Testing blood levels for meds

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!

Loopy Lou

Loopy Lou

Veteran
Messages
2,396
Reaction score
99
Points
173
How often are you supposed to get a blood test to check medication level?

I got diagnosed nearly 3 years ago now (wow, that long?!) and i only ever had one check, when i was on Lamictal about 6 months after starting it.

I've been on keppra for a while now, and i've no idea how often levels are supposed to be checked. I take 3000mg, but i'm still having seizures. I don't really feel side effects except for maybe a couple of hours after i take it where i get drowsy and a bit dopey.
 
Every time I've been put on something new I was tested from every month to every 6 months depending on the drug & the neurologist.

I've been on Tegretol for decades now & I only go once every year for a blood test.
 
my neuro said that blood levels were not necessary with Keppra.....I think Keppra is processed through the kidneys not the liver....so that is the reason.
 
I also take a huge amount of Keppra daily and haven't had my blood levels checked in quite some time. Here is an explanation of how Keppra is metabolized:

From www.epilepsy.com
Keppra is not metabolized by the liver. It also does not affect the way the liver metabolizes other medicines.

Instead, the body eliminates Keppra through the kidneys. People with poor kidney function usually need to take less Keppra and they may take it less often, because it stays in their body longer.

The tablets and the liquid form of Keppra take the same amount of time to be absorbed by the body. This time is a little longer if they are taken with food instead of on an empty stomach, but all the medicine is absorbed either way.
Click to expand...
 
Oh i see, thanks for the info :D

I get worried that it's going to "wear off" or stop being effective too quickly after taking it.

Keppra seems to be working much better than the Lamictal, but still not quite there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom