Going to neuro tomorrow and hoping to get off Keppra

[valeriedl]

I've been trying to get off Keppra forever and tomorrow when I see my neruo I'm hoping he'll finally talk me off of it. I'd have an easier time telling you all the side effects I don't have from it than the ones I do! Plus I have to take even more meds to compensate for all of them!

If not then I'll probably go into a Kepprage hissy fit and maybe he will then!

Wish me luck!

 

[Porkette]

Hi valeriedl,

I know where you are coming from I was only on Keppra about 1 month and I had to get off the drug it gave me
such a hot temper but on top of that it increased my seizures. If you want to ask your neuro to do a DNA test on
you and by doing that they will be able to find the best seizure med for you with the least side effects. All they have
to do is take a few tubes of blood along with getting some salavia from your mouth. I wish you only the best of luck
and May God Bless You,

Sue

 

[valeriedl]

Well I got back from the neruo and he was going to but me on Briviact, but it cost me over $600 a month. Xcopri is $1000. I'm hoping that he'll be able to figure something out to help.

I saw his nurse more than my neuro today though. She seemed like she really wanted to get me off of it and she'd going to do what she can. I hope she does and it will help.

 

[CQ:)]

Hope they can work something out
Sorry about the costs

Do you mind me asking the cost of keppra over there?
Also is that with your insurance?

My meds are all $6.50 each time they are refilled (usually a month but tegretol is 3 months and I go through more zonegran as I take more tablets) because I’m not working and I think it was between $20 - $40 per refill depending on the med.

I’m on keppra so it’s usually $6.50 but we get a cut off here so once we get to a certain amount we start getting our meds for free. I’ve been getting my meds free since September, only one I don’t get free is a vitamin I take for the iron as it’s not a script.

 

[Bernard]

I haven't heard of Xcopri before. It must be pretty new (also hence it being more expensive than Briviact).

 

[CQ:)]

I haven't heard of Xcopri before. It must be pretty new (also hence it being more expensive than Briviact).

I haven’t heard of alot of the meds that get mentioned here

But I just know the ones I’m on or have been on.

 

[Bernard]

I haven’t heard of alot of the meds that get mentioned here

To be fair, a lot of meds mentioned here are referenced by brand names which are different depending upon the country/region we live.

 

[valeriedl]

I haven't heard of Xcopri before. It must be pretty new (also hence it being more expensive than Briviact).

Yes it is a new one. Not actually sure when and where it came out but it was after Briviact

I think she's going to me on Briviact now because of the cost of Xcopri. She might have a better chance of getting my insurance to cover it. I don't know how that works but it's great if she can do it.

My insurance is going to change at the beginning of the year and I asked her if it would be better to wait to get try to get it on my new insurance then. I don't want her to have to do all this over again. I'm waiting to hear back from her. I've been on Keppra this long now I can probably wait a few more months to get off of it.

 

[valeriedl]

I wanted to know if there's a good thread talking about Briviact? I'm going to look around but I wanted to see if someone could suggest one too.

 

[Bernard]

I tagged a few threads where Briviact is discussed:

briviact

www.coping-with-epilepsy.com

 

[CQ:)]

To be fair, a lot of meds mentioned here are referenced by brand names which are different depending upon the country/region we live.

I don’t mind, I like learning
I can usually pronounce all my seizure meds (the brand names) but last year my neuro was telling me about a newer med here.

I told him the name was confusing and his words was the name was .
Unfortunately I don’t remember the med, he thought about adding it but we decided as I was looking for work and this med had bad side effects it was better not to

 

[Heavy Kevy]

I’ve been on Briviact for quite some time. When my daytime seizures were occurring more frequently. The dr suggested I spread my Briviact dosage from 2 to 3 times a day.
Not sure if it helped or not.

 

[Sabbo]

Xcopri is new. I've taken since a short time after it came out. The company's website has information on financial help. We contacted them for help--otherwise even with insurance, we'd have to pay $650/month!! They approved our request for aid. The only thing I dislike is that I have to get it refilled EVERY month, but they give me e month refills for my other medications--the Zonegram & Folic Acid.

 

[valeriedl]

I've really got to get off of Keppra! I'm starting to deal with the Keprage, not many other people can however. But the thing now is getting upset over things very easy and spending hours crying about it. The crying comes after serious blowing up, yelling, screaming and not being able to stop.

I spent about 20 minutes screaming at the people at a nail salon I'd gone to this evening about horrible serious I'd gotten and the horrible job they did. Long story short my boyfriend my boyfriend paid for what I'd had done and drug me out of the store. He had to drive to another parking lot so I could cry for at least 15 minutes.

This has gone on all evening, even now, sometimes worse than others. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day.

My next neuro appt is in January, so hopefully med changes can be made by then.

 

[suebear]

I haven't heard of Xcopri before. It must be pretty new (also hence it being more expensive than Briviact).

I've been taking Xcopri for almost a year now and it actually seems to be making a difference by slowing things down to where there is no activity taking place hardly at all. I was very happy to know this came about as we were running out of options on medication that could be taken. As for pricing, I have insurance which needs to do a co-pay, can't recall somewhere between $20 to $50 as I have other medications that are ordered about that time. There are a few options out there for helping with paying medications if needed, can always go through the manufacturer. Two options that may be worth checking into are GoodRX and SingleCare as they are two pharmacy cards that can be of assistance when you have no or little insurance.

Very first thing I noticed, it knocks me out at night because it is the one medication I've taken at night only. This is an okay thing as I can actually get reasonable sleep hours then not feel doped up by taking it when waking up in the morning. The medication is a very simple low dose and we're not increasing it for my case.