Partial seizures and depression

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Ouarezki

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Hey guys

I'm in a really bad place right now.
I had to decrease my anti depressants because they produced a sort of "manic" episode (even though I am not bipolar) but I've been getting worse.
Now my anxiety is back, which is usually covered by the anti convulsant I take (Topiramate)
I feel like I'm back to square one. I'd been stable and now I'm I can't even function again.

Hubby and I have moved countries and I still can't find a decent doctor.

Does anyone have a similar experience with depression? Can it be caused by seizures?
 
Hi Ouarezki,

Take my word depression is all part of epilepsy. My Epileptologist also told me that if the seizures are coming from the right temporal lobe that can cause more emotion in a person with epilepsy. I've learned not to use anti depressant because those drugs will just reverse what the seizure meds will do for me.

It's also been proven that in some cases when a person lives in a higher elevation that can sometimes trigger seizures for some people so if you are living in a area where you are up on a hill that can possibly cause the seizures also. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
Hey Porkette God bless you too

I'd love to be rid of these damnes anti-depressants but how?
How do I manage this debliating depression... I wish I could function and feel things again but I can't without them, I've been trying to quit and I'm coping less each day.
How do I manage this....
 
Keep up the search for a good therapist. There are lots of anti-depressants out there, and as with epilepsy drugs, it can often take a few tries to find the right one. There are ones that don't lower seizure threshold, or even Lamictal which is used for both bipolar and seizures.

Aside from meds are there other things you can tweak to help make you feel better? Sleep schedule? Diet? Exercise? Other people?

I hope you can feel better soon.

:hugs:
 
Remind yourself that even though it really feels like it, it's impossible to be back at square one, because you've been stable before and you've learned things through it. It means it will be easier to get back there again.
(Though I know it really doesn't feel like it).

I think atm try to accept that the anti-depressants are something that you need, and I hope you can find a good doctor to help tweak doses or medications.
Do you have a counsellor or therapist that you could discuss some of the feelings with?
 
You mention that your antidepressant was making you manic and that they increased your dosage. Are you feeling more manic now? If you are, you need to get off this medication and onto something else!
 
Topiramate same as Topamax

Topamax made me even more crazy mean than Keppra. Ask your Neurologist if that's what's making you feel so bad.
Other that that, who wouldn't be depressed by epilepsy?
I would mention just some of the ways getting it, (mine is from a closed head injury) changed my life and makes me depressed.
My insurance company, (who shall remain nameless), has a "program' to help people.
What a sad joke. All I saw was some social worker. She gave me some really stupid "suggestions" to "help." I just threw the paper work she gave me in the trash (where she could see it - when I was leaving.
Coming in here and chatting with others who have the same problems does help.
God Bless.
And keep praying all the best.
 
I second the recommendation to check the Topiramate. I was on it for many years and suffering from intense, unrelenting depression all that time. Doctors would tell me I wasn't exercising enough or I wasn't seeing my therapist often enough or I was seeing the wrong one or I just wasn't trying hard enough to get better. I knew this was more than my usual depression, that we were missing something.

Finally, I did my own meds research and asked my neuro to switch me off the Topiramate. He wouldn't (I was just not trying hard enough - if I did I would feel better), so I talked to my primary care. She called him, I came off of it, and I feel 300% better. I can't believe the difference. I still get depressed, but nothing like I used to.
 
Sheesh! They must also think that you aren’t trying hard enough to not have seizures so that you don’t need medication at all! Can you say: Burn-out?
 
Pinkhorse said:
Sheesh! They must also think that you aren’t trying hard enough to not have seizures so that you don’t need medication at all! Can you say: Burn-out?
Click to expand...

Yeah. I don't think it's burnout, though. I think it's arrogance. We don't know what we need or how we're feeling and we're too stupid to understand what the real situation is.

I've gotten this from multiple providers. I don't trust a soul at this point.
 
I just went through a huge bout of depression for the first time in my life after my last round of seizures. Turns out that it might have been because of the Zonisamide they'd just started me on. Horrible stuff. I'm off of that now and feeling so much better.
 
Either way, it’s inexcusable. I think/know that most practitioners go into health care with excellent intentions and excitement to do good. Once in practice for years under our medical system (speaking for the US, anyway) that rewards productivity much more than patient care and cuts down on our visit time (which we are all - as patients and as providers - aware) many lose the ability to care for patients in the way they/we want to. I’ve been on both sides of that equation so I have some compassion for the situation but it doesn’t help anyone in terms of trust and good care. Especially with depression, which is something that can be acknowledged easily in a compassionate way - and a referral to an appropriate provider if it’s not something that they feel comfortable addressing. No matter what, it’s NOT ok to treat someone in distress in that way. No excuse for that.
 
Ouarezki said:
Hey guys

I'm in a really bad place right now.
I had to decrease my anti depressants because they produced a sort of "manic" episode (even though I am not bipolar) but I've been getting worse.
Now my anxiety is back, which is usually covered by the anti convulsant I take (Topiramate)
I feel like I'm back to square one. I'd been stable and now I'm I can't even function again.

Hubby and I have moved countries and I still can't find a decent doctor.

Does anyone have a similar experience with depression? Can it be caused by seizures?
Click to expand...
I had the same problems.My seizures are complex partial coming from the left temporal lobe.I had to see a shrink regularly for very deep depression...until they figured out keppra was doing it. They changed me to Lamictal and my moods improved.Our medication work on the brain.Everyonerespondes differently


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
BethD said:
I had the same problems.My seizures are complex partial coming from the left temporal lobe.I had to see a shrink regularly for very deep depression...until they figured out keppra was doing it. They changed me to Lamictal and my moods improved.Our medication work on the brain.Everyonerespondes differently


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

And my depression was made so much worse by the Topiramate that I couldn't function.
 
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