For the Consumer
Report any new or worsening symptoms to your doctor, such as: mood or behavior changes, depression, anxiety, or if you feel agitated, hostile, irritable, hyperactive (mentally or physically), or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.
Call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:
-hallucinations, unusual thoughts or behavior;
-bruising, severe tingling, numbness, pain, muscle weakness;
-feeling very weak or tired;
-fever, chills, body aches, flu symptoms, sores in your mouth and throat;
-problems with walking or movement;
-the first sign of any skin rash, no matter how mild; or
-severe skin reaction -- fever, sore throat, swelling in your face or tongue, ---burning in your eyes, skin pain, followed by a red or purple skin rash that spreads (especially in the face or upper body) and causes blistering and peeling.
Less serious side effects of levetiracetam may include:
mild dizziness or drowsiness;
mild tired feeling;
loss of appetite; or
stuffy nose.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Tell your doctor about any unusual or bothersome side effect.
Psychiatric
Slower titration should be considered in patients at a higher risk of discontinuing levetiracetam (the active ingredient contained in Keppra) for behavioral reasons.
Psychiatric side effects such as depression (up to 5.7%) including suicidal depression (up to 0.7%), irritability (6%), and mood swings (5%) have been reported.
In some patients experiencing primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures, levetiracetam caused behavioral abnormalities. Nonpsychotic mood disorders (reported as anger, apathy, depression, altered mood, mood swings, negativism, suicidal ideation, and tearfulness) occurred in 12.7% of levetiracetam-treated patients. One patient experienced suicidal ideation. Another patient experienced delusional behavior that required the lowering of the dose of levetiracetam.
Irritability (7%) has been reported with extended release tablets.
