Tired: Seizures vs. Medication vs. Depression

M 18 year old daughter is on Lamictal - 300 mg x2 a day, Topamax - 100 mg x2 a day, and within the past two weeks the drs. added Depakote - ER 250 mg once a day for now and Lexapro 10mg x1 a day.  Her seizures (tonic-clonic) were under control for about a year, then she has had 4 since July, 2 in November.  But since she has started depakote and Lexapro (both about two weeks ago), she is VERY tired.  Had to take her to the ER this morning because she was VERY dizzy and could not walk, speech was slurred.  After some blood tests, the ER dr. told me to stop the Lexapro??  He thought that was cuasing the extreme dizziness.  Has anyone had anything similar or a similar combination of drugs?  thanks. dpace

I have all of these concerns and more. Fatigue: My PC (granted, he is not a neuro)told me that most AEDs are made to suppress the excess electrical activity is the brain. The side effect is that they can suppress the kind of electrical activity we need.This causes the brain activity we DO want to diminish a little. Hence, this causes depression, fatigue, etc. Epilepsy itself causes some of this, too. There isn't much we can do about it. Sleep: Sleep is supposedly an issue for a lot of people- including me. I cannot get to sleep at night and rarely enter REM sleep when I do sleep. Then, during the day, I can hardly function because I am so tired. I have had somewhat decent results from Ambien CR at night and Nuvigil in the AM. Lunesta was a disaster for me. Each person will react differently to each drug. Memory: I looked through another post where people were talking about memory devices. Keep a small note pad in your pocket or purse, along with a pen, to write down anything you want to remember. One member used Post-It notes all around the house (on the coffeemaker, front door, in the bedroom and bathroom, etc to remember. These are all very brilliant ideas. I keep a favorite book on the near end of my book case with computer passwords between the pages, or use the names of my favorite books, movies, etc as passwords. Make sure to write down the most current ones and keep them current. Depression: That's a tough one. Just keep trying various things.I have been told that Cymbalta works well, though I don't know that for a fact. Each person is different, too. I know to stay away from Welbutrin. It's clinically proven to cause sezires, even in 'normal' people. These issues are a fact of life for us and there is not much we can do but work around it and try different things. Each of us is different, though. I hope my comment is useful, only if for one person. Love to all of you.