Any info needed, and greatly appreciated

[Jayjay]

Hi Everyone,
Well I'm new to this. In Jan 2017, I apparently had a seizurer. I'm 59, my 6 yr old grandson found me. I came out of it walked downstaors, by then the paramedics were here. I was fuzzy in my thinking. I agreed to go to hospital, and walked to ambulance. When I got there I had another seizurer, and I was out. They airlifted me to the hospital. I have no memory of helicopter ride at all. They want almost 13000.00 for that and I can't even remember anything for hours:-cry:
My questions is I'm on keppra er 750 mg 2 x a day. I feel horrible. I've tried telling the doctor but he wants to put me on a another med along with the keppra. Not doing it. I want to decrease the keppra er. I do have regular Kepper 750 and 500.I have not had any seizurers since the Jan incident.
I have appointment with new doctor on June 2. Has anyone switched from keppra er 750 to regular keppra and lowered dose at same time? I want to start slowly lowering dose since this makes me feel so bad and the doctor won't listen
Thanks in advance

 

[Cint]

I suppose they did an EEg. Did they also do a MRI to find out more about why & where the seizures originated from? This will play a role in what medication your dr. will prescribe and how much. Keppra is a drug that makes one angry, depressed, stressed, so make sure the dr. knows this. There are other meds, but you cannot suddenly stop taking one AED and start another. You have to do it slowly, otherwise you could seize again. Seizures beget seizures.

Hang on. If this doc won't listen, find one who will.

 

[Porkette]

Hi Jayjay,

Clint gave you some great advice Keppra can cause a person to have a temper. I was on it for about 1 month and had my Epileptologist take me off the drug because I had a hot temper and the drug also increased my seizures.
I've found seeing an Epileptologist which is a Dr who specializes in epilepsy even better than a neuro. The Epileptologist has kept me on the least amount of meds and was able to tell me the cause of my seizures.
I'm no Dr. but what you have described may have been a complex partial seizure. This happens to me. I will be doing something and then just get up and walk around not realizing it then when I come out of the seizure I'm confused and tired sometime I have a headache. One thing my Dr. put me on was the medical marijuana (CBD oil) and I'm amazed at how that has helped me.
Start keeping track of any seizures you have write down what time they happen along with the type of seizure you have by doing this your neuro may see a pattern in your seizures. I have more in the fall and winter do to the lack of serotonin and I always have more seizures the 3rd week of the month a lot of it is all happening do to hormonal change.
You may want to try taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day for adults. Also I put coconut oil on my skin once a day and that in turn builds up ketones in the body which helps reduce the seizures. You can learn about that through the ketogenic diet.
I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Jayjay,

It's possible that the neuro wants to ramp you up on the second med before tapering you off the Keppra -- that's much safer than stopping one med entirely before starting the other.

You should talk to the doc and make sure both you and he are on the same page. If the Keppra side effects are intolerable, then there are other seizure meds out there to try.
Your doc should discuss the pros and cons of the different meds, as well as what to expect during the transition process.

 

[Jeanbean]

Jayjay,
I feel for you and want you to know that first it is tough having seizures and it sounds like trying to deal with the side effects of meds is difficult. I was wondering if they did testing as Cint asked as that is important. I do know that feeling of wanting to get rid of meds as they are making you feel so icky. It's too bad that your doctor isn't working with you but sometimes they just don't want to deal with that and that doesn't make sense does it? I would be very careful of lowering your meds on your own it can cause a seizure and if you drive that can be dangerous. There are many different types of meds out there and they just need to know what type of seizures you are having. I was on Keppra for one week and felt awful but was also on other meds so it was easy to change that out. Good luck with your new doctor. Jeanne