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Keppra is bad
Mon, 08/03/2009 - 00:19I've been prescribed 1000mg Keppra to be taken twice daily.
Here are my side effects:
crippling morbid depression, uncontrollable anger and irritability - i have never in my life felt so depressed that i've wanted to kill myself until taking this medication. i've always been pretty upbeat, if a little irritable due to some minor everyday life stress like paying the bills. Now, i need to focus all of my daily attention just to suppress the suicidal thoughts and anger, like i'm a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. My neurologist says it should level off after 4 or5 weeks and then i'll feel "normal". Yeah, as if feeling like i want to die constantly is "normal".
loss of appetite and nausea - i have to force myself to eat because i don't get the urge anymore. if i don't eat, i get headaches from low blood sugar. Before taking the medication, i was a serious foodie, to the point of seriously considering being a chinese restaurant critic. Now, i can't even look at a pb&j sandwich without feeling sick to my stomach. My neurologist says i'm 75 pounds overweight anyway so its good for me to lose some weight. Feh. I'd rather have seizures than lose my love of food.
extreme sleepiness - i'm napping 5-6 hours in the afternoon, as well as sleeping my normal 7-8 hours at night. Tell me how 14 hours of sleep a day can possibly be good for you? My neurologist says not to talk to him about it until i have a sleep study done for sleep apnea. Bogus. I've never needed more than 6-7 hours sleep a night ever in my life until taking this blasted medication.
Those are the 3 major ones. I found that taking a multivitamin with b-supplements helped for about 2 days, then kind of just stopped working.
Anyone else wanna post their Keppra side effects? Maybe after a while, someone will listen.
Comments
Re: Keppra is bad
Submitted by groundshaker on Mon, 2009-11-16 - 00:20
I see there are some people on here that Keppra is working for, and I am glad that this medicine is working for some. I am glad however, that this thread was posted, because I am going through the exact same thing, anger issues, excess sleeping, depression etc. I was beginning to think I was crazy, I now realize that this may be the medicine for me. although I had high hopes for this drug, the side effects are horrible.
Thank you again for posting this.
I see there are some people on here that Keppra is working for, and I am glad that this medicine is working for some. I am glad however, that this thread was posted, because I am going through the exact same thing, anger issues, excess sleeping, depression etc. I was beginning to think I was crazy, I now realize that this may be the medicine for me. although I had high hopes for this drug, the side effects are horrible.
Thank you again for posting this.
Re: Keppra is bad
Submitted by winged on Thu, 2010-02-18 - 19:42
1. You need to get a new neuro. This one ignores your problems and makes you feel crappy.
2. Is it possible for Keppra to actually CAUSE seizures? I've had myeclonic epilepsy for most of my life, but I was prescribed Keppra after I switched to an adult neuro. Immediately I became a CRAZYPANTS who flew off the handle at the smallest thing. This did level off over a few months, but that following semester I also had the worst depression I'd experienced in years and failed nearly all my classes. However, I have a history of depression so I don't know if that's related.
Here's the kicker: my first EVER TC/grand mal occurred about two months after being started on Keppra. I had another one about two months later. After one of these (can't remember which) my Keppra dose was raised to 1500mg. Since then I've been easily angered, had way more suicidal ideation than usual (again, keep in mind I have a history of depression - though I have never had this much in the way of thoughts of suicide) and regularly have TCs around my period.
Now, it's totally possible that I was just destined to start having grand mals at age 22. But that's pretty random. My seizures are catamenial, they've always been worse during periods and around times of transitioning hormonal activity, began worsening around puberty, etc. So: 22??
Likewise, my whole maternal line (my mom and her sister both had seizures) have these same kind of seizures and at the same time I was prescribed Keppra, the SAME DOCTOR I WENT TO had figured out that it did nothing for my mother and made her migraines and potentially seizures worse. WTF?
Unfortunately, this doc is in another state - she's supposed to be a holdover until I can find a new neurologist where I live now, which is going to be tricky since I'm uninsured. Which means I can't discuss this with anyone and basically am just getting my meds blindly refilled. ARGH.
1. You need to get a new neuro. This one ignores your problems and makes you feel crappy.
2. Is it possible for Keppra to actually CAUSE seizures? I've had myeclonic epilepsy for most of my life, but I was prescribed Keppra after I switched to an adult neuro. Immediately I became a CRAZYPANTS who flew off the handle at the smallest thing. This did level off over a few months, but that following semester I also had the worst depression I'd experienced in years and failed nearly all my classes. However, I have a history of depression so I don't know if that's related.
Here's the kicker: my first EVER TC/grand mal occurred about two months after being started on Keppra. I had another one about two months later. After one of these (can't remember which) my Keppra dose was raised to 1500mg. Since then I've been easily angered, had way more suicidal ideation than usual (again, keep in mind I have a history of depression - though I have never had this much in the way of thoughts of suicide) and regularly have TCs around my period.
Now, it's totally possible that I was just destined to start having grand mals at age 22. But that's pretty random. My seizures are catamenial, they've always been worse during periods and around times of transitioning hormonal activity, began worsening around puberty, etc. So: 22??
Likewise, my whole maternal line (my mom and her sister both had seizures) have these same kind of seizures and at the same time I was prescribed Keppra, the SAME DOCTOR I WENT TO had figured out that it did nothing for my mother and made her migraines and potentially seizures worse. WTF?
Unfortunately, this doc is in another state - she's supposed to be a holdover until I can find a new neurologist where I live now, which is going to be tricky since I'm uninsured. Which means I can't discuss this with anyone and basically am just getting my meds blindly refilled. ARGH.
Re: Keppra is bad
Submitted by bergje on Sun, 2009-11-15 - 19:45
i'm a 22 year old male, I had just turned 21 when I was on Keppra. I had uncontrollable rage, i was incredibly irritable, depression (worse than i already had), no appetite, i was tired all the time but couldn't sleep, and the worst was no mouth filter, if I had a thought in my head it came out, which to say the least was not helpful.
hope this helps.
i'm a 22 year old male, I had just turned 21 when I was on Keppra. I had uncontrollable rage, i was incredibly irritable, depression (worse than i already had), no appetite, i was tired all the time but couldn't sleep, and the worst was no mouth filter, if I had a thought in my head it came out, which to say the least was not helpful.
hope this helps.