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keppra withdrawal

Sun, 04/30/2006 - 08:48
Hi I am in the process of withdrawing keppra and nothing to introduce. I am just curious if there is anyone on this site who has already done been through it and what sort of side effects did they have during the process? All advice welcomed and thanks in advance. Teri

Comments

Re: keppra withdrawal

Submitted by stamp on Sun, 2006-04-30 - 15:20
How much Keppra were you on? were you taking any thing else besides the keppra? How long have you been on it? What did you take before the keppra? I am startting to cut back on the keppra?

Re: Re: keppra withdrawal

Submitted by pinkangel_82 on Mon, 2006-05-08 - 16:50
Hi Thanks for your reply. I haven't answered your question previously because this is my first time on here again since putting this post in the forums. So I apologise for the delay. I was on 3000 mg keppra along with 1000 mg Tegretol, 10 mg Clobazam or 20 mg for monthly period. I would say I have been on keppra now for nearly 3 years and previously to keppra I was on topiramate which was around 250 mg. At present I have reduced keppra down to 1500 mg a day along with 150 mg of topiramate. I have now reached my maximum dose of topiramate and will only keep on reducing the other 1500 mg of keppra. My GP says I have reached a pleatau now and must stay on clobazam full-time until he says to stop along with my other AED's. I have noticed that I am alot calmer on 1500 mg of keppra than I was on 3000 mg of keppra, but I will just be so glad when I finish withdrawing it as I think it is one of the worst AED's for me!! Over the past 3-4 weeks it was a nightmare trying to change over the drugs I was so stressed out, depressed, crying, hardly eating and just looking at food would turn my stomach - mind you it didn't help for my mum to nag me every 30 minutes to eat something. I know she meant well!! but I also had terrible moods, shouting, my nerves in my stomach were playing up which hasn't happened for many years and also it played havoc with my memory. So I thought it would only be best if I was on my own and couldn't argue with anyone. I was determined to preservere. This past 12 days I reached my maximum dose of topiramate everything seems to have settled down. My GP agreed with me that all these symptoms I experienced were due to the two different AED's i.e withdrawing keppra and introducing topiramate clashing against one another and re-settling the brain. I will be withdrawing my first 250 mg keppra in 2 days time without introducing anything so I will just have to wait and see how it goes. This is the bit I am dreading. The good point so far is that I have had no Complex Partial Seizures since the start of topiramate, but I am not sure what a Simple partial seizure is? What about if your just deep in thought about a few things for a while? I have lost weight on topiramate whereas keppra made me put it on and I no longer get the terrible headaches that keppra used to give me. I hope everything goes well with you withdrawing keppra. It is a long process and must be done slowly. I am reducing 250 mg keppra every 2 weeks if that helps you. You don't say which AED your changing too? Let me know how you get on and take care. Teri

Re: keppra withdrawal

Submitted by Joan K on Sun, 2006-04-30 - 17:50
I tried to withdraw too fast and ended up with a TC. I was on 1000 a day and was cutting back 1/2 a pill per week as they added Klonopin. I was very emotional on Keppra so I wanted to stop.Now I seem to be doing better withdrawing at the same rate but increasing the Klonopin a little faster. No seizes since and Im down to 1 1/2 pills a day of Keppra in the morning. I guess it depends on if you are replacing meds or eliminating them.

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