Sleeplessness and Keppra

[momofthree]

Does anybody have any suggestions I can use to help my son? He recently went up on his Keppra, he is at about 1200 mg's a day now. His seizures are completely controlled, even the little things that were going on have stopped, certainly he has had no more clonic tonic's, which is awesome. The issue is sleep, or lack there of. He takes 2 mg's of melatonin at night and that helps him to fall asleep and he is generally tired by bed time, as he should be, since he is waking at an ungodly hour. This morning I watched him on the video monitor reading at 4:30, he is 8 and this is just not healthy. Does anybody know if there is an extended release Melatonin, or if increasing the nightime does would help him to get more sleep in the AM? Any suggestions are appreciated. This is a physically very active boy.

[Eve]

How about drinking a glass of milk before bedtime? Or a hot bath? Did the Dr ok the Metaltonin? Check with the Doctor on increasing the dosage.

I have trouble sleeping too. I take a Calcium Magnesium tablet with my nighttime Keppra and sometimes that helps.

Also I also have a Lavender aromatherapy oil that I rub on my chest on wrists and sometimes that helps. I have a lavender roll on stick that O keep in my purse that I sometimes use in anxiety situations to roll on my wrists and sniff it and sometimes it ll help.

[Wally]

Try talking to your Pharmacist. They understand the effects and interactions of the drugs better than anyone. I recently had a long discussion with mine to help minimize the side effects of Keppra XR. I think that they actually like to interact with folks, it must get really old just counting pills, and printing labels............

[Nakamova]

be careful about increasing the melatonin -- sometimes a little works fine, but then a little more makes things worse (and causes seizures for some).

You probably do this already, but it can help to keep lights dim in the evening when bedtime gets near. And in the mid-morning, make sure he gets exposed to bright light, ideally outside -- that helps cue the brain into the right sleep-wake cycle.

[MadameJ]

Wally, will start kreppa tomorrow and was curious as to what side effects you experience?

[Wally]

The side effects have varied over the time that I've been taking Keppra and Keppra XR. My Dr started me on XR after I started having new side effects from generic Keppra. XR was not available in generic until recently. The side effects are different for everyone and from what I've seen it doesn't seem to matter what the dose is. I was very tired and grouchy for a long time. I met a very nice medical assistant in a Dr office that was less than half my weight and she was taking twice the dose of Keppra that I was taking. She was happy as could be and said that she didn't have any problems with it at all. I was a complete jerk most of the time. If you avoid stress, eat well, stay well rested, and hydrated you will adjust to it easier. I take a bunch of vitamins too. Irritability, fatigue, weakness, sleepiness/sleeplessness, and memory/concentration have been my problems. Days like today are no problem, but when I start getting behind on my sleep or stressed out, look out! Best of luck.

[Wally]

It's also best to avoid or at least minimize alcohol consumption. We love our hoppy beers here in the Pacific NW and I refuse to give up my IPA's completely. My tolerance is definitely lowered on the Keppra so I don't drink very much or often.

[MadameJ]

jeez...i have two babies so avoiding fatigue and stress will be a struggle. But, it beats hair
loss. thanks.

[patricia3]

My 8months son had the same problem with Keppra.
He is currently on 375mg/day (250mg/morning.125mg/night).
As per doctor recommandation we were giving him his morning dose at 8am and night dose at 8pm but we had to start ginving him his night medication way earlier or else he just wouldnt sleep.
Now we give it to him at 5pm as well as 3mg of melatonin (as prescribed by doctor) and we do not have any problems anymore.

[momofthree]

Patricia, I am surprised at the melatonin dose for such a little guy. My son takes 2.25 and he is 60 lbs and 8 years old, it nocks him out.

[patricia3]

We actually started with 1mg and slowly increased to 3mg.
Less than that and he doesnt sleep at all (before the melatonin he was sleeping about 3-4hours/24hours)
I find that it a big dose as well... he's only 25lbs

[momofthree]

In the scheme however not sleeping is worse for everyone. My son falls asleep no problem as long as I give him the Melatonin but he is still waking very early, at least he is 8 and can care for himself for the most part. Good luck. Oh, and my son takes 750 mg's in the AM and 500 at night.

[Eve]

I take Keppra and I have alot of trouble sleeping. Sleeping is my least favorite activity. I have the simple partials that come only in my sleep. I am wondering about taking the
Melatonin......how much? Should I ask the Dr or the pharmacist?? It always seem like these Doctors really don't know a whole lot about natural supplements. The Doctor recommended Lunestra (a sleeping pill) but I really don't want to get started on sleeping pills. It's bad enough taking the Keppra.

[momofthree]

My son's doctor said the max dose of Melatonin is 12mg's, he takes 2.25, I would start low and go from there, I think on the bottle it says 3-5 mgs each night to start. I would check with your doctor before starting it however you never know if there is a reason you should to take it.

[Eve]

I am just curious....which brand do you use?? Whenever I go to the store it always seems like there are millions of brands. And I never know which one to buy. But I ll check with my Doctor before I take it.

[momofthree]

Source Naturals, is the brand name, it is the one that you put under your tounge and let dissolve.

[patricia3]

My son has a prescription for it but the pharmacy always give us the brand webber naturals, not sure if it is available in the US though (Im in Canada).

[Nicole531]

I have the same issue and am currently taking 10mg of melatonin a night. I fall asleep at a normal time but am up by 3 am. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Lack of sleep is sending me over the deep end.

[Eve]

I have the same issue and am currently taking 10mg of melatonin a night. I fall asleep at a normal time but am up by 3 am. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Lack of sleep is sending me over the deep end.

Next time I go to the drugstore I am going to try it...the melatonin. I d rather try that than take sleeping pills.

[Nakamova]

Eve, make sure to start with a low dose of melatonin -- for some folks, higher doses can worsen seizures...