Keppra and drinking

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dreamcusp

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Hello, my first time posting here 😄.

I'm going to try drinking the first time in my life, and I'm doing so in a controlled enviroment where my fiance will be observing me so if I get a seizure I can get seizure meds. My question is how likely it is that I'll get a seizure after a one drink (probably cider, wine or something else with a low alcohol content) and is there some other preparations I should do? I'm aware that Keppra lowers your alcohol tolerance, and since I havent drank before I'll assume that my tolerance is very, very low. I have JME that was diagnosed about 9 months back, and I got my first grand mal after 2-3 years of having myoclonic seizures since I wasn't on meds yet, if that info helps.
 
Hi deaamcusp,

Welcome to the forum! People who take Keppra can drink but just be careful because the alcohol can mess up the keppra and in
turn trigger seizures. Also when drinking alcoholic beverages with Keppra a person can start having hallucinations, become irritable,
moody, very tired and dizzy. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
Go very slow. I almost never drink, but 1/2 of one drink is enough for me to feel it. Be careful about cocktails because if they taste good it's super easy to overdo it - even if it's less than one drink. Don't start drinking until you have some food in your stomach.
 
I've been on Keppra for over 10 years (unfortunately).

I do remember when I was in my younger days and alcohol would tempt me here and there.

Everyone has their own tolerances to alcohol and it can increase medication side effects.

I remember being able to have a small glass of wine for instance, and I'd feel okay. Although, if I had a Smirnoff for some reason, not even halfway through with the bottle and I'm feeling the room spin and my brain is foggy. Mike's Hard Lemonade I could down fairly easily, but it probably wasn't as much alcohol as other things.

Be sure you are around people you can trust is the best thing I can say. I remember seeing a guy that had horrible epilepsy get smashed and throwing up at a party - the guys there kept encouraging this guy to drink, drink, drink. He ended up passed out and his wife was worried sick because of his epilepsy. The guy survived and he's all right, but it was a horrible thing to watch.

In the long run, I decided it was simply best for me not to drink alcohol. I wouldn't ever get to the point I was drunk or anything. Not to mention, I have found that I'm sensitive to most grains, which are of course fermented to make alcohol. I don't do well with wheat and barley. I definitely don't do well with rice. I am also sensitive to hops. It's better for me to avoid in the long run for those reasons, too.
 
Everyone is different, (my disclaimer), but I quit drinking after experiencing first hand the correlation between drinking and having a seizure---either at the same time or a couple hours later (6-7 times in total). The current literature lists alcohol as a trigger so I knew what might happen if I drank. Nothing teaches a person better than experience.

KSQ
 
I'm not on Keppra -- my med is Lamictal -- but I’m able to drink in moderation. I would agree with everyone advocating that you go slow until you understand how your body reacts. Important as well to make sure that you are healthy and well-rested, and have food and water as go-withs.
 
As others said, everyone is different. It may be different with different AEDs as well. I stopped drinking because it made me very sick to mix alcohol with my meds. I’d be vomiting all night. I wasn’t like that before I was diagnosed and put on meds. Plus, I didn’t even get a buzz anymore when I got diagnosed and put on AEDs. Mixing alcohol with my AEDs just made me feel like crap. I was 21 when I got diagnosed, but I had plenty of years of partying. I started very young (13 years old). Meanwhile, I had seizures all my life and didn’t even know it until I had a tonic clinic at age 21. My complex partials were wrongfully diagnosed as anxiety attacks when I was a kid and teenager. It has been 32 years since I had a drink. I was 22 years old the last time I had a drink.
 
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