kepra

Re: kepra

Submitted by sicily726 on Thu, 2009-07-30 - 00:45

Keppra has caused me severe, debilitating depression.  Keppra XR causes me depression AND insomnia.  Does pretty good controlling seizures.  But, what good is pretty good seizure control if the drug creates debilitating depression and insomnia?

I'm back.....

Submitted by vickiec51 on Sun, 2008-07-13 - 03:17

gratefulmouse----wow ....I have a story to tell you guys.......here goes....I never had epilepsy or seizure disorder...I have commented about that in earlier posts....I had my first seizure at 47 yrs old...its not old age onset...haha...I have discovered by it happening 3 times what it was....I was put on an antidepressant desipramine....a substitute for an estrogen.....sound crazy....it is crazy....its called dr not knowing what to do and deciding ....aw she is a woman..you know..hypochondriac...or she is depressed because she had a hysterectomy....I had one at 37yrs old....I was trying to get pregnant...I wanted a little girl so bad....mind you I had 5 kids..one girl my first and then 4 boys....I wanted to finish off with a girl...but it wasnt to be....and that is life....but..I was in no way depressed abt that...I was to ill after the surgery for that...I was just trying to survive....but I gave in and went to see a shrink civilian...as I was seeing military drs my husband being airforce....and took the antidepressant....."desipramine".....it helped me sleep and eat...and believe me after 6 mos of not doing either I was fit to be tied esp after having a life altering surgery....well, it helped both but it didnt help the sudden menopausal moods....now aint that a rip...an antidepressant not helping the moods...anyway I wised up and went to a female speicialist and she did a simple blood test and found that I was allergic to the estrogen they put me on...you know ...PREMARIN.....its made from pregnant mare urine..piss whatever...and I was allergic to equine....horses.....and it was killing me...causing my body to reject my own human estrogen....no wonder I was a mess...but I was already on the antidepressant which helped with eating and sleeping but....didnt help with hot hot hot upper body..I stayed hot all the time...and had bad depression and other body things.....well, the female specialist tried me on the estrogen patch and I was allergic to the adhesive....I guess by now you can tell Im a sensitive person...I wish I werent....and then the female speicalist put me on estrace..a simple estrodiol ....and....within 3 days....I was once again a human being...well, with that I was told to stay on this little cocktail....desipramine and estrodiol....for the rest of my life......well, after 10 yrs....I said....why stay on a stupid antidepressant...I dont need that..before I had the hysterectomy I had two episodes of major depression andpanic disorder..and did it without meds at all...so I was on 200mgs of desipramine the antidepressant and went ever so slowly down to 100mgs....and was on that for awhile then one day at work .....bang......on the floor with a grand mal.....I was taken to the hospital and shot up with dilantin...and before I knew it they had taken me off the desipramine the antidepressant....they didnt taper me off they jerked me off 100mgs ....just like that....well, the dilantin protected me I suppose from more seizzures esp after what they had done in emergency...you never jerk anyone off a med like desipramine ever....you taper off....well, I didnt know any better...I was 47 yrs old then....I went home and 7 days later.....I broke out in a rash and called the hospital...I  had fever and they said oh no take no more dilantin and we will call in nueronton for you...another seizure drug....well, I started on that and had stomach problems...I blamed it on the nerontin but really it might have been from the hospital jerking me off that last 100mgs of desirpamine...I was told later it was ..so  I dont really know if the nerontin made my stomach act up orn not but I went into the hospital and complained about it and they said to me

I dont know what we are going to do with you...and they sent me home with nothing at all. I went home and went to bed. I was afraid of having a seizure as I was on no meds ...then I was put on some weird newer type antidepressant ....why I dont know..but it made me sicker...so I got off it and by then my stmach was fit to be tied....so I said forget this and got back on desipramine...the antidepressnt originally.....then went to a shrink who guided me back on the 200mgs I was on to begin with....and had no seizures for another 10 yrs.....so when I was sent home after that first seizure with nothing....I had no seizure....and when I got back on the antidepressant....I still had  no seizures.....well, I stayed that way for another 10 yrs and then one fine day I was llistening to all the hubub of natural health remedies and wanted to do a body cleanse and got off the antidepressant again..or was half way off....again and then .....bang.....on the floor in my bathroom ...I woke up in the morning and my head was flicking side to side....scared me I coudlnt control the head movement...and then I laid my head back down on the bed and tried to call to my husband who was home but he couldnt hear me....I had to pee first thing in the morning..but waited and coudlnt wait any longer and slid off my bed and got into the bathroom and that is all I remember....my  husband said he heard this loud whoop from me...I must have yelled or something and he ran upstairs and found me on the floor face down near the toilet and I had peed all over myself...

he cleaned me up and called 911.....they came and got me ...and I was in the hospital and they shot me up with keppra.....because I was still on 135mgs of desipramine....I only took 1000mgs of keppra....500mgs in the nmorning and the same in the evening ...i took this for over a  year...then decided to get off the antidepressant because I was on a seizure durg and after all it might be because I was getting off....you know like xanax...if you get off to fast of it then you have a seizure....I never got off to fast of any drug...but I did get off the antidepressant and then got off the estrodiol I was on and then slowly got off the keppra.....

well, then about 4 weeks or so I had another ....bang....on the floor...this time I was home alone...I woke on the floor face down with stuff dried around my mouth and my mid stomach area hurting and my back in the same area ...mid back...I felt like someone stabbed me...I realized what happened and crawled to the bathroom...and then got back into bed and called my husband....he came home and took me to emergency and .....they put me back on keppra....

I was fine for the first 1000mgs....moody and dizzy and weak....but it was subsiding...then I saw a nuerologist and he said  it was time to take more...even though I wasnt having any more seizures...he made me go up and I went up slowly.....but as I went up I was s uppose to get up to 2000mgs ...I would get near that amount and the m oods got so bad ..it was bad..and then other symptoms much worse ...I slowly over came them ...but one of the side affects never got better....I was weak..and the weakness got so bad I was not able to move ...I also coudnt eat and noted that my intestines began to coil up and my stomach got really tight....so I began to not eat and didnt even care to eat and lost 25lbs within the first month...I was literally wasting away....I complained on the phone alot as I coudnt get out of the house...I was bed ridden by then for 3 weeks.....my husband finally brought me in and had to almost carry me in I was so weak and lost so much weight and I found out later my muscles had wasted and it was taking it from my bones....

so the dr said ok we can see you cant take keppra....so he put me on lamictal.....that freaked me out as its for people who are bypolar....but I agreed and within a short period of time....I coudlnt sleep...I also couldnt eat even worse....I began to become a n one person...I caught myself sitting up in bed during the day staring at the walls and the venetian blinds....as I continued to waste away and not sleep I became desperate for sleep.....I was exhausted and would almost fall asleep and my body would jump up....one night I was ready to jump off the roof and Im not that kind of person...so I prayed hard and my mind thought of some old xanax I had...because all of the seizure drugs cause anxiety...which can cause you not to sleep and there is a difference between anxiety that you feel  naturally then anxiety caused by meds.....anyway i took it and it did help some.....but wore off...then I got off of it...as i only took it at night and a small amount..

I went in to the dr as I wanst feeling good because of not sleeping and one more side affect..this tightness around myl rib cage and burning under that area which could have been one of th glands in that area..I told the dr and he said ok we will try trilectal...or however its spelled...he took me off lamictal right away...not tapering off...when he took me off keppra I had to taper off keppra while getting on lamictal...so I had withdrawal from keppra while having side affects of getting on lamictal...what a nightmare..

anyway, so I was put on the trileptal.....I was to take it in the morning two pills and then in the eveing two pills....I did that and started with one pill first though....in the morning and the evening and I still coudnt sleep...then when I started the two pills morning and niight I began to sleep and was gratefull for that ...but then I noted that the affects of the trilectal only lasted 6 hrs...then my ribs began to hurt and burn...so I took more two more and I was ok then 6 hrs later again the same thing...pain and burning in the rib cage area...so I wound up taking the dose 4 times a day....I called my dr and left messages telling them what was happening and I began to waste away and get weaker and no one called back...I finally had to call smoeone else about it and I was finally called back...telling me how dangerouss it was for me to overdose....I had no idea I was over dosing so I told th en if I didnt take the trileptal I get so ill and they started me on xanax..in the middle...so .25 four times a day....and I began to correct my dosage but....I felt my kidneys hurting so bad for the over dosing and told them I wasnt going to take anything that can mess a person up that much and have to take xanax for the side affects that was crazy...well, they were searching for what else to put me on...and I told them

I prayed and prayed and was prompted to get back on keppra but on a smaller dose....like the one I took when I had my second seizure...1000mgs for the entire day...500 morning and then at night....and I wasz going to get back on my antidepressant desipramine .....it seems that I took it for so long that it has become part of my dna....I was going to get on the keppra because I was already taking seizure drugs and didnt want to have a seizure getting off them quickly...so I got on the keppra as it usually works well with other medication...I had taken those two together before...so he agreed....and got me back on keppra ....then I had to see a shrink to get me back on desipramine as my nuero woudnt prescribe desipramine for me as he said he doesnt do that...

so I had to convince my shrink to do it and he did...mind you he had tried me on zolopft and it caused me to feel depressed in the morning and shake the rest of the day.....when this all started I had NO depression or anxiety....but 4 months of pure hell ....bed ridden for 4 months.....after awhile I began to get my energy back ....as of now Im on keppra 500mgs morning and at night and on 200mgs of desipramine.....Im suppose to be on 2000mgs of keppra but .....I didnt want to go through what I originally went through in the begining....

I was worried about myself as I had lost so much weight my skin was falling between my bones and I was coiled up like an old woman and could hardly move without help and had no apetite at all...none....I have since gained back some weight and gotten my energy back...I went in to see a reg dr and had a blood panel testing done

 I was told.....that while all this was going on....my cholesterol the bad one went to 200 all by itself as I have said I coudnt hardly eat anything...and my  C-reactive protein, quantative....went up to 5.9....that means I had problems with inflamation .....like heart problems and arteriosclerosis....and ...I had very very low vitamin D3 in my body..you need that to absorb calcium in the bones and the rest of the body....they did  a bone density test and it was so bad .....I didnt have enough sun in my body from being bed ridden and who knows the medicine itself could have been robbing my body of bone....I was near death....I had to take matters into my own hands and Gods advice and guidance...

well, my husband quit his job to stay home and care for me and as a result we are moving to a differnet city to care ofr his mother who also was wasting away because she is on coumadin for thick blood...something I was told also..my blood was thick...all this happened as a result of taking all those meds for seizures...and Im loosing my huar...i took keppra before and it did cause my hair loss and when I got off it grew back in and now Im on it again and my hair obviously came out and everyone noticed it....

well, Im moving and have to see a different neuro when I get there and since my husband quit his job he lost his insurance for health ...we are retired airforce so we now rely on tricare and had to change drs again becasue of that so I see the new neuro this coming week...while we are here.....I will have to tell him everyting poor guy..

I want to let you all know something.......the nuerologist I saw ....when i had my third seizure..I went in to see him and started to tell him my history and he said ...no stories just tell me  your symptoms...I asked my husband in for my apointment to support me when I was to tell the dr my history...and instead of my husband supporting me ..he supported the dr ...and agreed the dr dont want to hear a lot of stories..so they shut me up and made me take all the meds and increasing the keppra......I want you to know I told my friends and they said they couldnt believe that a decent dr wouldnt want to hear a persons medical history....which I find to be true......I suffered for 4-5 months nearly dying because of listening to a dr who wou ldnt listen to me....IF HE HAD LISTENED TO WHAT i HAD TO SAY...HE WOULD HAVE HEARD THAT GETTING OFF MY ANTIDEPRESSANT CAUSED MY SEIZURES AND COULD HAVE MAYBE RESEARCHED IT MORE THOROUGHLY....LIKE MAYBE IF I STAYED OFF IT , I MIGHT NOT HAVE ANY MORE SEIZURES ...ITS MIGHT BE A TEMPORARY THING....OR JUST GET ME BACK ON IT LIKE FROM THE FIRST SEIZURE....I WAS SENT HOME WIHT  NO SEIZURE MEDS AT ALL AND I HAD NO MORE SEIZURES AND GOT BACK ON THE ANTIDEPRESSANT AND HAD NO MORE SEIZURE FOR 10 YRS UNTIL i DECIDED TO GET OFF AGAIN......WHAT A JERK....IF THIS NEW DR DOESNT LISTEN TO ME ..HE IS OUTTA HERE...WE PAY FOR OUR TREATMENT....WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WHAT WE WANT ALSO....I HAVE SMARTED UP....GOD BLESS YOU ALL.....MAY GOT WATCH OVER YOU AND HELP AND GUIDE YOU....

I 

Re: kepra

Submitted by soylentgrn2000 on Thu, 2008-02-28 - 07:10

I've been on Keppra for about 7 years and have had few problems. I can't seem to sleep very well along with the extreme mood swings though. So far it is the only medication that I have found that seems to actually work. I have taken Tegratol, Dilantin, Depakote, and none of them either worked at all or the side affects were so extreme that I had to stop taking them. As long as I keep my diet in check(I also have Type II diabetes), get enough rest, keep my stress levels reasonable, and take my Keppra I am usually ok.