What happens when you miss your meds?

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Wobblez

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How long does it take for you to feel auras and/or seizures if you forget to take your meds? I take Lamictal and seem to feel it within 3-4 hours of missing my dose. I don't think its psychological because its often the auras that make me realise I've not taken my tablets. Is this possible? I also take my tablets at about 8.30am and 5.30pm so its not technically every 12 hours. I was late taking tonight's dose. Can you tell? :banana:urghh...

Thanks x
 
For me, I take my medications 12 hours apart from each other... morning and night. But if I go more than 13 hours... i start to get auras. I went from Two anti seizure medications in 2011 to just one... and since then Ive had to do some changes. I cant take sudafed no longer, due to not having that extra medication there, which helped keep my seizure threshold up. And just by going down to 1 medication, i can tell the seizure symptoms start to come on if Im late taking it.
 
Hi Wobblez,
I'm same as mom, every 12 hours. I take Lamictal as well and from everything the doc has ever said it's a 12 hour deal. My concern for you would be the extended amount of time between doses from 5:30 to 8:30, 15 hours is quite a long time, never heard of that before unless it's a once a day drug and Lam is not.
Mind if I ask why your sched is set up that way?
-Have you been doing it this way since you started on it? If so that's what your system will be used to, and for some people no likey when a med is late. (Tbh I've only had it happen a few times and I forgot b/c I'd been drinking, so can't honestly say if it affected me or not b/c if I had a partial it could have been due to that).
-Did your doc set it up this way for some reason?
HUGS.
 
I HOW take my every 12 hours, I LEARNED this on this forum. I took my meds. at 6:00Am then at 10:00PM. When I would tell the. Neur. I was seeing during all that time, I told him how at around 8:00PM I would always feel like a seizures might come on. This went on for all the years I saw him, he was the one who told me how to take them. He would always say something like Oh WEll.
 
For me, it doesn't matter when I take my meds. I still have auras/seizures. I take 3000 mgs. of Keppra a day plus Topomax and now my neuro has started me on a new one- Potiga.
 
Oooh Potiga, new new new!
Cint pls keep us posted on how it's working for you, was curious about it myself.
 
If I miss my meds, I'll have a seizure. But I haven't missed in a long time and I still have seizures. I have a call into the dr to see if he will increase my dose of levetiracetam (generic Keppra)
But I take them every 12 hrs-have alarm set on phone.
Yes, let us know how Potiga is working for you, Cint.
 
I take 100mg of Lamictal at about 0600, about 1300 and again at about 1800. I have recently added Trileptal (100) at 0600 and 1800. When I was only on Lamictal there were times when I would start feeling what I consider my auras a few hours after missing the dose, but that wasn't necessarily a regular thing. I would also have partial szs even when taking the meds right on time. My szs are not very well controlled but they are only partials, both simple and complex, and don't interfere too much with my life, so I like to keep my meds as low as possible.
 
Hi everyone, thank you for the replies!

Qtowngirl: My neuro said it didn't really matter, as long as it was sometime during the morning and evening and the times were regular. He also warned Lamictal can cause sleeplessness, so to start with I would take them about 4-5pm. I now take them at 8.30am and 6.30 pm and I have an alarm on my phone. As evenings seem to be my "vulnerable" time, I can't seem to wait till 8ish without having auras, that's usually what reminds me if I haven't stopped what I'm doing and taken them when my alarm goes off. So I'm not sure which is better, 15hrs overnight when I'm relaxed but not necessarily aware (I do have nocturnals too) or going against my body when it seems to need them earlier than 8pmish.
 
Momof3, 13 hours is pretty precise, I guess that means we may be reliant on our meds but at least their doing their job =/

Jyearta, your neuro doesn't sound very helpful! I hope things improve for you.

Cint: good luck with potiga, never heard of it!

Jackier, good luck with adjusting your dose, hope it helps!

Hi Arnie, welcome to CWE! Sorry to hear you're still struggling to get your E under control. Have you been diagnosed and treated long?
 
Hi Wobblez, Thanks for the welcome. It's nice to be a part of an epilepsy forum again. As to your question, I had my first witnessed GTC just over 30 years ago and have been on meds since then. First Dilantin (about 15 yrs), then Lamictal, now with added Trileptal, and a couple of other med tries along the way. At this point I have pretty much accepted that this is about the level of control I am going to get. Increasing the meds doesn't really seem to do away with the partials and it makes me really tired. A previous neuro I had thought that surgery would be a good idea, but there ain't no way I'm going to have anyone cutting into my brain! The riskes of that are too great, and I can live just fine the way I am. Well, mostly just fine! :)
 
I think it depends on a bodies metabolism and the medications half life together. For me I don't notice a late medicine with levetiracetam (keppra) and topiramate (topamax). If I miss one dose I don't usually notice it unless my threshold is low or I manage to miss another one.
This all changed when I tried brivaracetam a few years back. If I missed just one dose, my body gave me a seizure before I noticed my pill container still holding medication. I think the half life of brivaracetam is less than levetiracetam.
Some people may have a different time with alternating digestive problems. Who knows
 
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