Keppra Rage

[nic]

I have been on Keppra 250mg twice daily for four days. I'm still having regular seizures...although I'm now on twelve hours and waiting.....
I've suffered from depression and anxiety for many years and am on many meds for this... Despite everything I am actually in quite a good mood.... I've heard a lot about Keppra rage.. would this have already kicked in or am I going to be lucky and have no symptoms??

onder:

 

[masterjen]

Four days is not enough time to determine if seizures will decrease or not. For some people it can take as long as two weeks or more to notice any benefit. Does your doctor have plans to increase your dose after you have been on 250 mg twice a day for a week or two? I ask because this dose is quite low. Usually the starting dose is 500 mg twice per day, but sometimes some doctors like to start a little slower. As for side effects, these can kick in sometimes months after being on a medication especially if dosages are being increased.
As for the rage side effect, don't get too hung up on that. You'll start thinking that just because you become angry about something one day that it is due to the Keppra when really it is just typical anger. Check carefully into the percentage of people who have this or other side effects. Children are far more likely to have anger/agitation (37% according to the attached source than adults (13%). http://www.drugs.com/pro/keppra.html As far as forums go, often you will hear more from people who have had side effects of a medication than from those who had no side effects. I was on 1500 mg, and no side effects at all.

 

[Cint]

I've suffered from E and major depression for years, too. I've been taking 3000 mgs of Keppra now for 15 years and haven't really experienced the "rage" that is said to go along with Keppra. IMO, depression/anxiety goes along with TLE. Some meds can make the symptoms worse for some. It all depends on the individual and the type of seizure(s).

 

[George__]

For myself it's more of a "mood swing"

 

[valeriedl]

Four days really isn't long enough to find out if the med is going to work for you. You also may not know if you are going to have any side effects. And sometimes if you do have side effects they might go away after you've been on the med a longer. It usually takes a few weeks to find all this out.

Keppra makes me angry very easy - Kepprage. I find myself yelling at people over the littlest things. Things that I probably shouldn't even be yelling at them for. I blow up on people at the grocery store a lot.

I have a very hard time being around young kids. I know they are doing things that normal young kids do but it just drives me crazy. Once when my friend was over she brought her kids with her. I saw that they were coloring on my coffee table instead of in their coloring books and started SCREAMING at them. Her kids started crying and she apologized and told me that she'd buy me a new coffee table but I just wouldn't stop screaming at them. She ended up leaving because I wouldn't stop screaming and her kids couldn't stop crying.

After they left I realized that this was just something that little kids do and the crayon came right off. I felt so bad about it after I clamed down and called her to apologize. This happened about 5 years ago and I still apologize to my friend about it every time I see her or talk to her but she just laughs at me. I guess that's what good friends are like!

 

[Naori]

I was on Keppra for a few months and I didn't really experience the Keppra "rage", I just experienced really ridiculous emotional break downs. I made dinner once and my friend took a bite, made a face, and I started crying that he didn't like it. Turned out it was just spicy. I used to teach part time and one of my students plagiarized and I scolded him for half an hour and then sat in my office and cried that I wasn't a good teacher. I also saw gray hair on my dog and decided she was dying - cried a lot with that one too. It was definitely out of control but it didn't help my seizures so I had no problem getting off of it and knowing my cooking was fine, that my dog was fine, and that my students still needed to be whipped into shape! Give it a month - if you're crying over cooking you might want to reconsider

 

[shamethellama]

Keppra was not good for me. But there is nothing to worry about until there is something to worry about. It works great for most people, so just assume it's working great for you and go on with life. Best wishes to ya.

 

[marika853]

I've been taking generic Keppra since 2006 and have not experienced the rage. Thank goodness. I am currently working on reducing my dosage from 1000 mgs. daily to 750.
Like the others here have said, "Everyone is different." You just have to think positive!
Good Luck !
M