Vimpat?

[Ktp]

I am new to all this and feel like I am losing my mind. Long story but basically I found out several months ago that my eeg showed seizure activity. At that point I was dealing with a movement disorder and did not take it seriously as I had no symptoms. Well. I ended up in the hospital with an out of control blood pressure. At that time I started meds for that and they also started me on Keppra. After a day of that they took me off and started Vimpat. The Keppra made me too confused but in all fairness they also started me on high doses. I am now home for 3 days and taking the Vimpat 50mg at night. It wipes me out and I am finding I have no strength and I just feel out of it. Standing for more then a minute or so makes me dizzy and uncoordinated. I called the dr yesterday and he told me he wants me to stay on it for another 3weeks...which would be a month on it. He also wants me to add a morning dose.
My question is....Is this the way it is supposed to be? Is it normal to feel so out of it and how long until it would get better? I was struggling with my other neuro issue but now I feel like everything has gone south.

 

[Fedup]

Ktp

Depends on the person, each person reacts different to ever drug so just because I take vimpat does not mean it will suit you and the opposite apply's. So the side effects for everyone is different, when you called the doctor he should have listened more, if it was me I would give it two weeks but a month is normal. You will know yourself whether or not it is agreeing with you if its not then you ring the doctor and say you want off there is no waiting another 3 weeks, remember he is not taking the drugs. " Is it normal to feel so out of it" yes it can be all depends on how the drug affects you and being honest the length of time before it gets better, exactly what do you mean. Is it about the drugs or the epilepsy. Oh and get another neurologist.

 

[Ktp]

I meant how long is reasonable for these types of side effects to linger? I am really disappointed in my neuro. I was in the hospital for 5 days and he was great but I thought his reply to my call was awful. It has left me feeling very alone. I just can't imagine adding an am dose when I am struggling this much to even get out of bed. I know all drugs are different for everyone but I guess in general how much do you tolerate before it is reasonable to hang it up.

 

[Fedup]

Ktp

You only tolerate what you can and by that I mean tolerate does not include getting it hard get out of bed. A lot of us are on am and pm dosage but there are some (I used to be one of them) who have to take maybe another at noon and even one more. Reasonable side effect are what you are willing to put up with, like me I am on vimpat but I am coming off it, I am not willing to put up with it so I paid my GP a visit and told him I wanted off it and to tell the neurologist there is no waiting or anything else its me who has to take it not him. Mind you there is a lot more to the story. So reasonable means what you are willing to put up with.

 

[Nakamova]

:agree:
If you can stand it for a month at a steady dose, that can be about the right length of time to gauge if a med is helping your seizures. But there's nothing wrong with staying at a stable dose for a few weeks (rather than upping the dose) to allow your brain to adjust. And there's no reason to put up with side effects if they are ruining your quality of life right now. CWE members have had a variety experiences with Vimpat. The threads in the link below may help:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/tags/vimpat.html
Also this:
http://www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=22254&name=VIMPAT

 

[Ktp]

Thank you so much for the information! I did not see any of those when I was looking for information. Obviously, I have not mastered the forum. I am trying to stick it out...kinda going hour by hour at this point. The countdown is on for a month. Again, thank you.