keppra vs. topamax

CDC funded page

Not a CDC funded Page

i'm a 28 year old woman diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy when i was 16 - and have been on depakote since. my doctor has, of course, always told me that i should let him know when i'm thinking about getting pregnant. well, it's now within a couple of years of wanting to get pregnant...so i decided to switch over to lamictal. in the last couple of months, i've been ramping up lamictal and decreasing depakote. lamictal and i did not agree so well. so, my doctor has suggested to look at keppra vs topamax -- any thoughts???

Comments

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by densmore on Tue, 2008-09-02 - 11:33

I was diagnosed with partial complex seizures when I was 9 1/2 yrs. old. I am now 24yrs. old and have been seizure free for 6 months. At your son's age I was on Tegretol and it really worked well at controlling my seizures, as I got older and started going through puberty my doctor had to up my doses, but in doing so tegretol still helped control my seizures. When I was 14yrs. old I had been on tegretol for so long and such a high dose that my body became immune to the medication and the seizures returned. At that time Topomax was a fairly new drug and I was placed on that which did help control and stop my seizures. However, at age 17 my seizures returned still being on topomax and now my seizures were no longer partial complex seizures where I was awake, alert, and consious through the whole seizure, now the seizures happened only while I was sleeping, unconsious, alot more rapid movement with my whole body instead of just my left side and now I stopped breathing when I had a seizure, which were now grand-mal seizures. What had happened was just like the tegretol my body became immune to a high dose of topomax. My neurologist put me on Keppra which had just came out and found that by putting me on a dosage of Keppra and Topomax together it has helped control and now stopped my seizures. I have been on Keppra and Topomax together now for the last 4 years and it is still working great. I would say though for you and your son to not give up hope, everybody's brain and body responds differently to certain medications and dosages of medications. The fact that your son is a male and I am a female could have an influence with the certain horomones our bodies produce at certain stages in our life and how our own unique bodies counteract and respond to certain medications and dosages of a medication. Try not to get frustrated if the first medication your son tries doesn't work, it may not be a high enough dose, or it needs to work with another medication, or its just not the right medication all together. Finding a solution to controlling and possibly stopping seizures is alot of trial and error playing with different medications and dosages. But when it comes to living a normal life your son will still have that I guarantee it! I still went to school like everyone else, played the clarinet in marching band, went to college, got involved with everything and anything I wanted to, and now at 24 years old I work for the Association for Retarded Citizens and am getting married in a year. So I'm sure your son has a bright future ahead of him. God Bless and good luck! Lindsay

I was diagnosed with partial complex seizures when I was 9 1/2 yrs. old. I am now 24yrs. old and have been seizure free for 6 months. At your son's age I was on Tegretol and it really worked well at controlling my seizures, as I got older and started going through puberty my doctor had to up my doses, but in doing so tegretol still helped control my seizures. When I was 14yrs. old I had been on tegretol for so long and such a high dose that my body became immune to the medication and the seizures returned. At that time Topomax was a fairly new drug and I was placed on that which did help control and stop my seizures. However, at age 17 my seizures returned still being on topomax and now my seizures were no longer partial complex seizures where I was awake, alert, and consious through the whole seizure, now the seizures happened only while I was sleeping, unconsious, alot more rapid movement with my whole body instead of just my left side and now I stopped breathing when I had a seizure, which were now grand-mal seizures. What had happened was just like the tegretol my body became immune to a high dose of topomax. My neurologist put me on Keppra which had just came out and found that by putting me on a dosage of Keppra and Topomax together it has helped control and now stopped my seizures. I have been on Keppra and Topomax together now for the last 4 years and it is still working great. I would say though for you and your son to not give up hope, everybody's brain and body responds differently to certain medications and dosages of medications. The fact that your son is a male and I am a female could have an influence with the certain horomones our bodies produce at certain stages in our life and how our own unique bodies counteract and respond to certain medications and dosages of a medication. Try not to get frustrated if the first medication your son tries doesn't work, it may not be a high enough dose, or it needs to work with another medication, or its just not the right medication all together. Finding a solution to controlling and possibly stopping seizures is alot of trial and error playing with different medications and dosages. But when it comes to living a normal life your son will still have that I guarantee it! I still went to school like everyone else, played the clarinet in marching band, went to college, got involved with everything and anything I wanted to, and now at 24 years old I work for the Association for Retarded Citizens and am getting married in a year. So I'm sure your son has a bright future ahead of him. God Bless and good luck! Lindsay

I was diagnosed with partial complex seizures when I was 9 1/2 yrs. old. I am now 24yrs. old and have been seizure free for 6 months. At your son's age I was on Tegretol and it really worked well at controlling my seizures, as I got older and started going through puberty my doctor had to up my doses, but in doing so tegretol still helped control my seizures. When I was 14yrs. old I had been on tegretol for so long and such a high dose that my body became immune to the medication and the seizures returned. At that time Topomax was a fairly new drug and I was placed on that which did help control and stop my seizures. However, at age 17 my seizures returned still being on topomax and now my seizures were no longer partial complex seizures where I was awake, alert, and consious through the whole seizure, now the seizures happened only while I was sleeping, unconsious, alot more rapid movement with my whole body instead of just my left side and now I stopped breathing when I had a seizure, which were now grand-mal seizures. What had happened was just like the tegretol my body became immune to a high dose of topomax. My neurologist put me on Keppra which had just came out and found that by putting me on a dosage of Keppra and Topomax together it has helped control and now stopped my seizures. I have been on Keppra and Topomax together now for the last 4 years and it is still working great. I would say though for you and your son to not give up hope, everybody's brain and body responds differently to certain medications and dosages of medications. The fact that your son is a male and I am a female could have an influence with the certain horomones our bodies produce at certain stages in our life and how our own unique bodies counteract and respond to certain medications and dosages of a medication. Try not to get frustrated if the first medication your son tries doesn't work, it may not be a high enough dose, or it needs to work with another medication, or its just not the right medication all together. Finding a solution to controlling and possibly stopping seizures is alot of trial and error playing with different medications and dosages. But when it comes to living a normal life your son will still have that I guarantee it! I still went to school like everyone else, played the clarinet in marching band, went to college, got involved with everything and anything I wanted to, and now at 24 years old I work for the Association for Retarded Citizens and am getting married in a year. So I'm sure your son has a bright future ahead of him. God Bless and good luck! Lindsay

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by JQUINTAL84 on Tue, 2008-06-24 - 14:14

I'M DIAGNOSED JUVINE MYOCLONIC EPILEPSY SINCE AGE 10. NOW I'M MARRIED AND LOOKING IN TO HAVING CHILDREN FAILY SOON, I'M 24 NOW.I WAS JUST WONDERING IF ANYBODY WAS ON THE COMBO OF TOPOMAX AND LAMICTAL. I'M LOOKING AT GETTING ON A DRUG COMBO THAT WILL BE GOOD IN A PREGNANCY. I AM ALREADY ON LAMICTAL I HAVE BEEN FOR 7 YEARS AND NO SIDE EFFECTS BUT I AM ALSO ON VALPROIC ACID AND REALLY AM WANTING TO GET OFF IT, MY DOCTOR MENTIONED TOPOMAX I SAID I WOULD THINK ABOUT IT , JUST WONDERING IF ANYBODY HAD GOOD RESULTS.

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by cory1774 on Wed, 2008-11-19 - 00:01

I am 32 and just found out I am pregnant again today. I am very surprised. My story is complex... I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 4. I generally had grand mal seizures and took phenobarbitol, tegretol, and dilantin in the end until I was 18. In March of 2007, after almost 16 years with no seizures, I had several hours of partial complex seizures that ended in me having a stroke. The next year and a half was horrible . I was on Keppra only for a few weeks which made me feel very aggressive. I was then changed to Lamictal and I complained the entire time to the doctor that the Lamictal hurt my stomach but the doses just kept going up. I ended up having 6 feet of my large intestine removed (colectomy) in May 2008 and I still am not sure if it was seizure related, medication related, stroke related - there was nothing on the pathology. I continued to have the partial complex seizures the entire time on the Lamictal. Then Lamictal for the remainder of the year until in I insisted to be taken off in June 2008. As soon as I started the Topamax they stopped and I felt great. They were concerned about me eating because I had lost so much weight with the colectomy but I did not have a problem with the Topamax. I have not had any periods since all of this so there is the surprise in the pregnancy today. I was actually going in to have a major hernia repaired from the colectomy. Needless to say I am on here looking for information on Topamax and pregnancy. I do not think Lamictal is an option for me. I didn't try the Keppra very long but I did feel very aggressive. Anyone heard of that? My neurologist said it is a side effect. I am worried that the Topamax doesn't have any human studies. Any thoughts?

keppra vs. topamax

Comments

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by densmore on Tue, 2008-09-02 - 11:33

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by JQUINTAL84 on Tue, 2008-06-24 - 14:14

Re: keppra vs. topamax

Submitted by cory1774 on Wed, 2008-11-19 - 00:01

Sign Up for Emails