What time do you give your child Keppra?

[momofthree]

Hi, I am very new to this forum, my 7 yr old son was diagnosed with Epilepsy about 3 weeks ago and we have started on Keppra. It seems that it is interrupting his sleep cycle, he is falling asleep okay but wakes up extremely early, as a result he is tired at school and over all being very moody, simply not getting enough sleep. The doctor told us to give him Keppra earlier in the day, when he gets home from school, I am not sure I understand this. Won't he now wake even earlier? She has also asked us to give him B6, 100 mg a day, she said this may help with behavior. This is the start of what I expect to be a difficult journey, I am sleepless and scared, waiting for the other shoe to fall, all of the time. His seizures have only happened at night so night time all of our anxiety levels are raised a bit. Any info, suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

[epileric]

Actually fatigue & moodiness are side-effects of Keppra so it might not be the insomnia that's doing it.

I would think that giving him the keppra in the afternoon would give it time to work its way through his system before bed & maybe keep him awake in the aft instead of being overtired.

Also, there are a lot of people here who can vouch for the B6 supplement making a difference in keppras side-effects as far as emotions go though it doesn't always work for everyone.

Meanwhile, try to get some rest yourself during the day if you can. The more rested you are the healthier you'll be & the better you can look after the kid.

[Nakamova]

You may have to experiment a bit with the time of day for the Keppra dose to see what works best. It can help to take it with a little bit of food.

[momofthree]

Does anyone have any suggestion on what time maybe best, wouldn't it be better to give in the AM if sleep is an issue? Has anyone tried melatonin to help out with the sleep? I will also start the B6 today, see if helps his mood, he has some behavior issues to begin with so it is hard to tell what is what and he has little respect for his teacher, which is not helping matters either!

[Nakamova]

Some of the folks here use melatonin successfully to help with sleep. Check with the doctor first, and if you get the green light, start with the smallest dose possible.

And you can have him try taking the Keppra XR in the morning -- plenty of people do to avoid the insomnia.