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Keppra side effects
Sun, 11/07/2010 - 22:28My 13 year old duaghter was diagnosed with Benign epilepsy in 2008 and not put on medication. After getting a second opinion a year later she was diagnosed with complex-partial and built up to 3,250mg of Keppra every day. She went through a lot of bad moodswings and anger for about a month and then it seemed to even out but after being on it for almost a year I have noticed that her side affects have increased and she is a very different person now with being much more withdrawn, tired, gained weight, depressed, moody, becoming angry in an instant and remaining angry for hours. She used to be very happy, always apologizing quickly and had more energy. She has also forgotten important events from the last 2-3 years which her Dr. says is from the seizures she had but I think it is a medication side effect. She has also been having back aches almost every day. Does anyone else have that who is on Keppra? She never had more than 4 seizures a month and 95% were at night during her sleep. They were all tonic-clonic seizures.
I would really appreciate some input - PLEASE!!
Comments
Re: Keppra side effects
Submitted by palmersmith on Mon, 2010-11-08 - 10:56
Re: Keppra side effects
Submitted by Nevshi on Mon, 2010-11-08 - 10:59
This is exactly what happened to me. I was on the medicine for about two years and in all that time I kept blowing up at small things. My fiancee would drop something and I would just go off. I would get stuck in traffic and rant and rave. I really couldn't control what was happening and I may have come close to losing my fiancee.
After my last seizure, my doctor increased my dosage and I started seeing things and believed strange things like my finacee was going to attack me. My new doctor too me off the Keppra and put me on Lamotrigine. My anger has gone away, I no longer have days where I feel dizy or tired, and I can think clearer. I did have to change doctors and find one that would listen to me that what I was experiencing was not normal for me.
This is exactly what happened to me. I was on the medicine for about two years and in all that time I kept blowing up at small things. My fiancee would drop something and I would just go off. I would get stuck in traffic and rant and rave. I really couldn't control what was happening and I may have come close to losing my fiancee.
After my last seizure, my doctor increased my dosage and I started seeing things and believed strange things like my finacee was going to attack me. My new doctor too me off the Keppra and put me on Lamotrigine. My anger has gone away, I no longer have days where I feel dizy or tired, and I can think clearer. I did have to change doctors and find one that would listen to me that what I was experiencing was not normal for me.
Re: Keppra side effects
Submitted by hauteracer on Mon, 2010-11-08 - 06:53
Hi Laurie!
Sorry your baby has to go through this, but as a parent of a teenager myself, please please call the doctor any and everytime you have a question about her side effects. I'm 36 years old, and if it wasn't for my mom being able to notice a downward trend with my seizure activity, I don't know where my daughter and I would be right now! I have partial complex, and I can't tell when they're coming or going, but when my mom says "Are you ok?" too many times in one day, I know it's bad.
I have the exact same symptoms as your daughter, but Keppra is new for me, only a month or so, but I can tell you form experience that sometimes the meds that used to work, stop working. I used to take just topomax, then just neurontin, then just dilantin and they all worked by themselves for a while. Then we'd add one and try that, then change one then add another and on and on it goes. But if you've noticed a change call the doctor right away. My personal experience is once it starts to go downhill, your body needs a change.
The best of luck to you both. Let us know how it goes! And just remember too, she's a teenager, that by itself is a scary transition for both of you!
Hi Laurie!
Sorry your baby has to go through this, but as a parent of a teenager myself, please please call the doctor any and everytime you have a question about her side effects. I'm 36 years old, and if it wasn't for my mom being able to notice a downward trend with my seizure activity, I don't know where my daughter and I would be right now! I have partial complex, and I can't tell when they're coming or going, but when my mom says "Are you ok?" too many times in one day, I know it's bad.
I have the exact same symptoms as your daughter, but Keppra is new for me, only a month or so, but I can tell you form experience that sometimes the meds that used to work, stop working. I used to take just topomax, then just neurontin, then just dilantin and they all worked by themselves for a while. Then we'd add one and try that, then change one then add another and on and on it goes. But if you've noticed a change call the doctor right away. My personal experience is once it starts to go downhill, your body needs a change.
The best of luck to you both. Let us know how it goes! And just remember too, she's a teenager, that by itself is a scary transition for both of you!