Why does Keppra cause weakness?

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Dignan

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Anyone know by what mechanism Keppra causes weakness and physical fatigue? I've not been able to find out specifically what the drug is doing to the brain or body that causes this issue.

Or, is this just another of the "unknowns" that often come with AEDs?
 
I myself was started on keppra a week ago. Trying to be positive but each day is getting worse. Don't feel like I can do anything. Need help.
 
Dignan - I'm not sure of the mechanism, but I do know that Keppra is not alone in causing this as many AEDs can cause similar side effects. Some of those side effects can become much reduced or even disappear once your body is used to the medication.

davyiscy60 - As frustrating as it is to hear, a week is not very long to be on a medication. Give your body some time to get used to it. Are further increases in dosage planned? It took me as long as 2 months to get used to some medications, and if I recall Keppra was one of them.
 
Thanks for info. Rt now I'm taking 500/mg twice a day stay on this for another week then increase to 500 in morning and 1000 at night. Just really want to go back to being able to living like I was.
 
Dignan - I'm not sure of the mechanism, but I do know that Keppra is not alone in causing this as many AEDs can cause similar side effects. Some of those side effects can become much reduced or even disappear once your body is used to the medication.

Yes, it takes your body to get used to the medicine before you know if the side effects will go away or not ease up enough that you can't tolerate them. The dosage may even need to be changed to help make things be better too.

Some side effects I'd have was being tired all the time, eating all the time or not eating at all. Some even caused seizures instead of stopping them.

I've been on so many different meds now that I've lost track. I was taken off of them were because of the side effects or it was because they just didn't work.

Give it some time to see what happens. Let your neuro know if it's a med that you can't deal with and he should take you off of it.
 
I've been on it for 2 1/2 years now. I'm past the initial extreme fatigue timeframe. I've managed to get to a level where I am at least functional. But, the physical weakness is still there and seems to have gotten worse over the past few months.

I've never not felt fatigued on this drug. My doc has been notified but he tells me it wouldn't get worse over time. I don't necessarily believe this, as I've been told crap like this before with regard to other drugs and other side effects.

He has told me I can go back to Dilantin if I wish, but I was just asking if anyone knew specifically what mechanism of action caused the physical weakness with respect to keppra, so I can decide if what I have been feeling the last few months is drug related or possibly something else.
 
Dignan - it is certainly not impossible that it is something besides the medication. Have you told your family doctor about the fatigue? Perhaps if you request it, he/she can do a blood test work-up to look for other things to explain the fatigue. Some of these might be low iron, thyroid hormone imbalances, low red blood cell count. Rather than just assuming the medication is causing the fatigue, it might be wise to rule out other conditions that could be contributing to the fatigue.
 
My guess is that because keppra works by inhibiting certain calcium channels, there's a downstream affect on muscle function. (Calcium plays a role in contracting muscles).

But don't hold your breath waiting for the drug company to study that side effect or work to make it go away. I'm still waiting for the makes of Lamictal to talk about long-term effects of the way it binds with the melanin in the eye....
 
Nak, have you experienced any eye problems from Lamictal or are you just trying to find out if there are any issues that may come from the eye binding before you have a problem?
 
I had 20/20 vision (from laser surgery) for 8 years before starting the Lamictal. After starting the Lamictal, the blurriness began. It comes and goes throughout the day. The blurriness doesn't affect close reading vision, it's more at the middle to far-distance, so I have to squint to read things like street signs.

According to the Lamictal wiki, "Lamotrigine binds to melanin-containing tissues such as the iris of the eye. The long-term consequences of this are unknown." Melanin in the eye absorbs strong or bright light that can cause blurred vision, so having less available melanin (because it is "bound" by the Lamictal) seems a likely cause. But I can't find any studies or tests about this significant side effect, and Lamictal has now been around over two decades. The only study I could track down was one on rats that showed that after a single dose of Lamictal, it was still detected in the iris one year later. Which makes it seem unlikely that if I were to quite Lamictal now, the blurriness would go away. :mad:
 
And the hits just keep on coming...


Anybody interested in forming our own research lab so we can look into questions we all have about our various drugs for which no one else seems to be paying attention?
 
I wish! It's too bad the drug companies aren't required by law to spend some of their profits on actually figuring out exactly how their anti-seizure drugs work....
 
Dignan, has your doctor checked to make sure you are not suffering from a vitamin or mineral deficency as a result of the Keppra. Keppra is known to cause deficiencies in vitamin D and some of the B vitamins (especially B6). Most seizure patients are also deficient in magnesium because your body uses magnesium( an inhibitory neurotransmitter) to counteract the excitatory transmitter properties of calcium. Vitamin D will increase your body's ability to collect and use calcium which means you need more magnesium than someone who is not having problems with over active neurons. In other words, you may be Vitamin D deficient which is making you calcium deficient which is making you tired, but if you increase the vitamin D it may increase your calcium and possibly trigger seizures unless you also increase you magnesium. Talk to you doctor about this. Another supplement that might help is 5- HTP a precursor to seratonin which may help you feel a lot better. Never add or change medicines or supplements without discussing them with your doctor.
 
I have been on Dilantin since 1979 neurologist now trying to switch to keppra. I found out only in 2011 about Dilantin causing bone loss. Is the deficiency to vitamin d & calcium and bone loss the same with all AED's?
 
Bone loss is associated with the enzyme-inducing AEDs -- phenytoin (Dilantin), phenobarbital and carbamazepine (Tegretol) -- as well as the enzyme inhibitor valproate (Depakote). The newer anti-seizure meds such as Keppra and Lamictal don't appear to have the bone loss side effect.
 
Dignan, has your doctor checked to make sure you are not suffering from a vitamin or mineral deficency as a result of the Keppra. Keppra is known to cause deficiencies in vitamin D and some of the B vitamins (especially B6). Most seizure patients are also deficient in magnesium because your body uses magnesium( an inhibitory neurotransmitter) to counteract the excitatory transmitter properties of calcium. Vitamin D will increase your body's ability to collect and use calcium which means you need more magnesium than someone who is not having problems with over active neurons. In other words, you may be Vitamin D deficient which is making you calcium deficient which is making you tired, but if you increase the vitamin D it may increase your calcium and possibly trigger seizures unless you also increase you magnesium. Talk to you doctor about this. Another supplement that might help is 5- HTP a precursor to seratonin which may help you feel a lot better. Never add or change medicines or supplements without discussing them with your doctor.

I need to correct this, Magnesium and Calcium are not neurotransmitters but they assist excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters and they do counter balance each other both in the brain and in the contraction and relaxation of muscles.
 
Bone loss is associated with the enzyme-inducing AEDs -- phenytoin (Dilantin), phenobarbital and carbamazepine (Tegretol) -- as well as the enzyme inhibitor valproate (Depakote). The newer anti-seizure meds such as Keppra and Lamictal don't appear to have the bone loss side effect.

Nak, I found this article that says a study has shown that Keppra is as bad for bones as some older drugs. The enzyme inducers may be worse, but I think any AED may be bad on bones. Still, many docs know nothing about this issue, which is mind boggling..

http://www.internalmedicinenews.com...older-antiepileptics-for-bone-protection.html
 
Dignan, has your doctor checked to make sure you are not suffering from a vitamin or mineral deficency as a result of the Keppra. Keppra is known to cause deficiencies in vitamin D and some of the B vitamins (especially B6). Most seizure patients are also deficient in magnesium because your body uses magnesium( an inhibitory neurotransmitter) to counteract the excitatory transmitter properties of calcium. Vitamin D will increase your body's ability to collect and use calcium which means you need more magnesium than someone who is not having problems with over active neurons. In other words, you may be Vitamin D deficient which is making you calcium deficient which is making you tired, but if you increase the vitamin D it may increase your calcium and possibly trigger seizures unless you also increase you magnesium. Talk to you doctor about this. Another supplement that might help is 5- HTP a precursor to seratonin which may help you feel a lot better. Never add or change medicines or supplements without discussing them with your doctor.

My neuro doesn't routinely test for any of the vitamin and minerals. I have to get other docs to that for me. However, the calcium supplement I do take, called Bone Up, does contain other vitamins and minerals needed to balance things out for proper absorption (like magnesium, Vit. K, manganese, etc.).

And, I've discussed all this with my doc and all he says is that I can go back to Dilantin if I want. He has nothing to offer in regards to side effects that aren't totally obvious or related directly to seizures.

I've asked other neuros too to see if they have any particular knowledge about side effects of these meds, and a nurse told me, "well, the doctor will treat the epilepsy.." then I say, well, my seizures aren't the problem.. the side effects are and the neuro doesn't help. So, I go see another specialist, like an endocrinologist and he tells me he doesn't know anything about seizure drugs and that I should ask the neuro. After, saying that, she says, "well, I don't know what to tell you sir.."
 
Thanks for the info about Keppra and bone loss Dignan. Now I have a sneaking suspicion that all AEDs may disrupt bone formation in one way or another, particularly after long-term use...
 
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