I've gone from generic to brand names many times and I've always found that the brand name drug is
much stronger and it works better in some cases but there was a time when I was on Depakene (Depakote)
and it worked good controlling my seizures but I almost bled to death because the drug ate up most of my
blood platelets.
You mentioned that you only have seizure activity at night, if I may ask does this mean when you go to bed because
if it does you may be having seizures in your sleep like I did. I had a sleep study done along with an e.e.g. and e.k.g.
all at the same time and my Dr. found I had sleep apnea which was causing me to have seizures in my sleep. If you
feel tired in the morning after a good nights sleep this may be what's going on.
Getting back to your med you should speak to your pharmacist I have found they know the most about meds and
dosages than any Drs. I've ever seen. I do agree with you if you feel good the way things are then you should tell
your Dr. and keep it that way. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!
Sue
Not sure if I want stronger, but I'll keep that in mind that it tends to be more potent.
Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with Depakote. That's awful =(
If I stay up too late, and forget to take my medication, I might start feeling odd when I'm awake. I aim for like 10 p.m. - 11 p.m. at night each night to take it, but sometimes I feel bizarre if I am up later than then and haven't taken it. Or, if I wake up in the night and realize I haven't taken it or lay down in bed and realize I haven't taken it. If I haven't taken it all night, I may wake up in the morning feeling confused, fatigued, and it may take me a while to snap out of that unless I have something fast acting to help.
I've never done a sleep study, nor has it been recommended, but I really wouldn't want to do it. I hate being alone with doctors and don't want to be alone if I'm going to be sleeping if at all possible (it really bites with all this COVID stuff...they don't want you bringing in a support person anywhere and that makes me nervous). Although, the doctor wants me to go do an EEG again...oh, the joys of being sleep deprived even more so, having to find someone to watch the kids the next day until I can get a nap, having to fight to stay awake through the 1 1/2 hour drive to get there (it's brutal), etc. I hate EEG's...I could totally live without another one.
I've had 2 EKG's in the hospital while I was having seizure activity. They came back okay. All at the same time as everything else would probably paint a clearer picture.
I suppose it makes sense sleep apnea could cause nighttime seizures - lack of oxygen can do a lot of things to the body. I have a hard time believing I have that, though. I don't snore, no pauses in my breathing, etc. (per my husband who stands there for a few minutes while I seem 'awfully tense').
My energy has been great the past 3 days, but before that - I had like no energy for 2 months, but I had impacted wax in my ear and I had issues on an off hearing for a while. Tried cleaning it out (no, I never use q-tips for my ear canals) and nothing came out so I thought I was fine until I had a ton of pain and hard, brown earwax in there. I felt better day 4-5 of the antibiotic and have been great since so I hope that's all it was and it doesn't come back.
I could speak to the pharmacist, but I don't expect a good answer. They're like 8 days behind right now, lots of angry people, super busy, and I figure all they're going to tell me is, "Yes, people do fine switching between brands/generics." I don't expect a different answer from a pharmacist, but then again...I remember when I worked with health insurance and I was the department that answered insurance questions about medications, heard people rant about their pharmacies, and have talked with enough pharmacies to know how much of a pain some of them are lol.
The last time I had a seizure was August of this year and I've had other times where I've felt like the room has been spinning and lost my balance, but marijuana buds to the rescue (it never got worse, felt better in 5-10 minutes). That helps me a ton.
Since it's been so long to get to the neurologist again when I had problems...been about a year, doctors were telling me, "Take your medication again when you feel weird." So I just started taking it at night and I know Keppra is a bit edgy with 12 hour doses instead of covering the whole 24, but don't want to be taking it all the time. I don't like the stuff at all. I might just try the 250mg and 250mg and tell her I feel like that worked better. Might try the XR and give it a shot...but I hate to try and take a new medication, even if it's the same active ingredient. Afraid of reacting to it or having any new problems, especially with kids around the house. Probably will have to try it when my husband is home and awake.