I broke my keppra in half and along came a seizure

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Hi everyone my name is Alyssa and I'm brand new to this site. I came on here because my neurologist told me to cut my 1,000 mg keppra in half (the papers say not to) and had a seizure. But first let me explain my history.

I had my first seizure at age 11 I'm now 22 yrs old. My first neurologist put me on lamictal. I was on that for over 10 years reaching a dose of 750 mg a day. Over the years I've seen over 6 different neurologists who refused to take me off or even add another medication, all they would do was go up, up, up. But last year I was diagnosed with Itp (An auto immune disease that attacks my platelets) because I bled so much I was near organ failure. And was rushed to the hospital. And Finally found a neurologist who was willing to change my meds and that began my change to Keppra and Vimpat. I was put on 1,000 mg of keppra 200 mg of Vimpat twice a day. Now back to current events

i had to find a new neurologist AGAIN because he wasn't comfortable treating me so I met my new neurologist yesterday 7-29. Because my seizures are still out of control he wanted me to take an extra 500 mg of keppra. So last night I broke it in half and about 13 hours later I had a very bad seizure. I read the papers from the pharmacy and although the pill has a score line the papers say "do not crush, break, or chew"

so my question is mainly for keppra users, but do you know if keppra is able to be broken in half? Does anyone on here do that? Did the seizure happen because of breaking the pill or a freak coincidence?

Ive been keeping my head high for 10 years now and I'm starting to lose all hope and I've lost almost all faith in doctors. They let me stay on a very high dose of lamictal without giving me any other options. The last time I had any tests done was in 2003. Doctors don't seem to care or want to help so I need some advice from people with my disorder.

~Alyssa

Comments

Hi AlyssaI have been on many

Submitted by just_joe on Thu, 2014-07-31 - 18:18

Hi AlyssaI have been on many different medications. The makers do say don't break or crush or chew the medications. The reason it the length of time it taken to disolve is increased. However There are things like pill cutters which are designed to cut pills in half. I take keppra and Doc coupled it with vimpat. As we increased th dosage of vimpat I had to cut the pill in half as we increased the dosage once I had been on it for a week to 2 weeks he sent in a RX .As lomg as the medication is solid or not a capsul then it can be cut in half. So yes keppra and vimpat can be cut in half. Before I bought the pill cutter I used a knife. Once the doctor knows the dosage is where he wants and is working he will prescribe the dosage he wants. Oh and this is not the only pill I cut since I have been prescribed ! and 1/2 pills of metraprlol a day which is used for my Afib so I have to cut 15 of those a month. If you check with your pharmacist it can be doneAs for the seizure happening... Your body can be adjusting to the increase and at times that does happen. Generally my neurologist sets up an appointment a short time after making increases or decreases so he can make fuirther adjustments if needed. Keppra is the best medication I have used for my epilepsy. It not only reduced the number if seizures I was having but it also shortened the time in the seizure and time to focus. Doc added the vimpat last year and it has reduced the number of seizures even farther. Keep your head high. You have been living and dealing with epilepsy for 11 years. In those 11 years they have come out with a lot of medications and procedures and information. I know it is hard for you and others to think of things like changes in medications affecting you but it does. If you get sick that to can effect your medications. Even medications for other things can counter your meds which is why all of your doctors need to know all the medications you take. You don't need a medication for toe nail fungus counter your medication for Afib You see My PCP will not prescribe that medication because he knows it counters my medication. My doctors look at all medds before prescribing anything. Oh and that also includes over the counter meds too. I hope this helps

Hi AlyssaI have been on many different medications. The makers do say don't break or crush or chew the medications. The reason it the length of time it taken to disolve is increased. However There are things like pill cutters which are designed to cut pills in half. I take keppra and Doc coupled it with vimpat. As we increased th dosage of vimpat I had to cut the pill in half as we increased the dosage once I had been on it for a week to 2 weeks he sent in a RX .As lomg as the medication is solid or not a capsul then it can be cut in half. So yes keppra and vimpat can be cut in half. Before I bought the pill cutter I used a knife. Once the doctor knows the dosage is where he wants and is working he will prescribe the dosage he wants. Oh and this is not the only pill I cut since I have been prescribed ! and 1/2 pills of metraprlol a day which is used for my Afib so I have to cut 15 of those a month. If you check with your pharmacist it can be doneAs for the seizure happening... Your body can be adjusting to the increase and at times that does happen. Generally my neurologist sets up an appointment a short time after making increases or decreases so he can make fuirther adjustments if needed. Keppra is the best medication I have used for my epilepsy. It not only reduced the number if seizures I was having but it also shortened the time in the seizure and time to focus. Doc added the vimpat last year and it has reduced the number of seizures even farther. Keep your head high. You have been living and dealing with epilepsy for 11 years. In those 11 years they have come out with a lot of medications and procedures and information.  I know it is hard for you and others to think of things like changes in medications affecting you but it does. If you get sick that to can effect your medications. Even medications for other things can counter your meds which is why all of your doctors need to know all the medications you take. You don't need a medication for toe nail fungus counter your medication for Afib You see My PCP will not prescribe that medication because he knows it counters my medication. My doctors look at all medds before prescribing anything. Oh and that also includes over the counter meds too. I hope this helps

Hi AlyssaI have been on many different medications. The makers do say don't break or crush or chew the medications. The reason it the length of time it taken to disolve is increased. However There are things like pill cutters which are designed to cut pills in half. I take keppra and Doc coupled it with vimpat. As we increased th dosage of vimpat I had to cut the pill in half as we increased the dosage once I had been on it for a week to 2 weeks he sent in a RX .As lomg as the medication is solid or not a capsul then it can be cut in half. So yes keppra and vimpat can be cut in half. Before I bought the pill cutter I used a knife. Once the doctor knows the dosage is where he wants and is working he will prescribe the dosage he wants. Oh and this is not the only pill I cut since I have been prescribed ! and 1/2 pills of metraprlol a day which is used for my Afib so I have to cut 15 of those a month. If you check with your pharmacist it can be doneAs for the seizure happening... Your body can be adjusting to the increase and at times that does happen. Generally my neurologist sets up an appointment a short time after making increases or decreases so he can make fuirther adjustments if needed. Keppra is the best medication I have used for my epilepsy. It not only reduced the number if seizures I was having but it also shortened the time in the seizure and time to focus. Doc added the vimpat last year and it has reduced the number of seizures even farther. Keep your head high. You have been living and dealing with epilepsy for 11 years. In those 11 years they have come out with a lot of medications and procedures and information. I know it is hard for you and others to think of things like changes in medications affecting you but it does. If you get sick that to can effect your medications. Even medications for other things can counter your meds which is why all of your doctors need to know all the medications you take. You don't need a medication for toe nail fungus counter your medication for Afib You see My PCP will not prescribe that medication because he knows it counters my medication. My doctors look at all medds before prescribing anything. Oh and that also includes over the counter meds too. I hope this helps

I found out why.. my dr. had

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2014-10-27 - 13:16

I found out why.. my dr. had no idea why . broke 1000 mg in half . usually resulted in seizure with in 5 hours. later on I found the answer researching the question ''can I cut keppra in half '' when broken in half all the keppra is processed by your kidneys in hours . after 5 hours you have passed all the keppra thru your kidneys . no medication to prevent a seizure . after this trial went to keppra xr a 24 hour time release . original keppra is 12 hour time release

I read that too, very short

Submitted by Lora.Bee on Mon, 2020-03-30 - 02:53

I read that too, very short time in your system.