Does Clobazam give you mood swings?

[EllyPaddington]

Hey lovely people, hope you are all well! I finally saw my Neurologist the other day (Bless, he moved everyone about so he could see me before he went away on holiday) and he has put me on Clobazam for another week.

The only thing with Clobazam is, I have been getting awful awful mood swings. So bad that certain instructors at my martial art club who haven't been told I have epilepsy (they are the kind of teens who would gossip and would think it is catching) are noticing my change and I just tell them I am tired or hungry.

I will tell them one day, but for now both me, my mum and my boss have decided it is probably for the best if they don't know quite yet, and if I have a seizure in front of them then they will be told by my boss in a very formal manner.

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent here! So the Clobazam has really made my mood swings go all over the place. I mean like a rollercoaster, literally.

One minute I am happy as larry, and I am laughing at everything even when it isn't funny, I am bouncing about all happy and what not. Other times, I weep and sob so bad I lose my voice and it's that type where you just can't stop.

Yesterday I went out with my dad, who understood because he has epilepsy and understands the medications from his neurologist, and I was just depressed the entire day.

I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to go anywhere. One minute I was excited because I got Sharpies ( I love Sharpies! ) and the next minute I was depressed because no where else sounded good.

One minute I fancied food,then I didn't. Then I did, then I didn't. Then I wanted to buy something, then I didn't, you get the jist.

THEN I get stupidly agitated, yesterday after spending all day depressed I suddenly got really agitated that the floor hadn't been hoovered, and I didn't want to do anything until it was hoovered. The same with my room, I cleaned it in 10 minutes because I was so agitated.

It's crazy and total hell, I wake up not knowing how I am going to feel, and I am dreading being on this and going back to college, because only my tutor knows for the same reasons as Martial arts!!

Has anyone had the same thing before?

 

[KarenB]

Our son has a prescription of Clobazam (Fresium, Onfi), but it's just a rescue drug, and he only needed rescuing once since he's had it, so can't really comment.

However, Clobazam is in the Benzodiazepine family, and we've had lots of experience with other Benzo meds. Jon was on Clonazepam -- which is quite similar to Clobazam. We LOVED this drug -- it made him feel really good, had a super mood. Bad news -- it didn't help his seizures, and it's quite addicting, so he was only on it for a week or two.

After that Jon went on Diazepam (Valium) also in the same family as Clob. This acts as a sedative for adults, but for our Jon (who was eight at the time) it sent him bonkers. Very erratic moods and behavior -- got REALLY depressed! Got violent. Was self-harming -- putting his fingers in the fan, banging his head on the wall. Doing stuff like run full-speed into a door. Horrible. And...it also didn't work for the seizures. This med can have the opposite effect on kids than it does on adults. Sounds like you're an older teen/young adult, so maybe it's having this effect on you.

You really should discuss these side effects with your doc, because they are obviously interfering with your quality of life. And...are they helping the seizures at all? If you don't like this med, you can work with your doc to get changed over to another. I don't really like the Benzo meds because they tend to be quite addicting -- very hard to wean off if you've been on for awhile. Also, the body grows tolerant, so the dose needs to be increased to be effective.

Also...something else...you mentioned having giggling spells when nothing was funny, and then crying jags. This could be manic-depressive episodes triggered by the meds, but giggling spells that you can't stop, even when nothing is funny, and crying jags when you're not sad can also be seizures in and of themselves -- it's called gelastic seizures (and dacrystic). Our son had these when he wasn't on any meds at all, but actually the med he's on now (Zonegran) helped nip those in the bud.

 

[EllyPaddington]

Thank you for your answer! I'm gonna talk to my doctor - the past few days haven't been too bad but like you experienced the meds didn't help the seizures which is what is happening here. My neurologist is away but I will definitely speak to my doctor. Thank you for your answer and I hope your son is all well and better now!

 

[KarenB]

Yes, thank you...our son is doing much better now -- no seizures since January -- and he was having several tonic and tonic-clonic seizures a day in August through November. It did take awhile to get the meds sorted out, and now he's on Zonegran and the Ketogenic Diet, which seems to be doing the trick.

Hope you're able to find a med that works well to stop the seizures without interfering too much with moods (or cognitive ability, since you're a student). That's always a fine balancing act.

You might also find diet modifications will help your seizures without all the nasty side effects of meds. As I mentioned, our son is on the Ketogenic Diet for Seizures -- which basically is a very low carb, moderate protein, high fat diet that somehow works miracles -- just as effective as any drug out there. For adults there's a version called the Modified Atkins Diet -- and you can find some info on it in these threads. There's another one the name of which is slipping my mind -- but some of the folks here use it -- I'll try to go get some links for you.

A lot of people have found that just cutting out sugar (sorry, no Sharpies!) and/or gluten (wheat) makes a world of difference without having to do any other dietary changes.

 

[KarenB]

A ha! Found it. The other diet is the LGIT diet, and here's some basic info:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/index.php?p=low-glycemic-index-diet