Vimpat, a new AED, has anybody else tried it

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Hey, I was googling some new meds that my wife was taking and I found this message board.

She was on Vimpat for a few months and it was absolutely horrendous. She must have been part of the extreme minority with the side effects. The first thing were huge mood swings followed by major depression within a month or two (it's been a couple of years now and I don't remember the exact timing). She became very suicidal and would lay in bed all day. She was hearing and seeing things that weren't there. Later she had a few episodes of what I could only describe as "multiple personality" where her speech pattern changed and she was acting like a completely different person. Later she told me that she didn't remember those episodes at all (but I sure did). This happened at her neurologists office and he basically said that she should go off it cold turkey. She had some withdrawal and towards the end of the withdrawal she described having "loud static and screaming" in her head. A day or two after that she was back to normal.

I realize that's probably one of the more extreme examples of the side effects but I'd recommend monitoring yourself (or loved one) closely the first few months on this medication.
 
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She must have been part of the extreme minority with the side effects.

welcome guy :)

and not so much. among the latest epilepsy drugs (past five years), vimpat is in the top list of side effects (not simply listed, but ones that do take place). it is an ongoing convo on many threads here, and tho there are positive situations for some (less seizures and if they had side effects they didn't last), it's certainly not the majority.

it did lessen my simple partial seizures somewhat, but i HATED how it made me feel, believe me, many of us on here understand what you and your wife went through. hers def sound extreme, but she's certainly not alone on needing to get off that drug ASAP. has happened to many of us. kudos to the two of you for going cold turkey. it's rarely recommended in AED's, unless one's reaction is that devastating, as hers apparently were.

i didn't become 'another person' etc., my thing was walking into walls and being so out of balance i had to leave my office and lay down, almost daily. felt like vertigo x a million, caused nausea and loss of thought process. ummmm yeah, goodbye vimpat!
 
I got to the point my dr. called it toxic for me but he still thought the pros were better than the cons.It's added to lamictal that I have been on for years but it is the higher dose of clonipan that has helped being raised that has helped more
 
Vimpat was poison for me, but my dr thought it was the bomb. Made me sick daily, stomach and heart, dizzy, depressed. I told him I was done...no more for me. He gave me the choice between two drugs - like I knew anything about either one. Eeeny, meeny, miny, mo, I chose dilantin over keppra and I think I chose correctly. For me anyhow. Good luck to your wife, hope she is doing better. Isn't it amazing what drugs do to our heads?
 
Hey, I was googling some new meds that my wife was taking and I found this message board.

She was on Vimpat for a few months and it was absolutely horrendous. She must have been part of the extreme minority with the side effects. The first thing were huge mood swings followed by major depression within a month or two (it's been a couple of years now and I don't remember the exact timing). She became very suicidal and would lay in bed all day. She was hearing and seeing things that weren't there. Later she had a few episodes of what I could only describe as "multiple personality" where her speech pattern changed and she was acting like a completely different person. Later she told me that she didn't remember those episodes at all (but I sure did). This happened at her neurologists office and he basically said that she should go off it cold turkey. She had some withdrawal and towards the end of the withdrawal she described having "loud static and screaming" in her head. A day or two after that she was back to normal.

I realize that's probably one of the more extreme examples of the side effects but I'd recommend monitoring yourself (or loved one) closely the first few months on this medication.

Actually, I have noticed this is an AED that can react differently with every patient. More importantly I am taking it and we discovered that I need to take a very low dosage otherwise I will begin obtaining severe side effects of irritability, aggression, and severe vertigo.

This is a very good AED but in my case of epilepsy I can only use it on a very low dosage which is just fine as the medication resolves what two devices cannot. :twocents:

Regards,
Sue
 
So I had 3 seizures yesterday but my husband said they were less severe then they usually are but we are unsure if they are due to the Vimpat or not I was more or less pretty foggy for most of yesterday but was fine today. The difference with this time as opposed to other times is this time is not connected with my period. It is not supposed to happen until next week. Doc wants to wants to start me on higher dose of vimpat tonight so its good that I have samples. When my husband talked to him today I guess I had seizure discharges on my ambulatory EEG also which was also not on my period. Well you cant win.

Tina
 
OK so I was started on Keppra which I had bad side effects like aggression and anger. My Neurologist changed me to VimPat Low dose. I then was reduced because I asked to be after 6 months and I missed a dose and had a night-time seizure. She and the new added Neurologist tripled it. I don't think I have bad side effects yet though I did show some aggression, depression and rage once a few weeks ago. I have to stay on "emotional self guard duty".
 
I am VERY happy I am off the Vimpat the price alone is enough to make one depressed. I am now back on Trileptal and having fewer partial seizures.
 
Hey Big Healey! What are you driving these days? I retired two years ago and sold my business, "The Motorway, Ltd." We almost exclusively restored and maintained Older British sports cars. (late 40's -1980) So, there ya go; we have two things in common so far. I could do without one of them, but then we'd never have met. This discussion should probably move to an informal (like me) page.

I started Gran Mal seizing in 1988. I'm sixty five now. I currently use 300 g of Lamictal and 300 g of Lyrica, with a small dose of Xanax at bedtime. This has now worked for me for the last 7 months, which is a modern times record for me! I feel great!, unsteady feet be damned!
 
Either Vimpat or Lamictal can cause serious psychological side effects in my experience. I couldn't stand Vimpat, and the nasty side effects started right away. I was hostile, tearful, full of rage, had suicide ideation, and was extremely moody. I stopped it cold turkey after a month. Seriously, I'd rather have had more Gran Mals than feel like it made me feel.

Lamictal was no picnic either, but the emotional effects, while still there, were a little less destructive. I stayed with it anyway because my Neurologist told me we were running out of options. It was the roughest year and a half of my life, hands down. But I gradually began to be able to control my emotions, and "The Dumbs". At first I could easily forget what I was saying in the middle of a sentence, and found math (always a challenge) virtually impossible. I'm sharper now, (math still stinks) and am ever hopeful that this one will last since I haven't had a seizure in seven months. I'd forgotten how good that feels!!
 
Motor,

When I can drive my daily driver is a 2008 MX-5 Miata with retractable hardtop. This is also my track day car. My mistress is a 1960 Austin Healey 3000 with Rally Hardtop and some Rally Spec conversions. I also have 3 1970s Honda CT90 Trail bikes and 2 Bonneville Mini Bikes. You probably get the Big Healey reference then :)

Can you drive? I am banned for now :-(

Peace

Tracy
 
I can drive right now, and have never actually been banned at all. My seizures have virtually always been late at night while going to sleep, or early AM while awakening. I took myself off the road for over a year when I first started seizing, and at times since then when we were having medication or physical coordination difficulties. These days my "English" car is a 2013 Genesis coupe with the 348 HP V6. Wow, can that thing dig up pavement. It will indeed be my track car if I decide to do it at all. I'm on the fence, though I drove race cars for the better part of twenty five years. It's just so pretty now...
 
I sold my 57 MGA vintage racer "Maggie" - now purported to be the "prettiest" MGA racer on the east coast. I did most of the wrenching on her and watched Butch Gilbert prepare the engine. wheeeeee
 
Vimpat distress

I have never had better seizure control in my life.
Unfortunately, the side effects, are making me realize that it is not worth it.
Psychosis, paranoia, crippling fear and left ventricular enlargement, all in less than 2 years.
I could put up with the double vision and dizziness but now I have fallen and have needed stitches in my head 3 times. None of these events were seizures.
UCB.COM website, actually published all this on June 30, 2014.

:bigmouth:
 
I have done good on Vimpat versus Trileptal. I haven't yet had the same issues as the dosage was raised as I did with Trileptal. Trileptal, at max allowable dosage, had really messed me up by last summer.

Last summer I was on:
Trileptal 1,200mg 2
Divalproex DR 1,200mg 2
Topomax 20mg 2x
and a complete mess

Currently on:
Divalproex DR 1,500mg 2x
Vimpat 200mg 2x
VNS @ 1.50ma for 30 seconds, off for 3 minutes, magnet mode 1.75ma for 60 seconds.
 
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never once

did it occur that many of the side fx were LACOSAMIDE related....
 
For me, Lacosamide (Vimpat) wasn't a consideration for issues while I was on Trileptal as I wasn't on it at that time. I have always had various issues with Trileptal dosing above 300mg daily since starting it in 2006. It wasn't until last year that it was pushed above 600mg (I could tolerate fair at 150mg x4 times) daily. Trileptal was the primary med and Divalproex was adjunctive. Topomax was also adjunctive, but mostly for essential tremors. Topomax killed the tremors for just under 7 months before they started coming back. Recently dropped Topomax all together. Vimpat was started (Divalproex became the primary med) as Trileptal was decreased. Because I really did to start feeling better fast, I am pretty certain it was the Trileptal and not Lacosamide (Vimpat).

btw, I am taking Propranolol for the tremors and it is helping immensely! Additionally, it also has taken the place of one of my BP meds!
 
I keep wondering to myself..... WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T I MAKE THE CONNECTION
But, my friends, I figured it out quickly. I am on 4 drugs but for the first time, I was not having seizures.
I reported the other stuff to my Neurologist. It didn't happen until about 5 or 6 months into the drug. I believe she wrote it down.
No connection was drawn, and I was only on 100mg 2x daily.
Apparently, it was BREVACETAM which was going to be the new UCB marvel.Similar to Keppra as Keppra will be available generically soon, if it isn't already.
Unfortunately, that will not likely be readily available until 2015 or later in Canada.
The Phase 3 clinical trials were just published July 24th.
So, essentially Vimpat was their new (or not so new, as it happens) drug.

Now, I will, obviously with medical support start weaning the Vimpat.

Being angry won't get me anywhere productive but do YOU ever feel like just another Hamster????????????????
 
they only recently found some of term long term side effects of vimpat like blue pee, and blue retinas and blindness. I am sure i have posted my blue toliet before.
 
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