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keppra vs. topamax
Sun, 12/23/2007 - 15:06Topic: Women With Epilepsy
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
i've had siezures since i was 18 monthes.
Submitted by fufferz on Mon, 2009-07-13 - 17:18
i take 300mg of topamx twice a day. 1000mg of keppra twice a day. they work wonders for me when i remember 2 take them. it took my neurologist forever to find the right pills for me i"ve been on tegretol, lamitol, depicot, etc. i"ve also had spinal taps, EEGs,MRIs, cat scans,etc. and now i'm married and fixing to have a baby and i havnt had a single seizure i"m 3 monthes. i"m scared that i wont be able to have it because my dr. asked if i've ever been in alot of pain because that triggers siezures and i've never been in alot of pain what do i do?
Re: Topamax v. Keppra
Submitted by kareterra on Sun, 2008-02-10 - 11:35
I guess all of this just goes to show ya - everyone is different and nobody can generalize how a drug will affect YOU. I took Topomax for about 2 years and was angry ALL THE TIME. I never slept through the night anymore, people stopped talking to me at work, I gained about 70 pounds - I'm surprised i stayed married; matter of fact, i almost didn't. When I started on keppra from neurontin, i started getting that angry feeling; found myself listening to angry head banger music again. told my dr. about it and he upped the dose!! now on 1000 2x per day and am doing fine. even able to turn off that really annoying VNS. still get irritable every once in a while, but know when to stand up for myself and when to walk away. all in all, much better than seizing. Karen
I was Diagnosed with Epilepsy after a car accident
Submitted by codguysgiirl on Sat, 2008-04-05 - 12:48
I have been on 400mgs Topamax for almost a year with very little change in my siezures the only thing that was good was I was loosing wieght like crazy because it stoped me from drinking soda. Because of the Topamax it makes it taste like Windex or like windex smells anway. My dr has now added Keppra 750mgs for 4 months it has lessened my siezures but has not stopped them. My dr wants more test first. amnisia the Keppera has seemed to shorten the time period of the amnisia if I have the siesure in the morning or before bed. I have not had an adverse reaction to either medication exceopt for when I was on 1000mgs of Keppra I felt like I was in a fog all day long. I was on it for more than a month and my body could not get use to it.