Anyone experience side effects like shaking hands while on valpro and lamictal ?

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Luckylukas

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I'm currently experiencing shaking hands, occasional word jumbling and memory problems. It's not so bad that effects my job (besides writing) and no one really notices, but seems to be getting little worse. Has anyone else experienced similar side effects from these two drugs? I know it varies from each person, but my specialist is adamant on increasing lamotrigine upto 200mg a day instead of my current 100mg. He wants to reduce and eventually eliminate keppra and keep valpro at 1000mg a day. He says the increase of lamicatal is due to my size and healthy liver, but still scares me a little seeing these side effects and after having a tonic clonic other day
 
Valproate can cause tremors and memory issues, so that may be the culprit. I'm on Lamictal, and haven't had any cognitive problems or shaking with it, but everyone's different. The main thing is to let the neuro know that you're unhappy with the current set-up. How long have you been on all three drugs at the current doses, and when was the last time there was a dose change? Does the change correspond to your worsening side effects?
 
I used to take valpro years ago and remember a slight tremor of the hands but not to this extent, hopefully it reduces as I get used to it. I have been on the three for about three and a half months, the lamictal slowly increased by 25mg a fortnight untill I reached a 100mg two weeks ago. I'm now starting to increase again up to 200mg which we hope is what I need to get my seizures under control.
As for any changes corresponding with worsening side effects I'm really not to sure. Over the last few years my epilepsy has been seemed to grow worse. After first changing from 1000mg of valpro a day two and half years back, (this had kept me seizure free for up to a year or more sometimes), I've had trouble ever since. I'm 27 now and the last couple of years have definately been The worst. the previous years I might have 1-2 Tonic clonics a year max, but there was a always a reason behind each one.
Now it seems there more frequent and brought on much easier then previously, and happening for reasons i cant really justify. So I'm not sure whether its me growing up and changing or the meds. Is it possible the amount of seizures I've had over the years as well as alcohol and party drugs that I USED to use over time has damaged my brain and possibly made me more acceptable to seizures?
Thanks for taking the time to read !
 
I currently take 600mg twice a day of epilim (sodium valproate) and ehile I visited my new neuro for the first time he saw I was shaking like I was really low on blood sugar but id eaten I said I get it regulary now he's pulling my epilim xxx
 
I've noticed they shake worse closer to my dose time, how's your memory while on valporate jade?
 
Im on 2000mg of Sodium Valporate and 1000mg of Tegretol a day,the only bonus been the nuero can't put me up any higheron Sodium and i get sick on Tegretol.I don't notice any shakes.But i do get word jumbling and really bad memory issues.Like you LuckyLucas i have used my fair share off party drugs before and after diagnosis,so perhaps a lot off it's my own doing-guess i'll never really know.
 
Some studies do show that repeated use of ecstasy is associated with sleep, mood, and anxiety disturbances, and memory and attention problems -- which can last for up to 2 years after the drug use is stopped. And anything that significantly messes with the brain can potentially lower your seizure threshold. It's hard to connect the dots to prior drug/alcohol use in the distant past and current seizure susceptibility. Certainly it's a good idea to refrain from drugs and be very moderate in alcohol consumption after you start having seizures.

With the epilepsy meds, some people develop a tolerance over time, so that could be a factor for some your symptoms LuckyLucas. It's also a general true that the more seizures you have, the more you're likely to have in the future as the brain "gets used to" seizing. I hope your neuro is able to come up with a combination of meds that brings things under control ASAP.
 
im currently on magnesium valproate, shaking hands, check. memory loss, check. dulled emotions, check. impaired coordination, dizziness, check.

but i am on 1500 mg so it probably won't be that bad at say 1000.
 
Crash said:
Im on 2000mg of Sodium Valporate and 1000mg of Tegretol a day,the only bonus been the nuero can't put me up any higheron Sodium and i get sick on Tegretol.I don't notice any shakes.But i do get word jumbling and really bad memory issues.Like you LuckyLucas i have used my fair share off party drugs before and after diagnosis,so perhaps a lot off it's my own doing-guess i'll never really know.
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valproate ime REALLY dulls the euphoria from tramadol, and i used heavy doses (250mg).

could be a good tool for addicts who want to wean off, now if only they made it in depot shots that last a month like those nasty, nasty antipsychotics...
 
I'm hoping he does too nakamova. I've been in a fair bit of contact with him lately,and he tells me "out of all my patients Luke, you really do worry me the most". Which is obviously real reassuring, especially seeing he's one of the best and well known specialists in Melbourne. But I've told him I'm aiming at least a year seizure free and he knows im making changes to my lifestyle and determined to get there.
The only thing I'm a little unsure of is the trip to Europe with the boys that I've had planned for a while, and the whole meds and time difference thing il have to keep on top of.
Does anyone have any advice on traveling through different timezones and managing meds?

Mylo is there any difference between magnesium valpro and the standard? Also now that you mention some of those others side effects I rekon I can relate to all of them.
 
We saw serious hand tremors in Jon when he was on Depakote (Valproic Acid) -- to the point where he was unable to hold a spoon or fork to feed himself, and handwriting at school was nothing but 30 minutes of tears and tantrums (his teacher would send home his handwriting homework, and I'd just laugh -- finally had to have a meeting with his Occupational Therapist, teacher, and school principal about unreasonable expectations from his kindergarten teacher in his special ed class that he could write 1/4" letters when he couldn't even hold a pencil). He also had whole body tremors when he would wake up -- he'd just be shaking all over. That all resolved when he went off the Depakote, and he was finally able to make some progress with fine motor skills.

Time zones and meds: we travel frequently internationally. Keeping up with med schedule is easier if you have only one or two doses a day. But...the trick is to go by the time back home, not the time where you are, and then gradually transitioning over. You can start the transition before leaving.

For instance, say you take meds twice daily -- morning and night. So, in EDT (east coast US), you'd be taking it maybe around 7 AM and 7 PM, which would correspond to 2:30 PM and 2:30 AM in Germany. So, since obviously you wouldn't want to be waking up at 2:30 AM in Germany to take your meds, you'd want to gradually transition. So, several days before leaving the US, you could bump your meds from 7 AM and PM, to 8 AM and 8 PM, and then to 9 AM and 9 PM (which would translate to 4:30 PM and 4:30 AM in Germany). On your first day in Germany, you could then do another 1 hour bump to 5:30 AM and 5:30 PM (which would translate to 10 PM and 10 AM back home), and bump that by one hour until you get to the regular time. Actually, you can probably bump by 2 hours each day without problem if you have a med with a long half life -- like any of the benzodiazepines or zonegran.

The tricky part is when you're actually traveling -- figuring out when to take meds. What we do is my husband keeps his watch set to time back home (so we can remember when to give meds), and I keep my watch set to wherever we are at the present time.
 
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Luckylukas said:
I'm hoping he does too nakamova. I've been in a fair bit of contact with him lately,and he tells me "out of all my patients Luke, you really do worry me the most". Which is obviously real reassuring, especially seeing he's one of the best and well known specialists in Melbourne. But I've told him I'm aiming at least a year seizure free and he knows im making changes to my lifestyle and determined to get there.
The only thing I'm a little unsure of is the trip to Europe with the boys that I've had planned for a while, and the whole meds and time difference thing il have to keep on top of.
Does anyone have any advice on traveling through different timezones and managing meds?

Mylo is there any difference between magnesium valpro and the standard? Also now that you mention some of those others side effects I rekon I can relate to all of them.
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as far as i've heard they're even in potency. also, if you've been on for a while now and have the therapeutic level in your blood stabilized, a couple of hours time change shouldn't matter according to my doc. mag valpr. has an 18 hour half life, and i believe sodium valpr. does too, so you should theoretically be fine? not so sure, but i'm sure you could find something online that talks about dosing schedules.
 
shaking with sodium valproate

My wife takes these treatments, since she has started to take them she has not had a seizure in almost 3 years,in that time her shake has got progressively worse, she difficulty with her memory and she has generally slowed down, it would seem that there is not another treatment to take Sodium Valprote,s place .
The tablets have done what they are supposed to do ,but,they have robbed her of many things .
 
I'm on valpro and have noticed hand tremors as well. They went away when I completely de-caffeinated myself.

Nak and Crash were talking about the interaction of "party drugs" with valpro upthread. Well, I guess caffeine was my party drug. It wasn't causing me any issues in and of itself like sleep disturbances just this interaction.
 
I take Depakote (Valproic Acid) and some other epilepsy meds.

I notice that sometimes (not all the time) when I write, especially if I'm nervous, my hands will shake like crazy! My hand writing is horrible because of the shaking. I can't write on a line and it looks like a kindergartener did it. I do have jerks all over my body at times but I don't think that's what you are talking about.

I have a horrible time remembering things that have happened and words.

With my memory people will tell me things that I've done and I just don't remember a thing about it no matter how much they tell me about what it was that happened. With words I'll try to describe what word I want to say and the person I'm talking to has to figure out what the word is. It's almost like it's a game!

I don't know if this is due to one of my meds I'm on or if it's just from having epilepsy.
 
Luckylukas said:
I've noticed they shake worse closer to my dose time, how's your memory while on valporate jade?
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Is Valporate Jade the name of the valpor that you are on?

Valporate has different names and therefore possibly different side effects.

Have you been tested for Diabetes Type 2? That can cause shaking too. It's just a simple blood test to rule it out.

It turned out that my blood sugar was too low and caused my shaking.
 
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