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I am very new to all of this as I was just diagnosed three weeks ago, and I am still a bit overwhelmed. I thought I might present some of my concerns here as I do not seem to be getting a lot of answers from my doctors . I am 41 year old male. I was just diagnosed with cortical dysplasia in my left anterior frontal lobe, which is now causing partial seizures. I was put on keppra immediately which did not work out well. I was back in the ER in two weeks with major rage issues. My meds have been changed and I seem to be doing better mentally but I am still sick all the time. Is this my new normal? Will I have a headache and nausea and fatigue forever ? My new med is depakote. I am not crazy about the side effects that I read about. I have a lot of family history of mental illness including my sister who commited suicide two years ago. With this in mind I am very concerned about how I will react to any med. My overall health is declining since my diagnosis and I would really like to start exercise and vitimans again but I am scared to try plus with the headache nausea and fatigue I don't see it happening. Will I ever have sex again ? Can I go to work? I am freaking out a bit. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Comments

Hello, I am so sorry that you

Submitted by Kandreas81 on Wed, 2015-02-11 - 02:30

Hello, I am so sorry that you are having a difficult time. I am 33 and have had epilepsy for 20 years. I also have partial seizures (from my left temporal lobe) and sometimes go into grandmal (tonic clonic) seizures. The psychological effects of epilepsy and especially the medications can be frustrating. If you have side effects like depression, rage, irritability, etc, I would suggest asking your neurologist about switching to an epilepsy medication that is also a mood stabilizer... Like Lamictal. Keppra made me extremely depressed and irritable also. But I did very well and felt great on Lamictal (didn't control all my seizures, but did a good job for a long time). Best of luck to you.

I've had epilepsy for 15

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2015-02-11 - 09:36

I've had epilepsy for 15 years, and the seizures haven't been controlled for the last nine years. However - one of the biggest helps for me was starting Lamictal. Lamictal is actually used for depression bipolar disorder, so that may help with stress.Keppra made me a little crazy, too. I fluctuated between angry, depressed, and happier than I've ever been non-stop after it finally took effect. Depakote works for some people, but you should call your neurologist. You shouldn't have rage issues, overall physical issues (sex), nausea, or a headache all of the time. With that said, the nausea may be because your stomach just isn't used to the meds. Try eating when you take the medicine. Research interactions between specific vitamins and the medication you're on. [For example, one of my meds is Dilantin, and I was prescribed calcium supplements. Calcium (in large doses) completely negates the effects of Dilantin.] You have to research anything extraneous you're thinking about taking.(1) Most important: your meds have to work and be tolerable for you. You can't have one or the other, because you'll probably get stressed and/or depressed about it, and stress causes seizures.(2) Eat well, and drink enough fluids.(3) Exercise in moderation until you learn your limits. This applies to cardio mostly.(4) Don't drink alcohol. Depending upon the medicine you end up taking, the alcohol could negate your medicine completely or make it more effective (so you go beyond therapeutic levels), or your medicine could make the alcohol more effective as well - which is not fun.(5) Wait for your doctor to give you a work release after your first diagnosis. If he/she doesn't, call. Request it. Lie and say you can't go back until you get something in writing. You may need this.(6) Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. This is very, very important.(7) If you can't afford your meds, go to the manufacturer's website and look for coupons, hardship assistance, etc. Also - google the med name with coupon (depakote coupon). They're everywhere.(8) If your dr puts you on Dilantin, do **not** take the generic. It's not the same. You have to request that your dr write "brand name only" on the prescription.I hope everything gets sorted out for you. Even if they can't control them, you can enjoy your life. I try to look at as though my non-seizure time is my time, and I have to savor it. You can do this, you know. :)

I've had epilepsy for 15 years, and the seizures haven't been controlled for the last nine years. However - one of the biggest helps for me was starting Lamictal. Lamictal is actually used for depression bipolar disorder, so that may help with stress.Keppra made me a little crazy, too. I fluctuated between angry, depressed, and happier than I've ever been non-stop after it finally took effect. Depakote works for some people, but you should call your neurologist. You shouldn't have rage issues, overall physical issues (sex), nausea, or a headache all of the time.  With that said, the nausea may be because your stomach just isn't used to the meds. Try eating when you take the medicine. Research interactions between specific vitamins and the medication you're on. [For example, one of my meds is Dilantin, and I was prescribed calcium supplements. Calcium (in large doses) completely negates the effects of Dilantin.] You have to research anything extraneous you're thinking about taking.(1) Most important: your meds have to work and be tolerable for you. You can't have one or the other, because you'll probably get stressed and/or depressed about it, and stress causes seizures.(2) Eat well, and drink enough fluids.(3) Exercise in moderation until you learn your limits. This applies to cardio mostly.(4) Don't drink alcohol. Depending upon the medicine you end up taking, the alcohol could negate your medicine completely or make it more effective (so you go beyond therapeutic levels), or your medicine could make the alcohol more effective as well - which is not fun.(5) Wait for your doctor to give you a work release after your first diagnosis. If he/she doesn't, call. Request it. Lie and say you can't go back until you get something in writing. You may need this.(6) Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. This is very, very important.(7) If you can't afford your meds, go to the manufacturer's website and look for coupons, hardship assistance, etc. Also - google the med name with coupon (depakote coupon). They're everywhere.(8) If your dr puts you on Dilantin, do **not** take the generic. It's not the same. You have to request that your dr write "brand name only" on the prescription.I hope everything gets sorted out for you. Even if they can't control them, you can enjoy your life. I try to look at as though my non-seizure time is my time, and I have to savor it. You can do this, you know.  :)

I've had epilepsy for 15 years, and the seizures haven't been controlled for the last nine years. However - one of the biggest helps for me was starting Lamictal. Lamictal is actually used for depression bipolar disorder, so that may help with stress.Keppra made me a little crazy, too. I fluctuated between angry, depressed, and happier than I've ever been non-stop after it finally took effect. Depakote works for some people, but you should call your neurologist. You shouldn't have rage issues, overall physical issues (sex), nausea, or a headache all of the time. With that said, the nausea may be because your stomach just isn't used to the meds. Try eating when you take the medicine. Research interactions between specific vitamins and the medication you're on. [For example, one of my meds is Dilantin, and I was prescribed calcium supplements. Calcium (in large doses) completely negates the effects of Dilantin.] You have to research anything extraneous you're thinking about taking.(1) Most important: your meds have to work and be tolerable for you. You can't have one or the other, because you'll probably get stressed and/or depressed about it, and stress causes seizures.(2) Eat well, and drink enough fluids.(3) Exercise in moderation until you learn your limits. This applies to cardio mostly.(4) Don't drink alcohol. Depending upon the medicine you end up taking, the alcohol could negate your medicine completely or make it more effective (so you go beyond therapeutic levels), or your medicine could make the alcohol more effective as well - which is not fun.(5) Wait for your doctor to give you a work release after your first diagnosis. If he/she doesn't, call. Request it. Lie and say you can't go back until you get something in writing. You may need this.(6) Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night. This is very, very important.(7) If you can't afford your meds, go to the manufacturer's website and look for coupons, hardship assistance, etc. Also - google the med name with coupon (depakote coupon). They're everywhere.(8) If your dr puts you on Dilantin, do **not** take the generic. It's not the same. You have to request that your dr write "brand name only" on the prescription.I hope everything gets sorted out for you. Even if they can't control them, you can enjoy your life. I try to look at as though my non-seizure time is my time, and I have to savor it. You can do this, you know. :)

HiWell any and all

Submitted by just_joe on Wed, 2015-02-11 - 11:08

HiWell any and all medications have side effects and kepra's main one is rage. You can find posts about it not working for people. I also know it is a verg good medication. As for normal MMMMM what is normal for one person is not normal for the next. Any and all AED's can have sied effects like those you are having. Generally those side effects go away after 3-4 weeks. Medications for epilepsy are not like medications like asperin. There are no one size fits all medications. Asperin works for almose everybody and withing minutes of taking it. Seizure medications need to get to levels in your body. They will reduce the number of seizures in a few days but until the levels are set the dosage may be lower or higher then your neurologist wants. Which is also why they generally have you come back in a few months.At that time questions will be asked "are you still having seizures" How many seizueres have you had" your answers will let the neurologist know if adjustments need to be made. If they do then your dosasges will be increased or decreased accordingly. Depakote is a good medication and I have used it. It did not control my seizures as well as I wanted them controlled so We switched me to another medication. Give the medication time and let the neurologist make adjustments. Keppra have been refered to as KeppRAGE because some people did what you did. Side effects to medications are listed and you can read them. Depakote has some too and I would suggest you read them. Generally side effects last until your body gts used to the medication and the levels are set in your body.For me it took a few weeks on the medication to get set and levels set. I had no problems exercising, sex YES you can and will want it...There are a lot of people that will say ask your neuro for another medication. Well switching medication before levels get set will not help since the medication will still be in your body for sme time. I was changing from a kid to a teen when I was diagnosed. Which was 50+ years ago. I have swam, climed mountains, worked out at gyms, rode my bike and yes sex.Side effects do happen I will not say they don't or won't. That said I do know that 5-8% of the people taking the medications have some of the side effects. Those would be the ones that posted how bad the medication is or was. Which leaves 92-95% of the peopletaking the medication having no problems with the medications and how it os controlling their medication. For me Keppra has been th best mediction I have used to control my seizures. It reduced the number of seizures I was having. It als oshortened the time in those seizures as well as the time to get back to normal. Before keppra my seizures would be 1-5 minutes in length. The time needed to get back to normal would be an additional 15-45 minutes and at times longer. Those same seizures today are seconds long and time to get back to normal is also seconds long. I can have one while in a group discussing something and the people arround me would know nothing of th seizure.I hope this helps Joe

HiWell any and all medications have side effects and kepra's main one is rage. You can find posts about it not working for people. I also know it is a verg good medication. As for normal  MMMMM what is normal for one person is not normal for the next. Any and all AED's can have sied effects like those you are having. Generally those side effects go away after 3-4 weeks. Medications for epilepsy are not like medications like asperin. There are no one size fits all medications. Asperin works for almose everybody and withing minutes of taking it. Seizure medications need to get to levels in your body. They will reduce the number of seizures in a few days but until the levels are set the dosage may be lower or higher then your neurologist wants. Which is also why they generally have you come back in a few months.At that time questions will be asked "are you still having seizures" How many seizueres have you had" your answers will let the neurologist know if adjustments need to be made. If they do then your dosasges will be increased or decreased accordingly. Depakote is a good medication and I have used it. It did not control my seizures as well as I wanted them controlled so We switched me to another medication.  Give the medication time and let the neurologist make adjustments. Keppra have been refered to as KeppRAGE because some people did what you did. Side effects to  medications are listed and you can read them. Depakote has some too and I would suggest you read them. Generally side effects last until your body gts used to the medication and the levels are set in your body.For me it took a few weeks on the medication to get set and levels set. I had no problems exercising, sex YES you can and will want it...There are a lot of people that will say ask your neuro for another medication. Well switching medication before levels get set will not help since the medication will still be in your body for sme time.  I was changing from a kid to a teen when I was diagnosed. Which was 50+ years ago. I have swam, climed mountains, worked out at gyms, rode my bike and yes sex.Side effects do happen I will not say they don't or won't. That said I do know that 5-8% of the people taking the medications have some of the side effects. Those would be the ones that posted how bad the medication is or was. Which leaves 92-95% of the peopletaking the medication having no problems with the medications and how it os controlling their medication. For me Keppra has been th best mediction I have used to control my seizures. It reduced the number of seizures I was having. It als oshortened the time in those seizures as well as the time to get back to normal. Before keppra my seizures would be 1-5 minutes in length. The time needed to get back to normal would be an additional 15-45 minutes and at times longer. Those same seizures today are seconds long and time to get back to normal is also seconds long. I can have one while in a group discussing something and the people arround me would know nothing of th seizure.I hope this helps Joe

HiWell any and all medications have side effects and kepra's main one is rage. You can find posts about it not working for people. I also know it is a verg good medication. As for normal MMMMM what is normal for one person is not normal for the next. Any and all AED's can have sied effects like those you are having. Generally those side effects go away after 3-4 weeks. Medications for epilepsy are not like medications like asperin. There are no one size fits all medications. Asperin works for almose everybody and withing minutes of taking it. Seizure medications need to get to levels in your body. They will reduce the number of seizures in a few days but until the levels are set the dosage may be lower or higher then your neurologist wants. Which is also why they generally have you come back in a few months.At that time questions will be asked "are you still having seizures" How many seizueres have you had" your answers will let the neurologist know if adjustments need to be made. If they do then your dosasges will be increased or decreased accordingly. Depakote is a good medication and I have used it. It did not control my seizures as well as I wanted them controlled so We switched me to another medication. Give the medication time and let the neurologist make adjustments. Keppra have been refered to as KeppRAGE because some people did what you did. Side effects to medications are listed and you can read them. Depakote has some too and I would suggest you read them. Generally side effects last until your body gts used to the medication and the levels are set in your body.For me it took a few weeks on the medication to get set and levels set. I had no problems exercising, sex YES you can and will want it...There are a lot of people that will say ask your neuro for another medication. Well switching medication before levels get set will not help since the medication will still be in your body for sme time. I was changing from a kid to a teen when I was diagnosed. Which was 50+ years ago. I have swam, climed mountains, worked out at gyms, rode my bike and yes sex.Side effects do happen I will not say they don't or won't. That said I do know that 5-8% of the people taking the medications have some of the side effects. Those would be the ones that posted how bad the medication is or was. Which leaves 92-95% of the peopletaking the medication having no problems with the medications and how it os controlling their medication. For me Keppra has been th best mediction I have used to control my seizures. It reduced the number of seizures I was having. It als oshortened the time in those seizures as well as the time to get back to normal. Before keppra my seizures would be 1-5 minutes in length. The time needed to get back to normal would be an additional 15-45 minutes and at times longer. Those same seizures today are seconds long and time to get back to normal is also seconds long. I can have one while in a group discussing something and the people arround me would know nothing of th seizure.I hope this helps Joe