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Switch to Keppra?

Wed, 11/17/2004 - 18:04

My husband has had epilepsy for over 19 years.  He does not have a "defined" epilepy.  Even his epilepsy specialist can only define it as "most likely primary".  So he has always been a "blanket" anti-convulsants - that cover primary and secondary (most recently Depakote).  He had been regulated for the last 5 years on 500 mg of Depakote daily.  He had a grand mal seizure recently, followed by another one 59 days later.  Both times they increased his Depakote to the point where the side effects make it very difficult.  The hair loss and weight gain are tolerable - the short term memory loss is not.

We went to see his epilepsy specialist (the one who got him straightened out over 5 years ago) and he feels that he is as regulated as he can be on the Depakote.  He made the comment that drugs have gotten better since 1978 when they introduced Depakote.  I asked what he would recommend and he said Keppra.  My husband, at first vehemently apposed switching meds - it is always a nightmare - is now contemplating it.

For those on Keppra or who have switched to it, what are your experiences - bad or good?

Comments

RE: Switch to Keppra?

Submitted by gsness on Tue, 2004-11-16 - 14:00
My experience with Keppra has been pretty good. I have had LTL and RTL epilepsy for about 8 years (since I was 42). For a number of years of taking 1,600 mg of Tegretol per day and 1 mg of Clonazapam at night my daytime seizures were pretty well controlled – down to one every 1 – 1.5 months or so. But my night seizures weren't well handled, and I still had them at least once or twice a week. My neuro added on Keppra each night, and that really reduced the frequency of my nighttime seizures. The only problem I had with Keppra was my tolerance to the dose. I started by taking 1,500 mg per night, and that was a nightmare. It caused hallucination-like dreams of a frightening nature. We reduced the dose to 1,000 mg per night and I tolerate that pretty well, with some decrease in my night seizures.I also understand that Keppra is usually prescribed as a secondary drug, in addition to a primary AED. There are about three or four of these secondary drugs on the market, I believe.Blessings and good luck!~GSN~

RE: Switch to Keppra?

Submitted by gsness on Tue, 2004-11-16 - 14:00
My experience with Keppra has been pretty good. I have had LTL and RTL epilepsy for about 8 years (since I was 42). For a number of years of taking 1,600 mg of Tegretol per day and 1 mg of Clonazapam at night my daytime seizures were pretty well controlled – down to one every 1 – 1.5 months or so. But my night seizures weren't well handled, and I still had them at least once or twice a week. My neuro added on Keppra each night, and that really reduced the frequency of my nighttime seizures. The only problem I had with Keppra was my tolerance to the dose. I started by taking 1,500 mg per night, and that was a nightmare. It caused hallucination-like dreams of a frightening nature. We reduced the dose to 1,000 mg per night and I tolerate that pretty well, with some decrease in my night seizures.I also understand that Keppra is usually prescribed as a secondary drug, in addition to a primary AED. There are about three or four of these secondary drugs on the market, I believe.Blessings and good luck!~GSN~

RE: Switch to Keppra?

Submitted by gsness on Tue, 2004-11-16 - 14:09
Sorry about the multiple replies! :-)~GSN~

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