What to do?

[bazpa]

Could anyone tell me why I just keep feeling worse by the day. Not only have the seizures come back, but I feel really depressed, and irritated. I don't want to do anything. Is it the Keppra, or just the nature of the beast. I tried to talk to my Dr about this a few weeks ago. He increased the meds to 2000mg a day.

[momof3boys]

Could anyone tell me why I just keep feeling worse by the day. Not only have the seizures come back, but I feel really depressed, and irritated. I don't want to do anything. Is it the Keppra, or just the nature of the beast. I tried to talk to my Dr about this a few weeks ago. He increased the meds to 2000mg a day.

How long have you been on Keppra?

[bazpa]

3 months. I really feel bad for anyone who has to spend much time with me! Not to worry-I don't have the energy or even want to leave my house or talk to anyone, unless I have too. I have to work! I feel bad for them too-My patience has left.

[momof3boys]

Ive been on Keppra, along with Carbatrol since the age of 18. It wasnt til in March of this year that my dr took the Carbatrol away and tried new medications with the Keppra, which didnt work. So as of now, Ive only been taking the Keppra alone for a couple of weeks now.

I cant recall how I felt 12 years ago when I started taking the Keppra, but I remember feeling tired at first, always wanting to sleep. Have you been feeling this way since first starting the Keppra? I know some people can handle the effects of Keppra and some cant. If things are getting worse, I would contact your dr again and express to him how badly things are.

I was put on Lamictal and Vimpat, along with the Keppra and both of those drugs had bad effects for me. The Vimpat caused very depressing thoughts, and got worse to the point where I didnt care about myself or kids. Thats when they took me off that drug. The lamictal, my emotions were all over the place, and then I had an allergic reaction to it. So I was taken off that drug.

Just make sure if its getting to the point where you cant stand how youre feeling, tell your dr right away. There is no need to feel that way at all!

[Nakamova]

Keppra is known to make some folks depressed and irritated. If things are getting worse, get in touch with your doctor -- and let him know that the keppra side effects are problematic. Insist that it's time for a re-evaluation of your medication.

[epileric]

It sounds like what happened to me on Keppra. I was on it 3 months with mild side-effects but when the dose was upped the depression, anger, forgetfulness & fatigue were unbearable.

When I told my neurologist after on it a total of 6 months he asked why I didn't tell him earlier so I agree with Nakamova, tell your doctor.

[bazpa]

Thank you-at least I don't feel like I am losing my mind all by myself. It is hard to explain this stuff to friends and family so that they can understand. I just don't know how to put it into words. I did tell the dr the last time I went in, but I think he does not want to change me as he wants me to spend a week in the hospital. I am waiting for the wonderful insurance co to tell me I can do this. I think what has made the last couple of months so hard is that when after so long, finally knowing what was wrong, getting meds, and after a couple of days I felt like a miracle had happened. I felt like me again, wanted to go places and do things again, slept through the night for the first time in three years. This happiness lasted about 6 weeks, then gradually the meds stopped working. I now really know how bad I had gotten, after feeling so good. I guess that it has finally hit me that this could be a long battle.

[epileric]

It usually is a long battle. I personally was born with this battle and have long been at the point where it's more productive to learn how to live with the seizures & side-effects be able to compensate than to expect them to go away like a cold.

Something I have learned though is that the purpose of medication is to improve your quality of life so always balance how much the side-effects decrease the quality of your life to how much lessening your seizures increases your quality of life. There are some neurologists who see their goal as stopping your seizures at any cost so you may need to let them know that the quality of your life is important too.

[RobinN]

Are you doing anything at all to raise your seizure threshold, or relying only on the meds to do that for you?

[valeriedl]

I also deal with anger, forgetfulness & fatigue. I also take keppra but I take other meds too.

Lately I've been very forgetful about things. I'll tell people the same story about something that happened to me over and over again for several days. It's like telling them the same story the first time for me. I never related that to the meds thought, I just thought of it as something that comes along with having epilepsy in general.

I have problems with anger, it doesn't take much to set me off. Also I get tired very easy. These however I have related to the meds.

[bazpa]

It has taken 4 days, and my primary doctor to get my Neurologist to call back. I realize these guys are busy, and need their calls fielded, but when every time I am increased, I feel worse, and wish I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning, and my primary doctor is so worried she has called him several times, I would get a call back sooner. It also seems until a person is stabalized, the would have access to somebody. They just called in Topomax for me to start, and to wean down on keppra. I hope this one works. It is my 5th med. Best of luck to you-it is awful to feel angry and depressed all the time