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Keppra and depression

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 15:08

This topic may already be addressed on this site. If it is, I apologize.  I'm new to epilepsy.com, and have a quick question regarding keppra and antidepressants.

I'm a 23 year old female and have been medicated for epilepsy for about 5 years.  I've been taking keppra for about 2 1/2 years and it has worked wonders for me.  I suffered from nocturnal grand mal seizures and have only had 2 since I began taking keppra.  Since taking keppra I have felt emotionally stunted. Life is bland, and I have no motivation to do or accomplish much of anything.  The longer I'm on the drug, the more I realize that I'm truly missing out on being my "old" self.  I don't want to stop taking keppra because it really has controlled my seizures.  I talked to my neuro about the depression and she offered to refer me to someone for depression/medication/etc. I'm wondering if anyone who takes keppra is also on an antidepressant?  Which one? Has it helped? Etc.  Thanks so much. 

-jenny

Comments

Re: Keppra and depression

Submitted by ahardway on Fri, 2009-11-20 - 21:20

Hi. My name is Anna and I am a 28 yearold female that was diagnosed with E right after I turned 24 in August 2005. I am currently on Keppra which has stopped my hormonal Petit mal seizures before I had sugery to remove the part of my brain where my seizures were comming from. Like you I am also taking an ati depressant as well. I am taking 60mg of Cymbalta whichhas also helped me sleep. When i  started having my seizures I became veryupset because my first one was an extremely violent grand mal 3 semesters before i recived my Bacholer's degree. I started taking the Cymbalta because I was really upset about my seizures and I was constantly worried about jobs and how i had to get this done and this done, and so on, since I am not able to drive just yet.  Like you i did talk to my nero. about that and he told me that it is very common with those who have E. esp. those like us who have just recently got diagnosed with no known cause. he referred me to a psychiatrist to talk to about my depression who prescribed my Cymbalta. It has helped me out a lot to the point where I feel like I do need to be weaned off. I am going to have my regular doctor try do reduce my Cymbalta. If I were you I would take it easy and have your docs. help you out as much as you can. If you feel the need to you can have a professional to help you with your deression. I just wanted to let you know not to let it upset you because this type of thing is common and there is plenty of us on this webiste that will help you out if needed. In fact, I have been on here for a year now and it has helped me out a lot. You should check out Epi-chat on here and we will all try to help you out. Hope things get better for you soon. God bless.

Hi. My name is Anna and I am a 28 yearold female that was diagnosed with E right after I turned 24 in August 2005. I am currently on Keppra which has stopped my hormonal Petit mal seizures before I had sugery to remove the part of my brain where my seizures were comming from. Like you I am also taking an ati depressant as well. I am taking 60mg of Cymbalta whichhas also helped me sleep. When i  started having my seizures I became veryupset because my first one was an extremely violent grand mal 3 semesters before i recived my Bacholer's degree. I started taking the Cymbalta because I was really upset about my seizures and I was constantly worried about jobs and how i had to get this done and this done, and so on, since I am not able to drive just yet.  Like you i did talk to my nero. about that and he told me that it is very common with those who have E. esp. those like us who have just recently got diagnosed with no known cause. he referred me to a psychiatrist to talk to about my depression who prescribed my Cymbalta. It has helped me out a lot to the point where I feel like I do need to be weaned off. I am going to have my regular doctor try do reduce my Cymbalta. If I were you I would take it easy and have your docs. help you out as much as you can. If you feel the need to you can have a professional to help you with your deression. I just wanted to let you know not to let it upset you because this type of thing is common and there is plenty of us on this webiste that will help you out if needed. In fact, I have been on here for a year now and it has helped me out a lot. You should check out Epi-chat on here and we will all try to help you out. Hope things get better for you soon. God bless.

Re: Keppra and depression

Submitted by chrissyjme on Fri, 2009-11-20 - 23:24

Anna,

I am also a 29 year old female who was diagnosed with JME (Juvenile Myocholonic Epilepsy) and i too found myself battling depression and anxiety as a side effect of Keppra.  My doctor originally had me on Lexapro at 20 MG a day and it worked for awhile but then stopped working.  I have recently switched over to Zoloft.  I am not suicidal, but definitely do not feel like myself and i would really like to be.  Hopefully now with Keppra being a generic drug......wooooohoooooo......it will change the way we can treat ourselves.

Anna,

I am also a 29 year old female who was diagnosed with JME (Juvenile Myocholonic Epilepsy) and i too found myself battling depression and anxiety as a side effect of Keppra.  My doctor originally had me on Lexapro at 20 MG a day and it worked for awhile but then stopped working.  I have recently switched over to Zoloft.  I am not suicidal, but definitely do not feel like myself and i would really like to be.  Hopefully now with Keppra being a generic drug......wooooohoooooo......it will change the way we can treat ourselves.

Re: Keppra and depression

Submitted by Kourt18 on Fri, 2011-06-24 - 21:50
I am a 27 year old female also diagnosed with JME since age 16. I took Depakote for 10 years, after I got married my doctor suggested we look at other med options since Depakote isn't recommended during pregnancy. (I'm not planning on getting pregnant anytime soon...) I changed to Keppra a year ago. Since then also have been struggling with depression. I lost 10 pounds pretty quickly due to having zero appetite, didn't have energy to see friends/family, etc. I've tried several different anti depressants without a lot of luck. Right now I take Wellbutrin; its okay, but I'm not crazy about taking more meds than needed either. I'm somewhat afraid of stopping Wellbutrin though because I had many thoughts/actions that scared me and is not my "normal self". I wondered if anyone experienced anything similar too, and it sounds like from reading this that I'm not alone. I just wish I could find a medication that's somewhat safe, without a ton of side effects!! It would be nice to feel like myself again.

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