Hello everyone! Im new to epilepsy. Let me tell you all a few things about me. Im a 31 year old female and mother of two. Before I ever experienced a fainting incident I was attacked by a vicious dog while at work in august of 2011. I am commercial driver and my lively hood consists of me drivind to provide for my childen. On december 20th 2011 I experinced my first fainting incident and doctors said it was from lack of sleep and was consider a sinkapee episode never considering the stress from the dog. Then in august of this year I had another fainting incident . In december of 2011 my eeg cameback normal and when I had my incident in August of this I was put on short term disability which is hardly nothing and hard to live off of and when I had another eeg the neroglist the doctor said I had brain activities going on (umm you think a single mother of two who has to rob peater to pay paul to survive and provide for her kids and with school for the kids around the corner) what mom wouldnt have a lot of brain activity going on. So I was put on Keppra 500mg and I told the doctor that I did not want to be on anything that would jepordize my dot license which he said it wouldntbut im here to tell you that it did. Keppra is ruining my live at a rapid speed. I wanted to know if there are any other medications out there that are not antiseizure medicae that I can take to stil keep my job but most importantly be healthy for my kids and be around for years to come? Keppra really turns people into monsters and I have never been a monster and thats not my behavior. I must say I HATE keppra
I'm new to epilepsy and I hate Keppra
- Thread starter Tierra
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Hi Tierra, welcome to the forum. :hello:
Not sure what State you live in but most states have restrictions on regular driving licenses stipulating that you have to be anywhere from 6-12 months seizure free. I'd assume it's similar with commercial (dot) licenses.
If it's the Kepprage that's ruining your life, you might be able to mitigate it a bit with vitamin B6 supplements:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/kepprage-how-do-you-de-stress-5169/#post48452
I have no idea what medicines allow you to keep your job. Not sure what you mean by that. If you need a medicine to control epileptiform activity in the brain, you are in the same boat as most everyone else. It can take a bit of trial and error to find one that gives you a good balance of seizure control and quality of life (ie. tolerable side effects).
Not sure what State you live in but most states have restrictions on regular driving licenses stipulating that you have to be anywhere from 6-12 months seizure free. I'd assume it's similar with commercial (dot) licenses.
If it's the Kepprage that's ruining your life, you might be able to mitigate it a bit with vitamin B6 supplements:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/kepprage-how-do-you-de-stress-5169/#post48452
I have no idea what medicines allow you to keep your job. Not sure what you mean by that. If you need a medicine to control epileptiform activity in the brain, you are in the same boat as most everyone else. It can take a bit of trial and error to find one that gives you a good balance of seizure control and quality of life (ie. tolerable side effects).
Thank you Bernard for your support and advice I truly appreciate it! What I ment by keeping my job was that there are waivers out there for us and people who have diabetes I was just mentioning it to see if any one on this site have been through this and has been able to obtain a waiver.
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as stated on your profile re: brutal dog attack and post traumatic stress disorder: have you ever had a seizure or been given all the common tests for epilepsy diagnosis (eeg but also catscan and mri)? does epilepsy run in your family at all? i'm guessing not if you're wanting to find non-antiseizure medication.
my epilepsy was mis-diagnosed from the first seizure at 15, was given meds for PTSD due to a childhood trauma that came back to haunt me; lived that way for nine years before grand mals started and it was finally figured out they were simple partial seizures all along. my doc tried setting up an appt. with the psychiatrist that gave original diagnosis and he refused.
the reason i mention this (have studied to extent) is epilepsy and ptsd are misdiagnosed for each other often, there are many similarities between certain types of seizures and post-traumatic stress. did you go to counselling/mental health after the attack? if it was indicated then you may develop ptsd at some point, i'd delve into that before epilepsy.
my first neurologist referred to them as fainting too until we learned they had been partials all along, and my eeg was also a bit abnormal with 'slowing.' the two disorders are quite parallel in some situations, good thing to investigate. did the neurologist there actually say 'epileptiforms' ?
as for keppra, that is definately not a favourite seizure drug, quite harsh in many ways. as bernard said tho it's a matter of trial and error, anyone with epilepsy goes through being a guinea pig, it's unavoidable if we want to get better
my epilepsy was mis-diagnosed from the first seizure at 15, was given meds for PTSD due to a childhood trauma that came back to haunt me; lived that way for nine years before grand mals started and it was finally figured out they were simple partial seizures all along. my doc tried setting up an appt. with the psychiatrist that gave original diagnosis and he refused.
the reason i mention this (have studied to extent) is epilepsy and ptsd are misdiagnosed for each other often, there are many similarities between certain types of seizures and post-traumatic stress. did you go to counselling/mental health after the attack? if it was indicated then you may develop ptsd at some point, i'd delve into that before epilepsy.
my first neurologist referred to them as fainting too until we learned they had been partials all along, and my eeg was also a bit abnormal with 'slowing.' the two disorders are quite parallel in some situations, good thing to investigate. did the neurologist there actually say 'epileptiforms' ?
as for keppra, that is definately not a favourite seizure drug, quite harsh in many ways. as bernard said tho it's a matter of trial and error, anyone with epilepsy goes through being a guinea pig, it's unavoidable if we want to get better
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Tierra
There really is not much better advice to give, Bernard has covered it and Qtowngirl as well, I would run with their advice the other thing I have to say is welcome to the club who hate keppra although I must say a lot of people find it very good for them with little side effects. Medication for epilepsy is a bit hit and miss until you find the right drug.
There really is not much better advice to give, Bernard has covered it and Qtowngirl as well, I would run with their advice the other thing I have to say is welcome to the club who hate keppra although I must say a lot of people find it very good for them with little side effects. Medication for epilepsy is a bit hit and miss until you find the right drug.
KatieCoy83
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I know what you mean with keppra. I've been on it nearly 5 years. My Neurologist is transitioning me to lamictal. Keppra's effectiveness has worn down. But overall I'm pretty sure that my brain is just fed up and fried from it. My short term memory and retention is horrible.
I still have a ways to go before I'm fully off of it. So who knows what will happen with the lamictal. The only reason she didn't take me off of it sooner was because it was the safest to be on during my pregnancy. Girl is happy and health!
Welcome to the club. (My mom's cousin said that to me when I got diagnosed).
I still have a ways to go before I'm fully off of it. So who knows what will happen with the lamictal. The only reason she didn't take me off of it sooner was because it was the safest to be on during my pregnancy. Girl is happy and health!
Welcome to the club. (My mom's cousin said that to me when I got diagnosed).
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Thanks qtowngirl, KatieCoy83 and Fedup. And Fedup that is a great name cause I am totally FEDUP with Keppra LoL! And my personality has always been to bring joy to people's life and make people laugh. But I was able to sit down today and talk to a counselor and my lawyer told me to go there and my primary doctor referred me to the counslor. And not the neurologist ( go figure) but I did learn guys that the docotors get a percentage from the people that make the medicine for promoting certin meds! And of course I ws devastated I dont know if it was the Keppra side effect buy I was totaly pissed off
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yep isn't that great. i've been told my old neurologist is one who gets a percentage too... that explained alot about his drive behind doing things. pieces of shit ey?!
