Keppra Withdrawal?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

dsmilo

New
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi, this is my first time posting, and I was hoping to get some help or insight.

About 5-6 years ago, I experienced a seizure in my sleep. Since then, I've had a few more, all while sleeping. I had been on Keppra 500mg nightly for about 4.5 years, and have been on Levetiracetam 500mg nightly for approximately 6 months now. I haven't had any problems with either, but the one time my doctor temporarily took me off the drug, I relapsed and had another seizure. Recently, though, my current prescription ran out before the newest one arrived in the mail. Since running out of medication a week ago, I have been totally unable to sleep and felt a totally crippling depression at most points of the day. I have felt depressed before, but nothing nearly as severe as this. Accompanying the depression is a nausea and lack of appetite.

I just wanted to know if anyone could tell me if these are common withdrawal symptoms, and if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
I thought those 2 drugs were the same? one generic and one brand name? maybe not. lol
 
I thought those 2 drugs were the same? one generic and one brand name? maybe not. lol
Yeah, they are, but I wasn't sure if there was maybe some difference with respect to withdrawal. Any ideas?
 
Well with any generic they contain the same active ingrediant as the brand name. The difference is in the fillers and the binders used to turn them to pill form. These vary all the time in generics making the potency of it different each time you refill. between 80-120% effective where as brand name would be a constanct 100% effective at the dosage you are prescribed.

Maybe what happened is your refill of the generic changed and you are noticing the changes between the refills you had in those six months. (ex: your first generic had potency of 120% and stayed roughly the same. The generic you are on now has only 80% so you are not having the dosage you had before you refilled.)
 
I've been on the generic for a while, my current issue is the time since I've run out of medication. Since stopping, I haven't even been worried about the risk of seizures because the sharp depression has been totally unbearable.
 
welcome dsmilo

I've been on Keppra & to this day the side-effects on me were the worst I've ever had, most of them emotional.

Have you tried Vitamin B6, It is supposed to curtail most of the emotional side-effects.

My problem was that I was so spaced out (another side-effect) that I would always forget to take it.
 
I think with all the brain meds (not just anti-seizure ones), withdrawal can produce unpredictable side effects. The meds are so powerful that it takes awhile for the system to recalibrate itself when there's a change in dosage, either up or down. Your depression, insomnia and nausea are probably all due to the withdrawal and your anxiety over it. Is there any way you can get a temporary RX refill quicker, or is that not an option?
 
I think with all the brain meds (not just anti-seizure ones), withdrawal can produce unpredictable side effects. The meds are so powerful that it takes awhile for the system to recalibrate itself when there's a change in dosage, either up or down. Your depression, insomnia and nausea are probably all due to the withdrawal and your anxiety over it. Is there any way you can get a temporary RX refill quicker, or is that not an option?
Thanks a ton, Nakamova. My pills came in this evening, thankfully. Took one a bit earlier than I normally do (bedtime) just to try and get something back into my system. I'll post how I feel in a few days as future reference for anyone else experiencing the same thing. Thanks to all for their input.
 
Last edited:
I used to be on a fairly strong dose of Keppra (2000 mg) and I know of others here that are on more. I switched to Lamictal almost a year ago. While leaving Keppra, I was gradually taken off because of the risks of going off too fast. Most E-drugs are that way.

Since you are on a relatively low dose of 500 mg, it is possible some of these feelings are coming from the stress of knowing your safety net is not there. Not being able to sleep when you know that is your risk time would make sense.

I hope all gets better with the meds now back in your system.:woot:
 
It's been a few days since I've had the meds back in my system, and I'm feeling as good as ever. The day after first taking the pills again, I vomited, but other than that it's all good. Nausea and depression are gone, and the only sleep deprivation remaining comes from being a student in Montreal. Thanks to everyone who responded trying to help me out.

Due to how quickly my problems seemed to go away, I'm guessing that all of my symptoms were more a result of my anxeity over being out of pills than actually being out of pills - this makes sense since the medication is about keeping the internal levels appropriate, not taking a dose to treat symptoms immediately like Nyquil. My advice to anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation - first, do anything you can to get more pills quickly (this was tricky for me since I'm in a foreign country). If you can't do that, just RELAX. I've missed nights of taking my medication before with no issue. Missing one night's dose isn't the end of the world. Just do your best not to think about it (easier said than done, I know) and don't let your mind get the best of you.

Cheers.
 
I'm glad to hear that things are better dsmilo. And good advice about trying to keep anxiety levels down after a missed dose. I hope it's smooth sailing from here on out for you. For the future, maybe your doctor can give you an extra month's prescription for when you travel? My neuro did that for me when I was going to be out of the country, just in case I ran out unexpectedly, or my pills ended up in lost luggage.
 
Back
Top Bottom