To medicate or not to medicate?

CDC funded page

Not a CDC funded Page

Since 2009 I have had 8 grand mal seizures. Until last week, all of those have occured the morning after a night of heavy drinking. As the conditions they occured were all so similar, they seemed easy to avoid- I barely drink at all now. My MRI/EEG/blood tests were all normal. I was prescribed Keppra, but witheld from taking it as it seemed completely under control. When I had a routine follow up appointment with my neuro he said he completely understood my reasons. So I was doing well, had gone a year and 3 months on no meds with no seizure activity at all, so was gutted to suffer from a grand mal seemingly out of the blue last Wednesday. I wasn't hungover like the other times, was just tired (it was early in the morning before work).

The docs at a&e said they didn't think I necessarily needed to go on meds, should just take precautions like make sure I get enough rest etc, as with me it always seems to be linked with early starts (or being hungover) When I went to my gp for a follow up she said she could also understand my point of view, and maybe I should just keep an eye on it and start taking Keppra if they get worse.

So now I'm basically in the process of gathering as many opinions as I can. I'm reluctant to go on such strong medication for something that doesn't affect my day-to-day life. Plus, my neuro said that even on meds, once someone goes a year seizure free, they start considering taking them off it anyway? I've just gone over a year, in fact the longest I went without one was over two years since I started getting them.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! :)

Comments

WelcomeIt seems like you don

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2015-10-04 - 18:28

WelcomeIt seems like you don't like taking meds that can control your seizures. Or you are thinking I am fine right now so why take meds? I went 3 years without a seizure and Doc and I had talked about weaning me off medications. Well it seems I wasn't going to have a chance of getting off medications after taking them for about 10 years. I had a seizure and have had them off and on since then. "I'm reluctant to go on such strong medication for something that doesn't affect my day-to-day life" Does a person with a heart ailment not take the medicines they need because they haven't had a heart attack in the last 5-6 years? You do need to think more. How do you know keepra is strong when they have all kinds of dosages? Are you going by what you have read from people that used it? If so do understand that any and all medications have side effects even over the counter medications. Hell aspirin has killed people because of one of the side effects. I do know keppra and all seizure medications have side effects. I also know how those side effects get listed and just how it is that lists them since I have been in drug studies for new medications. Side effects do happen. I will not say they don't. I will say that generally 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. So if you think and have red about keppra being a bad medication or like some people gave it keppRAGE those are among the 5-8%. Would someone come in here when they have no reason to if their medication is working like it is supposed to. The number of people the medications is working for is generally 92-95%. I know I read about keppra. I have been taking it for years. The generic works just fine. I have used 5 different generic makers keppra. Any medication for epilepsy is started at a low dosage and worked up.By knowing what you posted you have a high tolerance before yo uhave a seizure. By having that it wouldn't take much medication to get the therapeutic level to where yo umight not have seizures.Oh and just so you'll know there are many people who have gone seizure free and been taken off medication. There are also many people who went seizure free and while being weaned off they started again. My cousin is one of them. The neurologist got her back on meds and she hasn't had seizures in many years. Bur she doesn't forget her meds.Joe

WelcomeIt seems like you don't like taking meds that can control your seizures. Or you are thinking I am fine right now so why take meds? I went 3 years without a seizure and Doc and I had talked about weaning me off medications. Well it seems I wasn't going to have a chance of getting off medications after taking them for about 10 years. I had a seizure and have had them off and on since then. "I'm reluctant to go on such strong medication for something that doesn't affect my day-to-day life" Does a person with a heart ailment not take the medicines they need because they haven't had a heart attack in the last 5-6 years? You do need to think more. How do you know keepra is strong when they have all kinds of dosages? Are you going by what you have read from people that used it? If so do understand that any and all medications have side effects even over the counter medications. Hell aspirin has killed people because of one of the side effects. I do know keppra and all seizure medications have side effects. I also know how those side effects get listed and just how it is that lists them since I have been in drug studies for new medications. Side effects do happen. I will not say they don't. I will say that generally 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. So if you think and have red about keppra being a bad medication or like some people gave it keppRAGE those are among the 5-8%. Would someone come in here when they have no reason to if their medication is working like it is supposed to. The number of people the medications is working for is generally 92-95%. I know I read about keppra. I have been taking it for years. The generic works just fine. I have used 5 different generic makers keppra. Any medication for epilepsy is started at a low dosage and worked up.By knowing what you posted you have a high tolerance before yo uhave a seizure. By having that it wouldn't take much medication to get the therapeutic level to where yo umight not have seizures.Oh and just so you'll know there are many people who have gone seizure free and been taken off medication. There are also many people who went seizure free and while being weaned off they started again. My cousin is one of them. The neurologist got her back on meds and she hasn't had seizures in many years. Bur she doesn't forget her meds.Joe

WelcomeIt seems like you don't like taking meds that can control your seizures. Or you are thinking I am fine right now so why take meds? I went 3 years without a seizure and Doc and I had talked about weaning me off medications. Well it seems I wasn't going to have a chance of getting off medications after taking them for about 10 years. I had a seizure and have had them off and on since then. "I'm reluctant to go on such strong medication for something that doesn't affect my day-to-day life" Does a person with a heart ailment not take the medicines they need because they haven't had a heart attack in the last 5-6 years? You do need to think more. How do you know keepra is strong when they have all kinds of dosages? Are you going by what you have read from people that used it? If so do understand that any and all medications have side effects even over the counter medications. Hell aspirin has killed people because of one of the side effects. I do know keppra and all seizure medications have side effects. I also know how those side effects get listed and just how it is that lists them since I have been in drug studies for new medications. Side effects do happen. I will not say they don't. I will say that generally 5-8% of the people taking the medication will get a side effect. So if you think and have red about keppra being a bad medication or like some people gave it keppRAGE those are among the 5-8%. Would someone come in here when they have no reason to if their medication is working like it is supposed to. The number of people the medications is working for is generally 92-95%. I know I read about keppra. I have been taking it for years. The generic works just fine. I have used 5 different generic makers keppra. Any medication for epilepsy is started at a low dosage and worked up.By knowing what you posted you have a high tolerance before yo uhave a seizure. By having that it wouldn't take much medication to get the therapeutic level to where yo umight not have seizures.Oh and just so you'll know there are many people who have gone seizure free and been taken off medication. There are also many people who went seizure free and while being weaned off they started again. My cousin is one of them. The neurologist got her back on meds and she hasn't had seizures in many years. Bur she doesn't forget her meds.Joe

To medicate or not to medicate?

Comments

WelcomeIt seems like you don

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2015-10-04 - 18:28

Sign Up for Emails