couple of questions about keppra

[kostareyna]

Hi all ,currently i take keppra 500 mg at night and 250 mg at morning.

when i toke 500 mg daily it made me sleepy but went away.i toke generic which did couple of problems than i raised the dosage to 750 daily.
I was sleepy but could handle it,i switched to the brand keppra by myself to see if the side effects would stop,they did but the heavey sleepines started and it just won't go away.MY muscles won't recover after a gym excersice and im sick now.after 10 hours of sleep i barely can get out of bed,after 6-7 hours i feel like a truck ran me over.

MY questions are as fallows:

1)some people claim that they are stoned at 500mg-750mg daily but after increasing to 1000mg daily (500 bid) they feely great and aren't tired and also people that raise the dosage from 2500mg daily to 3000mg daily and such...
is it all in THEIR head?? how is it possible that having more active substance that makes you sleepy and drowzy actually make you better at higher dosages,its like drinking more alcohol to reduce the chance of vomiting

2)I did a vitamin check and everything came out normal,do i still need to buy b6 complex even tho its not depleted from my body and the levels are ok??
I was really angry and had keppra rage and did the tests to see if keppra lowered my vitamin levels.

3)What do you do to fight the fatigue?...i tried adding siberian ginseng,gotta say i felt little better and din't have seizures but felt hyper active.What supplements do you add that actually help you with fatigue and such?

4)For some reason altough in the morning i feel like a zombie or crushed at the evenning im suddenly getting energized which is wierd and its after the big doze i take and im hitting the gym while it raises to the peak lvl .
Do you feel similarly also??

5)Im not sure the keppra makes you stupid i actually felt quicker when just started the med,i think what makes your stupid and forgetful is the fact you are so TIRED that you don't even think and notice what your saying and forget stuff along the way because of lack of concentration.
what do you think??

p.s=I came to conclusion that altough keppra makes you angry the person itself uses it as excuse to unleash his evil desires and act differently like he would never act without the meds.I know when im being an asshole and suddenly start to rage on small things but i also no that i can stop it if i will want to stop.
i also noticed that people that make you happy will never make you angry and people you don't like much your going breserk and actually like it

keppra does make you angry and leave you with wierd thoughts but i think its all about state of mind.

 

[Endless]

Hi, there.

I was on Keppra for awhile. Oh, I think it's definitely the Keppra that causes the rages, not some inner urge or excuse on my part. Couldn't speak for you because I'm not inside your skin.

I never did get used to the tiredness, rages, feeling stupid, obsessive behavior that came with the drug. I ended up switching.

The energized/exhausted cycle is a type of bipolar caused by the drug, IMHO. Energized, thinking fast, doing too much of stuff, obsessive behaviour - manic. Exhausted, confused, litlte motivation, hard to deal with stuff = depressed. I'm not a psychologist, though, so it's just an opinion. This is the thing I had the most trouble with.

Taking B vitamins kind of helped me. It's a good thing to do anyway.

 

[Nakamova]

I agree with Endless --

Many folks have become completely different people while on Keppra -- and not in a good way. It's "all in your mind" only in the neurochemical sense. Keppra is thought to flush B6 out your system on a daily basis, which can cause a serotonin imbalance in some people, which in turn can lead to the mood issues. It's great that you tested fine for your vitamin levels, but not all of the tests measure a B6 deficiency accurately. The best test for B6 is Plasma PLP because it reflects tissue stores. Even without an obvious deficiency, many neurologists suggest a B-complex since the B vitamins tend to be neuroprotective in many different ways. In general, B6 works best when taken in combination with the other B vitamins as well. I'm sorry it didn't help with your "Kepprage" -- it doesn't work for everybody.

It's not unusual for the AEDs to affect different people differently. And they can affect an individual differently over time. When I first went on Lamictal, I felt extra focused and "perky" -- almost hyper. I had very restless sleep. But after a few months my body adapted. The perkiness went away and I sleep through the night now.

 

[charwva]

hey curtenly taking keprra 500mg .am. and 500mg. pm. have noticed alot of changes mood, sleeping patterns, hair loss, WEIGHT GAIN , tired etc. i could go on but we would be here for awhile.did some searching on webmd.com and found the side effects of keprra. yes, it described my problems. went to the doc. Wednesday and talked to him , now he is starting to wean me off. new drug will be neurontin 300mg 3x daily. remember, dont stop keppra without docs. permission.

 

[Cint]

I am one of those who take 3000 mg Keppra daily and have taken it now for 10 years. For me, it is one medication that will help stop seizures. As far as the mood swings, fatigue, that seems to go along with a lot of meds. Or it could be part of the ictal stage.

 

[momof3boys]

I am one of those who take 3000 mg Keppra daily and have taken it now for 10 years. For me, it is one medication that will help stop seizures. As far as the mood swings, fatigue, that seems to go along with a lot of meds. Or it could be part of the ictal stage.

Im the same way. Ive been on Keppra for over 10 years too. I take 3000mgs each day. But I recently found out (back in november 2010) about taking the Vitamin B and its worked wonders for me. I dont go a day without it.

 

[kostareyna]

What do you mean by "Ictal stage"?

sorry english is not my native languege.

 

[epileric]

ictal refers to a seizure

Pre-ictal is the period of time before a seizure & post-ictal is the period of time after a seizure.

 

[msuder0583]

Lemme tell you, I just started on taking 1000mg of keppra stacked ontop of my topamax and lamictal. And being a college student it has made things rough for me. Enough that my doctor had to write me off for the semester. And I know from others telling me that especially when I first started taking it, and even now, although not as extreme, I acted like a totally different person, and I still do. Its hard for me to control my anger, and I am moody. Tired alot. Don't have the hair loss, thank God, but along with the Topamax am constantly losing weight. Since I've been on it, about 2 months now - have lost about 15 pounds. So yes Keppra is a crazy anti-convulsant but it does work well. It has for me at least. But you have to weigh out your options. Side effects vs. seizures. Which would you rather have?

 

[camsmom28]

my son has been on keppra for 5yrs and i can say its the best med, he rarely has a seizure only when its time to up the dose due to his growth. I like it for him and he seems fine with it; as far as the outrages he has them but we try our hardest to control them which is working out at school as well. I can say the tiredness issue i don't sometimes i wish it makes him tired, i try to get him to nap he will lay down for 2hrs and wouldn't go to sleep. I also notice the immediate burst of energy later during the day when its time for him to take his next......crazy i say jst crazy. He's taking 100mg daily.

 

[kostareyna]

Lemme tell you, I just started on taking 1000mg of keppra stacked ontop of my topamax and lamictal. And being a college student it has made things rough for me. Enough that my doctor had to write me off for the semester. And I know from others telling me that especially when I first started taking it, and even now, although not as extreme, I acted like a totally different person, and I still do. Its hard for me to control my anger, and I am moody. Tired alot. Don't have the hair loss, thank God, but along with the Topamax am constantly losing weight. Since I've been on it, about 2 months now - have lost about 15 pounds. So yes Keppra is a crazy anti-convulsant but it does work well. It has for me at least. But you have to weigh out your options. Side effects vs. seizures. Which would you rather have?

Does topamax effected your cognitive abilities or made you tired??

the side effects don't worth the seizures really they are really really mild,the only reason i take the meds is becaus i want driver license and its kindda needed in the proffesion field i want to work in the future

 

[msuder0583]

Does topamax effected your cognitive abilities or made you tired??

the side effects don't worth the seizures really they are really really mild,the only reason i take the meds is becaus i want driver license and its kindda needed in the proffesion field i want to work in the future

Yeah Topamax is another med with crappy side effects imo. I mean, I guess its different for everyone but for me when I was on a smaller dose I was fine but one thing I've noticed with Topamax is that its hard to spit words out. Like you know what you wanna say but you can't really find the words. Memory issues, weight loss, clumsiness. Good thing is you don't have any headaches. How high of a dose are you going to be on?

 

[kostareyna]

Yeah Topamax is another med with crappy side effects imo. I mean, I guess its different for everyone but for me when I was on a smaller dose I was fine but one thing I've noticed with Topamax is that its hard to spit words out. Like you know what you wanna say but you can't really find the words. Memory issues, weight loss, clumsiness. Good thing is you don't have any headaches. How high of a dose are you going to be on?

Are you refering about the topamax?? iv just asked to know if i can think of it as alternative for me.

currently im on 500mg of keppra daily (250mg bid),unestly that's enough but i want to be on 750mg,i was for a while but after i changed from generic to brand its kicked my butt pretty hard,guess i got more active ingridients in the brand one.

The problem is like that even 250mg of keppra changed my life like no seizures at all untill late at night when im tired but even 500mg is not enough for my photosensetivity,i photosensetive only with my eyes closed and for high contrast flashing prelonged exposure,nothing would happen if ill blink and i also have a fear right before the seizure but in eeg test you got to pass it without tricks like opening the eyes so im not sure what to do about the dosage.....

 

[msuder0583]

Are you refering about the topamax?? iv just asked to know if i can think of it as alternative for me.

currently im on 500mg of keppra daily (250mg bid),unestly that's enough but i want to be on 750mg,i was for a while but after i changed from generic to brand its kicked my butt pretty hard,guess i got more active ingridients in the brand one.

The problem is like that even 250mg of keppra changed my life like no seizures at all untill late at night when im tired but even 500mg is not enough for my photosensetivity,i photosensetive only with my eyes closed and for high contrast flashing prelonged exposure,nothing would happen if ill blink and i also have a fear right before the seizure but in eeg test you got to pass it without tricks like opening the eyes so im not sure what to do about the dosage.....

Yeah lemme try to specify. Cause I'm on three different meds so its kind of hard to explain what does what. Well one thing I do know is that generic brands can range from 80-120 percent of the strength of name brand so therefore thats probably why you got hit harder. And as a 28 year old, Ive only been on epilepsy meds for 12 years but I'm pretty familiar with them. I started out being on one which worked, then had to move to two then three. So just taking keppra may not completely control everything for you. I was on just lamictal for a long time and it worked great for probably 5 years or so, but then I had to start taking topamax ontop of that because I eventually became so immune to it that I reached the peak dose of 600 mg. But anyways back to the side effects. I think topamax is a better drug for treating epilepsy because keppra is more of an adjunctive drug whereas topamax can control seizures by itself and has a broad range no matter what kind of seizures you have. its a great drug but i think the side effects are alot worse for me.

 

[kostareyna]

Yeah lemme try to specify. Cause I'm on three different meds so its kind of hard to explain what does what. Well one thing I do know is that generic brands can range from 80-120 percent of the strength of name brand so therefore thats probably why you got hit harder. And as a 28 year old, Ive only been on epilepsy meds for 12 years but I'm pretty familiar with them. I started out being on one which worked, then had to move to two then three. So just taking keppra may not completely control everything for you. I was on just lamictal for a long time and it worked great for probably 5 years or so, but then I had to start taking topamax ontop of that because I eventually became so immune to it that I reached the peak dose of 600 mg. But anyways back to the side effects. I think topamax is a better drug for treating epilepsy because keppra is more of an adjunctive drug whereas topamax can control seizures by itself and has a broad range no matter what kind of seizures you have. its a great drug but i think the side effects are alot worse for me.

Tnx for the info.Unestly what scares me the most is the fact i won't be able to speak correctly...as far as adjunctive therapy goes some uses it for monotherapy...I'v Tried lamictal depalept depalpet chrono,nothing helped except keppra so im probebly going to stick with it for a while

 

[msuder0583]

Tnx for the info.Unestly what scares me the most is the fact i won't be able to speak correctly...as far as adjunctive therapy goes some uses it for monotherapy...I'v Tried lamictal depalept depalpet chrono,nothing helped except keppra so im probebly going to stick with it for a while

Sure np. Yea I'm in college to be an elementary school teacher so I'm constantly speaking in front of classes or children. And it's tough. So as for you if it's not broke don't fix it. Good luck to you.

 

[Blue Cat]

I'm on 1000x2 Keppra plus 375x2 Lamotrigine, all upped after last sz. It's hard to tell what is doing what, but I do get the really exhausted feeling AM or PM if things are stressful, but not always. Also can't tell if annoyed (not full out Kepprage from what I've read on here) is from Keppra, or just basic annoyance. Hope all works out well for you