totally confused.. as always.

[munchy]

Hey everyone,

Hope everyone is well, not been on in quite a while as I thought everything was going OK.

I was put on Keppra last year for my simple partials (always the same deja vu, rising stomach etc). I was doing fine apart from dizziness which I thought was a side effect. When I saw my neurologist I mentioned this and she thought it could be seizure activity and upped the doseage, which actually stopped the dizziness (I didn't expect that) unfortunately after a couple of months the dizziness got gradually worse, to the point where I now have several dizzy spells a day where I feel as though I am about to pass out.

So here's the bit where I get confused... Before starting Keppra, I was on tegretol which gave me terrible side effects and I was still having simple partial's at least fortnightly. I got up to 2000mg Keppra and haven't had a simple partial since march which is great, but I have had the daily dizzy spells. So is the dizziness a side effect or a seizure? My neurologist thinks it's my brain trying to have a seizure but not managing it and only getting dizzy. If this is the case, then why is it happening so much more than before the keppra? That would mean the keppra is making things better and worse at the same time Also if the dizziness is a side effect then how come it gets better after a doseage increase?

Also have to mention that I have seen my GP this week and she's increased my doseage to 2500mg and requested an appointment with my neurologist in the next few weeks. Not had any dizzy spells since increasing my dose.

So whats going on? Where will we go from here? See why I'm confused???? Wow, I do my own head in sometimes

[Nakamova]

Given that dizziness is a very common side effect of Keppra (and most other anti-epileptic drugs), I think it's more likely that Keppra is the culprit -- even if the dizziness goes away each time you up your dosage. Sometimes it takes a while for the body to adjust to changes in dosage either up or down, and it behaves one way while you are transitioning and another way after you're at a stable dose. Do you keep a journal? If the dizziness comes back, try and keep notes about when and how bad it gets, what time of day in relation to meals or your Keppra dose.