What shall I do with my meds

CDC funded page

Not a CDC funded Page

Ok so long time reader first time poster. I'm a 33 year old male who has had epilepsy for all my life. They are full grand mal / tonic clonics which I can feel coming on an aura out maybe a partial. Up until 2015 I was seizure free for 7 years while taking epilim. While playing basketball in March 2015 I had the aura and felt one coming. My neuro suggested we try a new drug so he put me on Levetiracetam (generic keppra) 750mg am/pm (was meant to be 1000mg but felt spacey) then in February this year while playing cricket and on antibiotics I had another one (just short of a year seizure free) so I increased my dose to 1000mg am pm and the side effects of higher dose went away. Now stress is a real trigger for me and the sudden release of stress after organising our school production (I'm a teacher) triggered another seizure in September after the performance it was like the sudden release of stress triggered that one. The neuro put me on vimpat, 100mg was too much as it caused insomnia so I went to 50mg dose which isn't even a recommended dose and prob doesn't do much. Now here we are in November again stress. I had organised our school camp which was weeks of pressure including writing reports. So at camp while the kids and I were playing cricket I felt one coming on, the difference with this aura / partial is I was able to walk off the feild up stairs call my colleague over and walk to a space free of kids. I was hot from cricket and was able to talk a while while sitting down explaining my confused state...and it went full on tonic clonic. The difference with this one was the extra longer aura, maybe as a positive result of the small dose of vimpat? Do with that history what does everyone recommend- A) I go back to Epilim B) I increase my dose of vimpat esp after the longer warning/aura/ C) I increase Levetiracetam D) try a new med? My triggers are the common ones - Stress, heat and already been sick. Any advice thoughts would be most appreciated.

Comments

B. work with your keppra and

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2016-11-24 - 12:02

B. work with your keppra and vimpat coupling. There is also another things that might be looked at which is a rescue medication. They amount of medication a person takes is different for every person which is why they have the different size dosages. Keppra reduced the number of seizures I was having with fewer side effects. The neurologists I was with also tested new medications. I had been in a test for a new medication. About a month after a test was over I started having a couple more seizures a week. I set up an appointment with Doc because I thought it might have been the generic I was taking. I researched th different makers and the one I was taking at that time was different then all the others I had used. In th meeting I showed him the research. He excused himself and came back in a few minutes later. His first words were it wasn't the generic because the new generic was owned by a company I had researched. He also stated that he checked the test I had been in and I wasn't one of the people that was on a placebo. So it was the real medication that had lowered my seizure count. He stated the makers of vimpat wanted a test run to see if vimpat coupled with keppra would reduce seizures and any other information it would do. Well I was a test patient. We started vimpat at 100mg a day 50mg morning and night. A week later it was raised to 100mg morning and night. After 2-3 more weeks it went to 150 morning and night. You see I have always needed a dosage that is higher them th average person. Currently I take the max dosage of keppra meaning 3 -750mg two time a day and 2-200mg vimpat 2 times a day/ Now my seizure count is 1 seizure every 8-14 days. Which means the vimpat reduced the number of seizures. Because I was having 2 seizures a week, Vimpat also reduced the time in those seizures, The time in my seizures was reduced from 5-8 minutes to 2-5 seconds. I can be standing next to you and be discussing things with you and you would know nothing about the seizure if I had one. So working of your dosages of both your keppra and vimpat can be done. The other thing that can be looked at is a rescue medication. Kind of like what is used in the ER but in a pill. If I have a seizure and don't use that then the seizures can cluster at times. Which could be what your really long aura is doing. The one I am using is lorazepam but there are others. For all I know which isn't much a rescue medication taken during your aura might stop your bigger seizure from happening.I hope this helps Joe

B. work with your keppra and vimpat coupling. There is also another things that might be looked at which is a rescue medication. They amount of medication a person takes is different for every person which is why they have the different size dosages. Keppra reduced the number of seizures I was having with fewer side effects. The neurologists I was with also tested new medications. I had been in a test for a new medication. About a month after a test was over I started having a couple more seizures a week. I set up an appointment with Doc because I thought it might have been the generic I was taking. I researched th different makers and the one I was taking at that time was different then all the others I had used. In th meeting I showed him the research. He excused himself and came back in a few minutes later. His first words were it wasn't the generic because the new generic was owned by a company I had researched. He also stated that he checked the test I had been in and I wasn't one of the people that was on a placebo. So it was the real medication that had lowered my seizure count. He stated the makers of vimpat wanted a test run to see if vimpat coupled with keppra would reduce seizures and any other information it would do. Well I was a test patient. We started vimpat at 100mg a day 50mg morning and night. A week later it was raised to 100mg morning and night. After 2-3 more weeks it went to 150 morning and night. You see I have always needed a dosage that is higher them th average person. Currently I take the max dosage of keppra  meaning 3 -750mg two time a day and 2-200mg vimpat 2 times a day/ Now my seizure count is 1 seizure every 8-14 days. Which means the vimpat reduced the number of seizures. Because I was having 2 seizures a week, Vimpat also reduced the time in those seizures, The time in my seizures was reduced from 5-8 minutes to 2-5 seconds. I can be standing next to you and be discussing things with you and you would know nothing about the seizure if I had one. So working of your dosages of both your keppra and vimpat can be done. The other thing that can be looked at is a rescue medication. Kind of like what is used in the ER but in a pill. If I have a seizure and don't use that then the seizures can cluster at times. Which could be what your really long aura is doing. The one I am using is lorazepam but there are others. For all I know which isn't much a rescue medication taken during your aura might stop your bigger seizure from happening.I hope this helps Joe

B. work with your keppra and vimpat coupling. There is also another things that might be looked at which is a rescue medication. They amount of medication a person takes is different for every person which is why they have the different size dosages. Keppra reduced the number of seizures I was having with fewer side effects. The neurologists I was with also tested new medications. I had been in a test for a new medication. About a month after a test was over I started having a couple more seizures a week. I set up an appointment with Doc because I thought it might have been the generic I was taking. I researched th different makers and the one I was taking at that time was different then all the others I had used. In th meeting I showed him the research. He excused himself and came back in a few minutes later. His first words were it wasn't the generic because the new generic was owned by a company I had researched. He also stated that he checked the test I had been in and I wasn't one of the people that was on a placebo. So it was the real medication that had lowered my seizure count. He stated the makers of vimpat wanted a test run to see if vimpat coupled with keppra would reduce seizures and any other information it would do. Well I was a test patient. We started vimpat at 100mg a day 50mg morning and night. A week later it was raised to 100mg morning and night. After 2-3 more weeks it went to 150 morning and night. You see I have always needed a dosage that is higher them th average person. Currently I take the max dosage of keppra meaning 3 -750mg two time a day and 2-200mg vimpat 2 times a day/ Now my seizure count is 1 seizure every 8-14 days. Which means the vimpat reduced the number of seizures. Because I was having 2 seizures a week, Vimpat also reduced the time in those seizures, The time in my seizures was reduced from 5-8 minutes to 2-5 seconds. I can be standing next to you and be discussing things with you and you would know nothing about the seizure if I had one. So working of your dosages of both your keppra and vimpat can be done. The other thing that can be looked at is a rescue medication. Kind of like what is used in the ER but in a pill. If I have a seizure and don't use that then the seizures can cluster at times. Which could be what your really long aura is doing. The one I am using is lorazepam but there are others. For all I know which isn't much a rescue medication taken during your aura might stop your bigger seizure from happening.I hope this helps Joe

Thanks Joe. I guess my main

Submitted by paddy55 on Thu, 2016-11-24 - 14:15

Thanks Joe. I guess my main question is if epilim kept me seizure free for 5 years and then 7 years why wouldn't I just go back. I like your idea of a rescue treatment to take because this last one the aura lasted a fairly long time.