Side Effects That Have Been Useful

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!

Pingu

Stalwart
Messages
140
Reaction score
20
Points
68
G'Day Guys,

Here's another question for you all, has anyone ever experienced side effects of a medication that they have considered useful and wanted to have reoccur?

For example, I am trying to lose 15kgs of weight and get down to 75kgs again. In two weeks of being on Zonegran, I've lost 2kgs already. I've read that weight loss is a side effect of Zonegran.
 
Tegretol stopped my headaches wonderfully, but the increase in seizure activity, bone pain and aplastic anemia were not so wonderful.
 
Topamax is another med that can cause weight loss. However, it also can make one very spacey, dopey, thus the nickname Dopemax. When I first took it, I lost 25 lbs. in the first 6 months, but I was so spaced out I couldn't remember simple things.
 
I experienced weight loss and the nerve pain in my leg is gone.
 
Hi Pingu,

I found that Depakene did wonders and helped me lose 70 lbs. in 4 months. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
Hi Pingu,

I found that Depakene did wonders and helped me lose 70 lbs. in 4 months.

Wow! I've heard the opposite with Depakene/Depakote. My nephew took it once and GAINED 50 lbs!

https://www.depakote.com/taking-depakote
Common side effects of Depakote include: nausea, headache, sleepiness, vomiting, weakness, tremor, dizziness, stomach pain, blurry vision, double vision, diarrhea, increased appetite, weight gain, hair loss, loss of appetite, and problems with walking or coordination.
 
I was on Topamax back in 2006 - 2008 & lost about 20kg - 30kg over the 2 years. After I was taken of the Topamax & switched to Keppra I kept the weight down for a little while by watching what I eat & I was walking a lot but eventually went back to eating the wrong foods & was getting more lifts so put most of the weight back on.

My current neurologist put me on Zonegran in May which he added to Tegretol & Keppra. Ive noticed since being on the Zonegran I dont get as hungry so not eating as much.

I am currently in the process of losing weight but its not due to the medication but more so a change in my diet as the beginning of the year my GP told me he was concerned about my weight & my cholesterol (which was just over) so referred me to a dietitian. I've been seeing the dietitian since February & with her guidance I've lost approx 20kg in 6 months & am now back down to my 'ideal weight'. Because I don't get so hungry now on the Zonegran I treat myself once a week to something bad eg a can of soft drink or chocolate bar or take away but not very often as I don't enjoy it anymore which is funny as before my big weakness was sweet foods particularly chocolate & ice cream.
 
Last edited:
I'd like to be smarter, skinnier, have less anxiety. Well, I'm not about to get that from any of these pills, am I?!
 
Hi Folks,
I was on 250 mg. of Depakene twice a day and I would eat but the med just burnt up
my calories like crazy. I would even try to eat extra snacks but the weight still kept coming off. According to my pharmacist Depakene can cause both weight loss and weight gain almost like anorexia but it was do to the med not psychological matters. I finally had to go off the Depakene because I was dropping to much weight and then I went on tegretol but I must say I liked dropping from 150 down to 80 lbs. because I was way over weight. Wishing all of you only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
I did at one point lose weight on lac then started piling it on getting up at night starving
 
I lost weight on Topamax, which was great until I kept losing weight. It completely killed my appetite, and I ended up looking anorexic. It was also DOPE-amax for me too, so I ended up switching.

Hope the Zoneagran works for OP. It was one of my litany of meds, and it caused my complex partials to be even more complex (waking up in the morning to find my tongue/inside of my mouth chewed up, etc.)
 
Depakote has definitely increased my son's appetite and caused him to gain weight. Because he's still young, I or other family members can still help control his portion sizes and food choices so that does help, and keep him active but he is always complaining of being hungry. I've got the lab form to have his levels checked next week because his neuro is thinking of increasing it again due to increased seizures. sigh...
 
Back
Top Bottom