Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
Topamax/Trileptal + Sleeping
Sat, 01/16/2016 - 18:00Hi everyone!
So, I had a longterm video EEG this week to see if my focal temporal lobe seizures made me a candidate for surgery, and my new neuro discovered that, for the past 20 years, I've actually been treated for the wrong type of seizures, and have Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy (IGE) that starts in the frontal lobe and spreads out. My old neuro had put me on a moderately high dose of Trileptal, but my new one is taking me off because Trileptal is one of the worst meds to control IGE. He put me on Topamax, and he's tapering me on very slowly over 7 weeks to reduce the risk of any side effects, and when I'm on completely, he'll taper me off the Trileptal. My question is: when I was 17 (I'm currently 23), I was put on Keppra, and among a variety of other side effects, I started sleeping A LOT, like 13 hours every single night if my mom didn't wake me up (I'd also stay up REALLY late.) This continued when I was put on Trileptal, but the Trileptal didn't make me tired during the day. So, when I was in the hospital, my neuro changed my meds from: the full dose of Trileptal in the morning to a third of the Trileptal + half the Topamax in the morning + 2/3 of the Trileptal + the other 1/2 Topamax at night. It's only been a few days, but I've been falling asleep earlier (even though it's still about 2 or 3), and waking up after about 9 hours. Has anyone had an experience similar to this? Does Trileptal work as a sedative of sorts? Or is it all in my head?
-Emily
Depending or the tests done
Submitted by just_joe on Mon, 2016-01-18 - 10:52
Depending or the tests done when you were originally diagnosed would make some difference. Basically a focal seizure starts in one place and they do generalize which means covers the whole brain. So you can have generalized seizures. The diagnosis you were given IGE covers generalized seizures too. All medications help control seizures be they TLE, IGE or other kinds of epilepsy or seizures. It wasn't until the 1980's that they came up with the types of epilepsy and types of seizures. My diagnosis was done back in the mid 60's. Grand Mal, Petite Mal and Focal Motor Epilepsy. Petite mal seizures are now absence seizures. Focal Motor seizures can land in several areas. They can look like a absence seizure, simple partial seizure or complex partial seizure or generalize which then can look like a grand mal seizure (convulsive). As for where the seizure starts is the question. Depending on where it is would also tell them if surgery is possible. For me it is not. The scar tissue causing my epilepsy and seizures is in more then 1 lobe. If a medication is created to treat a type of seizure or type of epilepsy the testing doesn't stop there. Once approved for sale the testing is then tested for other types of seizures as well as tested to see which medications it can be coupled with. I know this because my neurologist was in the group of neurologists that did testing for new medications. If in the tests we were the people who helped write down the side effects and we used diaries to make sure they were written down and anything that was different on each day was put in them. I have a new neurologist because Doc retired. What most people do not know is all seizure medications work to stop electrical impulses from hitting wrong in your brain. In order to do that the medication calms down the central nervous system. When I was diagnosed I was put on phenobarbital and Dilantin. Phenobarb was and still is I think used as a sleeping pill. After moving from California to Dallas I had to get a neurologist. After reading my file the first question I was asked was "How do you wake up in the morning" I was taking enough phenobarb to put the average man to sleep for 24 hours. So I do know that meds do make people sleepy. They always have. Todays meds work but have fewer side effects and one of them is they cut the drowsiness. I hope this helps and you get your seizures controlled. Joe