Levetricatem (Keppra) side effects?

I can help answer some of your questions with my personal experience. I've been on Keppra since it come out back in 1999-2000 and have had a variation of very mild effects while on it, when compared to other medications like Topamax, Neurontin, or Lamictal. When I was initially started on it, I would be drowsy at times, but it wasn't an every-day thing. I was initially on 250 mg twice daily, but quickly had it adjusted after I turned 18. I was boosted to 1,000 mg twice daily at that age, then was boosted up to 2,500 mg twice daily after having seizures induced on me to find the origin of my epilepsy. My metabolism was so high that I had to be put on the maximum dosage. The only effect I've had from the high dosage is actually being unable to sleep at times since the medication actually gets me very energetic now. I just have to take melatonin (an over-the-counter natural sleep remedy) or very low dose of ativan occasionally to sleep since keppra gets me wired (which is actually good for my line of work in a trauma center). When it comes to the calcium question, the answer is no. Keppra does not affect your bone density or calcium level as other medications like Tegretol may do. It can cause low blood cell count, but it is very very sparingly that it happens. The chances of it happening are actually less than 1 in 10,000. I haven't even seen or heard of one case of it in my 12 years working in the hospital. That's not saying it can't happen, but the chances of it are very low.

May I suggest talking to your doctor about a med called LaMICtal, If that dose not work, I went a whole year without arua or seizures taking a martial arts class. It was not so much what I learned, the over 100 jumping jack, stretching, working my body at least 5 days a week.  You have heard it before," use it or lose it". Exercise make sense. As soon as I stopped everything came back with in a week. Good luck, life with out seizures can be amazing, always try new things don't let it win.

 I have the same problem with lamictal. I was having seizures every two weeks- very frequent for me! And it gave me really bad cystic acne :/ When they put me on Keppra it went to once a month but the side effects were bad also.  I had mood swings, confusion, very irritable, severe memory problems!  My doctor ended up taking me off it after a few months because it wasn't working.  But I didn't have any blood issues. Good luck!