meds. (Me, I'm not that sensitive, so there's some leeway. Plus my meds are in 25mg increments, 4 in the am, 3 in the pm, so if I think I've missed a dose I can take a partial dose pretty easily.)

The other thing to do is be extra-careful not to stress yourself -- avoid alcohol, sleep properly, maybe stay home just to be on the safe side.

[valeriedl]

I take a good bit of meds 3 times a day. I've missed one the pills that I take in a dose a few times (it may have gotten stuck in the pill box or I find that I've dropped it on the floor). Missing one pill hasn't done anything to me.

However I was in the hospital recently and had to keep calling the nurses to give me my meds on time. I'd usually end up getting them around an hour after I usually take them. On the day I was being releaced I got my meds 3 hours late and had a seizure in the hospital while we were waiting for the discharge papers to be finished. I had one again later that evening.

I don't know how many pills you take and how often you take them but I'd check with your dr to find out what you should do if it were to happen again.

[carolyn]

I suddenly felt really tired yesterday around 7 pm so decided to take a short nap. I usually take my meds at 9am and then 9pm. Well, I woke up today at 8am...

[Nakamova]

And how are you feeling? (Other than well-rested).

[carolyn]

I feel sleepy... lol My friend was over at my place for a few hours and I had a few complex partials during that time. But that might be 'normal' as they are still not well-controlled even on meds. Anyway, nothing major fortunately and I am safe at home today so I should be fine.

What freaks me out a bit is that I am going to live on my own for the next 4 weeks because my flatmate left for the US on Monday. But I should be ok as long as my seizures don't get generalised ;].

[Nakamova]

Check in here over the next month, we'll try and keep you focused and stress-free

[carolyn]

Thanks, Nakamova! I will

Uni starts next week too so maybe my brain will focus on studying instead of seizing for a change .