Can Vimpat cause numbness?

[momof3boys]

Glad to find this post. I started Vimpat about a month ago at 50mg twice daily, increasing weekly to 200mg. Wednesday, which was my second week at 200mg, I took my morning dose, and noticed numbness in my lips and nose. Tolerated it, and didn't like it. Took my evening dose, and 30 minutes later, everything from my nose to my chest was numb. I couldn't swallow, couldn't breathe, chest was tight. My dad brought me to the ER, and by the time I got looked at, breathing was a little easier, but everything else still sucked. He gave me Benadryl, monitored me for an hour and sent me home. momof3boys, I was also given the card of my Doctor's nurse, and called her, she said it wasn't an allergic reaction, but that my body couldn't tolerate that amount. She's now called the pharmacy to request 100mg and 50mg pills to bring me back to 150mgs twice daily, but I'm frustrated, because now I have an almost full bottle of very expensive Vimpats that I can't take! (I asked her if I can cut them, but she said it would be too hard, as they're not scored...)

Having had that reaction though, I'm even scared to try the 150mg! Keppra hasn't worked for me either... I have an even larger bottle full of those too

Frustrated.

For me, when I was taking the Vimpat, I had the numbness which continued to get worse as the dosage increased, but I was also very depressed. I cried alot, and was not myself at all. Being a stay at home mom, I needed to focus on the kids and I wasnt able to do that. when I contacted my dr about it, they told me to cut my dose in half, and take 50mgs twice a day, instead of 100mgs twice a day. But I tried that for five days and it did nothing. Its listed on the side effects that if you have any changes in your mood, or become depressed, or have suicidal thoughts, contact your dr immediately. So I contacted them because I just became a totally different person. Once I was taken off all of the vimpat, the moods went away and the numbness went away too. Looking back, I think I was on it for about a month... but thats something I wouldnt want to go through again!

 

[2ndchances]

Thanks for the reply, Kristin, glad you're not experiencing that anymore.

I talked to my pharmacist today to see about actually cutting the 200mg pills in half, and he couldn't find any info on it. Because there's a film on the outside, his instinct was that no, it shouldn't be cut in half as either it's there to protect the stomach, or to control the dose's release. Ugh, so today, I'll spend more $$ for medication that I don't do well on, that my insurance doesn't cover. (I have a 3 month supply of Keppra sitting in my medicine cabinet that I can't take either).