Hello. I included a poll above and am anxious to see the results!
After a very brief look on the web I strangely found no discussion about this. I thought I would come and share it here.
Am i the only one getting withdrawals between doses? I have frontal lobe complex partials and I'm on 2x lamictal 225mg and 2x keppra 500mg.
I take my pills in the morning, but later in the day I will start feeling increasingly annoying withdrawal symptoms. You know... this feeling like you need your next dose soon because your body really doesn't feel well?
When I was diagnosed about 10 years ago I started on tegretol. I don't remember much about what symptoms I had back then because when you're new with epilepsy you just go with the flow. It made me very very tired, that's all I know, which is why I switched to only lamictal about 3-4 years ago.
When I woke up in the morning I was feeling those withdrawal and usually had 2 or 3 partials, and same thing at night before I took the next dose.
About 6 months ago my neuro told me to try stopping the pills (lamictal) because after a few years it's possible that epilepsy stops and we were thinking maybe my in-between-doses seizures were caused solely by withdrawal since i was on a very high dosage ( 325/325 ) and withdrawals can technically lead to seizures. It didn't work. I went in a coma for a week and heard very strange and ironically hilarious stories about my behavior in the hospital, of which i have absolutely zerio recollection. I've been told I was making such and tantrum and pushing doctors and nurses, they had to tie me to the bed! And before that I was pretending I was a cowboy on a horse making tongue clicking noises and things like that. (What the hell, right???? I'm such a calm and thoughtful person when I'm in my normal state of mind). I was having so many seizures and refused to swallow pills, they had to inject me with an AED (it's late and i can strangely not remember the name of it) that gave me a horrible allergic reaction that caused me to have GOLF BALL SIZED bumps all over my face and body. Anyways, all this confirmed me that yep...im stuck with epilepsy and my case is pretty serious.
At the hospital another neuro tried to make me take keppra along with the lamictal, because lamictal wasn't cutting it at all anymore because of my (and my neuro's) stupidity. I was refusing because of all the negative feedback everywhere on the net. I finally gave in and...it's a magical pill, really.
Yes Keppra makes you a little sleepy and disconnected. But I'm proud to say that I have not had one single seizure since I got out of the hospital 6 months ago. yay!
Back to my question.... (I was just rambling on and on, as usual. My epilepsy is so annoying to me I always need to vent !!) >.>
Now I still have withdrawal feelings, and theyre very strong! My body starts feeling very weighty, and I can get slightly shaky when trying to accomplish tasks that require physical precision. BUT the difference is the Keppra is so wonderful that I don't even remotely feel like a seizure could be coming (some of you might, like me, be able to detect: oh yea i know I'm in a state right now that a seizure could be coming). Well I don't have that state anymore... ever!
So why am I getting withdrawals? It's annoying!! I'd like to know that I'm not the only one feeling those... ?
Thanks for reading all this..
Matt-
After a very brief look on the web I strangely found no discussion about this. I thought I would come and share it here.
Am i the only one getting withdrawals between doses? I have frontal lobe complex partials and I'm on 2x lamictal 225mg and 2x keppra 500mg.
I take my pills in the morning, but later in the day I will start feeling increasingly annoying withdrawal symptoms. You know... this feeling like you need your next dose soon because your body really doesn't feel well?
When I was diagnosed about 10 years ago I started on tegretol. I don't remember much about what symptoms I had back then because when you're new with epilepsy you just go with the flow. It made me very very tired, that's all I know, which is why I switched to only lamictal about 3-4 years ago.
When I woke up in the morning I was feeling those withdrawal and usually had 2 or 3 partials, and same thing at night before I took the next dose.
About 6 months ago my neuro told me to try stopping the pills (lamictal) because after a few years it's possible that epilepsy stops and we were thinking maybe my in-between-doses seizures were caused solely by withdrawal since i was on a very high dosage ( 325/325 ) and withdrawals can technically lead to seizures. It didn't work. I went in a coma for a week and heard very strange and ironically hilarious stories about my behavior in the hospital, of which i have absolutely zerio recollection. I've been told I was making such and tantrum and pushing doctors and nurses, they had to tie me to the bed! And before that I was pretending I was a cowboy on a horse making tongue clicking noises and things like that. (What the hell, right???? I'm such a calm and thoughtful person when I'm in my normal state of mind). I was having so many seizures and refused to swallow pills, they had to inject me with an AED (it's late and i can strangely not remember the name of it) that gave me a horrible allergic reaction that caused me to have GOLF BALL SIZED bumps all over my face and body. Anyways, all this confirmed me that yep...im stuck with epilepsy and my case is pretty serious.
At the hospital another neuro tried to make me take keppra along with the lamictal, because lamictal wasn't cutting it at all anymore because of my (and my neuro's) stupidity. I was refusing because of all the negative feedback everywhere on the net. I finally gave in and...it's a magical pill, really.
Yes Keppra makes you a little sleepy and disconnected. But I'm proud to say that I have not had one single seizure since I got out of the hospital 6 months ago. yay!
Back to my question.... (I was just rambling on and on, as usual. My epilepsy is so annoying to me I always need to vent !!) >.>
Now I still have withdrawal feelings, and theyre very strong! My body starts feeling very weighty, and I can get slightly shaky when trying to accomplish tasks that require physical precision. BUT the difference is the Keppra is so wonderful that I don't even remotely feel like a seizure could be coming (some of you might, like me, be able to detect: oh yea i know I'm in a state right now that a seizure could be coming). Well I don't have that state anymore... ever!
So why am I getting withdrawals? It's annoying!! I'd like to know that I'm not the only one feeling those... ?
Thanks for reading all this..
Matt-
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