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Keppra Rage
Mon, 09/20/2010 - 20:31I am desperately seeking advice. I am engaged and my fiance has epilepsy. We have been together 5 years, and in the past couple of years since he started taking keppra, he has drastically changed. Most of the time, he is his normal self, the person I love, but he often gets extremely irritated and freaks out, yelling and cursing, not just at me, but at other people as well. He seems to have no ability to cope with the slightest issues that would roll of most people's back without so much as a second thought. Even worse is that every so often (once a month or so) he flies into these uncontrollable rages that absolutely terrify me. We will be having a normal conversation, both in great moods, and suddenly he is kicking walls and throwing things with a blank stare like he isn't even really there. It really scares me and this never happened before the keppra. He isn't honest with his doctor about the side effects because he is too afraid to get off keppra and try something else because he thinks it will trigger seizures during the transition. Does anybody else have experience with this? If so, has anything worked? I got him to try adding B6 vitamins but it made no change. I want to get him help because I know it isn't really "him" when he goes into these fits, but I am at my wits end...Please help!
Comments
Re: Keppra Rage
Submitted by wefreer on Tue, 2011-03-01 - 17:30
My doctor has finally took me off of this medication, and she says this can be common but the meds effect everyone differently. She let me know now that the new Vimpat has been approved fpr primary medication treatment, it is an acceptable replacement for Keppra so that may be an option now for some of you.
Re: Keppra Rage
Submitted by kcharbneau on Sun, 2011-12-11 - 22:36
Keppra is definitely like a double edge sword. Just recently, I was on both Keppra (3250mg./day) and Tegretol Xr 200 but I went off the Tegretol due to constantly wanting to eat/snack ever 2-4 hours. I hated fighting with myself about the weight and hunger. Now that I'm only taking Keppra and went up by 250mg./day, it's been different. I'm no longer hungry but just yesterday, I felt awesome like I was on top of the world and then today for no reason I noticed I was highly adjitated and angry at my kids and husband for nothing serious. When I realized what was going on, I listened to some jazz music after the kids went to bed and drank some tea. These are both good stress relievers (for me at least). I also take a multivitamin for women which seems to help minimize the mood switch. If your husband doesn't already, maybe he could consider taking a multivitamin if the Keppra actually helps with the seizures. Another thought is exercise. Using the tredmill or jump rope seems to help alot and can be a quick stress reliever. It's definitely not easy to live with the anger and mood swings, and I sometimes wonder how my lovely husband of eight years put up with me before. Don't give up and have him try some different stress/relaxation techniques. If all else fails though, ask the doctor about a different medication or adding another med in combination with Keppra to help minimize the side effects. Hope this helps, we've all been there.
Re: Keppra Rage
Submitted by wefreer on Mon, 2011-02-21 - 16:00
I am so glad to see that I am not the only person that feels this way. I am on 2000mg. of Keppra per day along with 100mg. of Topamax for my seizures associated with temporal epilepsy. I have mainly complex partial seizures and some Grand mal seizures. I am going to school full time through the VA to attempt and keep my family from becoming homeless and all the time I feel like I want to absolutely destroy something. I have been on this medicine approximately 18 months to two years, and Zonegran and Topamax before that. I have just went through a week video EEG in the hospital without my meds about a month ago. Since that time, I have had my feelings of anger revamped and absolutely cannot find joy in anything. I will take some of the advice provided in some of the comments and try them for myself, RE: B6/B12 Vitamins, Yoga etc. I am on an EXTREMELY limited budget and can do only so much.
I know my family is very tired and frustrated with my always seeming like an evil person who cares about nothing. I want like all of you to find an answer to these issues before it tears me from my family or god forbid my own life.
I am so glad to see that I am not the only person that feels this way. I am on 2000mg. of Keppra per day along with 100mg. of Topamax for my seizures associated with temporal epilepsy. I have mainly complex partial seizures and some Grand mal seizures. I am going to school full time through the VA to attempt and keep my family from becoming homeless and all the time I feel like I want to absolutely destroy something. I have been on this medicine approximately 18 months to two years, and Zonegran and Topamax before that. I have just went through a week video EEG in the hospital without my meds about a month ago. Since that time, I have had my feelings of anger revamped and absolutely cannot find joy in anything. I will take some of the advice provided in some of the comments and try them for myself, RE: B6/B12 Vitamins, Yoga etc. I am on an EXTREMELY limited budget and can do only so much.
I know my family is very tired and frustrated with my always seeming like an evil person who cares about nothing. I want like all of you to find an answer to these issues before it tears me from my family or god forbid my own life.