What causes breakthrough seizures after awhile on meds

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HorseMom

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This is my first post on this lovely forum so forgive me if I'm in the wrong place!

Any ideas what causes breakthrough seizures for yourself or in general? I have been relatively seizure free for 3 months after starting Lamotrigrine and now I've had 4 seizures in 36hrs. This seems to be a pattern for me with seizure medication I do well for awhile and then they come back usually with a vengeance. Does this happen to anyone else too? I have temporal lobe epilepsy if that makes a difference and my neuro is able to squeeze me in Wednesday thankfully. But why do I always break through my meds after 3-6 months? Anyone else?
 
Some people do experience a "honeymoon" period where they start a new med and have good results for a while then the med loses its effectiveness.

Also, depending on your dosage, the body may get used to a med at a lower dose, and require increases to maintain effectiveness.
 
Not everyone has seizure triggers, but another cause of breakthrough seizures can be exposure to your seizure trigger(s) or exposure to too many triggers at one time. This can happen especially when one has not been able to identify any or all of their seizure trigger(s), something that is very common.

Also any other prescription or non-prescription medications, supplements and recreational drugs can interfere with how seizure medications work.
 
Hi Horsemom,

One thing that causes breakthrough seizures for me is a low pressure in the weather and I have a lot more seizures in the fall and winter compared to the spring and summer which my neuro calls "seasonal seizures". What bothers me is when there's a low pressure in the weather the air becomes heavier and that in turn affects the hormones which triggers seizures for me. I have more seizures in the fall and winter do to the lack of serotonin that time of yr. Sometimes some people can be just the opposite and have more seizures in the spring and summer everyone is different. I also have temporal lobe epilepsy. I've been using CBD oil and that has helped me since I started it and another thing I do it cut back on the caffeine and sweets that's what really cuts back on my seizures. I wish you only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue
 
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Hey Sue, how long have you been taking the CBD, and which one? I'm just starting and started with a lower dose but after this bottle is done I'm going to move to the high-CBD Phoenix Tears. A friend uses it and says it has significantly helped her (she doesn't have seizures, but other brain issues).

Meanwhile, my med dosage has been increasing so I won't know for sure if it's the Keppra or the CBD making things better (if things even get better) but I'm ok with that as long as it works!

I too have been focusing on reducing Stress, reducing caffeine, getting more sleep, etc. Yoga, lavender, basically anything to calm my body and brain as much as possible. :)


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Hi, HorseMom;
Sorry for the thread hijack, but I just want to respond to klewlis: As someone who also has seizure I understand the desire to lessen them no matter what, but it is important to know what is responsible for the decrease. If the Keppra is going to be increased, give the Keppra a chance for a while (often it takes a trial of as long as 6 weeks to know for sure, and get used to any side effects) before adding in the CBD. As you say, if you add/increase the CBD oil around the same time you and your neurologist will never really know what approach to take next.
 
But I'm ok with not knowing which one does the job, as long as one does. :)


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Hi. For me, there doesn't seem to be any specific thing causing the breakthroughs I get. Sometimes they occur when I'm under stress, but I've even had a Complex Partial 2 hours after taking my meds. While I was on Dilantin & Topamax, my blood levels were taken right after a CP (I was in the ER), & they were in the normal range.
 
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