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keppra vs. topamax
Sun, 12/23/2007 - 15:06Topic: Women With Epilepsy
i'm a 28 year old woman diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy when i was 16 - and have been on depakote since. my doctor has, of course, always told me that i should let him know when i'm thinking about getting pregnant. well, it's now within a couple of years of wanting to get pregnant...so i decided to switch over to lamictal. in the last couple of months, i've been ramping up lamictal and decreasing depakote. lamictal and i did not agree so well. so, my doctor has suggested to look at keppra vs topamax -- any thoughts???
Comments
re:keppra vs. topamax
Submitted by sbrobin on Thu, 2008-01-24 - 20:35
I love Keppra! I've never been on topamax so I can't comment on that. Lamictal and I also did not agree and it didn't control my JME. I am 30 and pregnant with my 2nd child and my first boy is healthy thus far. I know keppra is usually used in additon to other meds, but I take it alone (2000mg daily) and it works great. My neuro also believes that monotherapy is best during pregnancy. Of course after reading many different posts, every drug seems to work differently in every person... Hope this helps.
Re: re:keppra vs. topamax
Submitted by hendrckr on Mon, 2008-01-28 - 15:51
my situation is almost exactly like deborah's. i was diagnosed with jme when i was 15 and am taking depakote and lamictal. i took only depakote for many years then my doctor told me that taking depakote if i wanted to start a family was not a good idea. so then i was put on just lamictal which didn't do a thing for me and i ended up having 10 seizures in 6 months (i hadn't even had 10 total until then). and i can't be on depakote if i'm taking birth control because of the interactions between the two. now my doctor wants me to try keppra so i can actually be on birth control and if i do get pregnant there aren't as many risks as there are with depakote. my fiance and i know we want to have children and he's willing to wait until we get all of this figured out but i am really just looking for any thoughts on what i can expect if i do get pregnant and if keppra causes any extra complications.
Re: Topamax v. Keppra
Submitted by matboy on Sun, 2008-03-09 - 23:42
Hey! i've been on topamax and it didn't work with me. I've been on lamictal ever since i was diagonsed in 2004. Lamictal has worked for me, but they decided to put me on Keppra also. Together they have both helped me so much. I have a question though. Does anyone know how long you have to wait untill you can get your california drivers license? i know i have to be seizour free for a crtain time, but i don't know for how long. can anyone help?! oh, and i've had seizours for about 4 years. from 12-16. i had my first on super bowl sunday, go figure.