Not sure keppra is working

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bobby123

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Hi,

My son was moved onto keppra after reacting with a rash to carbamazepine which appeared to be working. Were up to 750mg twice a day but I think the keppra is resulting in more tonic clonics. So at best doing nothing but at worst increasing them.

Don't know what to do next.
 
I felt that Keppra was making my partials worse (though it's hard to say because my partials in general were getting worse until my TC that got me diagnosed), and I asked my neurologist about it, and he doesn't seem to think that could happen. Maybe it's just the fact he's not on carbamezepine anymore? I would definitely ask his neurologist. Or maybe ask about adding/substituting a different drug. Good luck :)
 
I've been told by the epilepsy nurse that keppra doesn't make seizures worse. Waiting to hear what the doc suggests next.
 
Hi bobby123,

The epilepsy nurse is wrong. For some folks Keppra can increase seizures. See:

According to Drugs.com, Keppra's dangerous complications include fever, chills and weakness. It can also cause hallucinations (a condition where you see or hear things that aren't part of reality). Keppra is supposed to treat seizures but in some instances, it can cause new seizures to develop. Nausea, itching, dark-colored urine and stomach pain are other hazardous side effects of Keppra. Your doctor may decide to discontinue Keppra to stop these menacing side effects.
Click to expand...

Whether or not Keppra is causing the seizures, it certainly isn't helping, so another med should be considered. Let the neurologist know.

You also might want to check out these threads: http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/can-keppra-actually-cause-you-have-seizures-2393/
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f23/can-keppra-cause-seizures-4243/
 
Well we spoke to the doc who upped the keppra to 1000mg twice a day. Unfortunately 10 days later another tonic clinic. So it starts all over again. They did say we could be adding another drug but we'll have to see when I get through to them again.

I know its been said on here to note everything down and look for patterns but at this point there isn't much to go on. The last three have been either just after dropping off or when I think he's stirring for the toilet first thing. Other than that I've no clues.
 
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I got switched to Keppra a little bit ago. Ever since I've been on it my fuse is REALLY short. I'm not an evil person so in the "movies" I'm not the bad guy, but when someone around me does something either really stupid or rude I get set off really easily. An example being around Dec. 14th, we were on our way to go see my Dr and there was a guy shoveling snow off of his sidewalk into the middle of the street, straight launching it (in PA this is illegal). This being a guy in his 40s, not a 14 yr old trying to make a few bucks. And I lost it, almost made my girlfriend pull over the car so I can "talk" to this guy.

On a lighter note, 90% of the time I wake up remembering my dream while on Keppra.

Best of luck, I'm 25 and started having T/Cs 2 years ago, I couldn't imagine what having a young kid go thru it would be like.

It's still not much but you said the last few have been just after drop off or bathroom first thing in the morning. I don't know the distance of ur drive, but both are times sitting still for possible extended periods of time. It's farfetched and random but it might be a starting point.
 
Our Jon (age 9) was put on Keppra several months ago. When we got up to 500 mg on the 2nd week, he did actually have 2 seizure free days (first in a long time), but that was followed up several days later by 5 seizures (tonics) in one day, and then 9 seizures the next day, and 9 seizures the day after that (at which point he was put in hospital).

In the hospital, they were giving him his Zonegran in pill form and his Keppra by IV. Twice, he had a seizure just 30 minutes after getting his Keppra by IV. So...the Keppra was in his bloodstream, but not only was it not stopping the seizures, it almost seemed as if it were triggering a seizure.

So...this past month we've been weaning Keppra. His seizures are much better with just the Zonegran. Just a heads up though -- every time we take the Keppra down a notch, he'll have 3 or 4 seizures, and then he'll be seizure free until the next time the Keppra is reduced.

So...the Keppra isn't helping, but it is causing breakthrough seizures during the wean
 
Keppra didnt help my daughter at all. We are on Trileptal and its working well.
 
Just thought I'd do an update. Son was put on epilim along side the keppra for now. We're working up to 500mg twice a day on epilim (currently on 400mg twice a day).

Today he had what sounds like a classic complex partial. He was at school and his friends say he was walking around in a circle for around 20 seconds. The biggest pain is getting any info out of the little so-and-so. Being a boy and a teenager he's not one to sit down and talk about it. In fact he didn't even tell his teachers or contact us. So annoying.

So we're not there yet by any stretch with the meds :(
 
bobby, so sorry to hear about your son's possible seizure. I know it must be frustrating for him as well.

Our Jon has now been completely off the Keppra for about 1 week. He didn't have any seizures with this final wean -- we waited a bit longer before doing it, and also bumped up his ratio on the Ketogenic diet.

Now that he's completely off the Keppra, he has gone for 10 days without a seizure -- this is the longest he's gone without having a seizure since August. So we are concluding that the Keppra definitely did NOT help with seizure control and may possibly have contributed to seizures (we have the same suspicions with Diazepam; he completed that wean in December).

So now he's just on Zonegran and the Ketogenic diet, and that seems to be working well for seizure control.
 
Glad to hear your having joy with the diet Karen. The plan is to eventually drop the keppra, but the first aim was to get stability. We'll get there...
 
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