Hey all this is a long post...,
I am stuck between Dr.'s who disagree in the sense that I have had side effects ever since I switched off of Dilantin (first to Neurontin and now to Keppra) and my Dr's don't agree on how to handle the situation, leaving me alone to figure out what to do.
I'll be blunt. My problem is with sexual issues. I never had any trouble in this regard while I took Dilantin. However, since that ended, nothing has worked right in that department. Desire, feeling, anything.. mostly gone. I am male and this is killing me.
I have a neuro and an endocinologist saying I should go back to Dilantin since I felt better on that and didn't have the sexual issues while taking it. A neuro-endocrinologist says definitely do not go back to Dilantin because of the lesser side effect profile of Keppra (which we've all heard before) and because he recommends another method.
His method is to have me on testosterone shots to boost my Bioavailable Testosterone (even though I am in normal range on that and my Total Testosterone numbers are very very strong-- which is one reason my other docs disagree with him). However, this doc thinks that even though Bioavailable T is in the normal range, he says it is in the lower end of normal for someone like me. He also wants me to take Arimidex to control estradiol numbers once he gives me shots for Testosterone.
Now, I asked him: isn't it just easier to switch back to Dilantin rather than taking shots and another pill (Arimidex)and Keppra? He said yes, but his method would allow him to see exactly what it takes hormonally to make me feel better and then once that is established I could maybe go back to Dilantin, see if I feel better, and if I do, we'd know what to watch for hormone wise in the future.
I don't know what to do, other than I am worn out with drugs, and doctors, and definitely don't want to be some guinea pig.
SO, I thought I would throw it out to the good people on this site and see what any of you have to say. I am thinking of going with the recommendation of just going back to Dilantin and forgetting the rest of it, but what do you do when doctors totally disagree?
Thanks.
D:rock:
I am stuck between Dr.'s who disagree in the sense that I have had side effects ever since I switched off of Dilantin (first to Neurontin and now to Keppra) and my Dr's don't agree on how to handle the situation, leaving me alone to figure out what to do.
I'll be blunt. My problem is with sexual issues. I never had any trouble in this regard while I took Dilantin. However, since that ended, nothing has worked right in that department. Desire, feeling, anything.. mostly gone. I am male and this is killing me.
I have a neuro and an endocinologist saying I should go back to Dilantin since I felt better on that and didn't have the sexual issues while taking it. A neuro-endocrinologist says definitely do not go back to Dilantin because of the lesser side effect profile of Keppra (which we've all heard before) and because he recommends another method.
His method is to have me on testosterone shots to boost my Bioavailable Testosterone (even though I am in normal range on that and my Total Testosterone numbers are very very strong-- which is one reason my other docs disagree with him). However, this doc thinks that even though Bioavailable T is in the normal range, he says it is in the lower end of normal for someone like me. He also wants me to take Arimidex to control estradiol numbers once he gives me shots for Testosterone.
Now, I asked him: isn't it just easier to switch back to Dilantin rather than taking shots and another pill (Arimidex)and Keppra? He said yes, but his method would allow him to see exactly what it takes hormonally to make me feel better and then once that is established I could maybe go back to Dilantin, see if I feel better, and if I do, we'd know what to watch for hormone wise in the future.
I don't know what to do, other than I am worn out with drugs, and doctors, and definitely don't want to be some guinea pig.
SO, I thought I would throw it out to the good people on this site and see what any of you have to say. I am thinking of going with the recommendation of just going back to Dilantin and forgetting the rest of it, but what do you do when doctors totally disagree?
Thanks.
D:rock: