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Which med. for 4 yr old? Topamax, Depakote or Keppra?
Wed, 09/27/2006 - 21:38Comments
Re: Which Med?
Submitted by dreampnst8 on Fri, 2008-10-31 - 15:27
I see some of the postings here are older, but for many of us, the challenges and pain remain. My son, Austin is 6. We started with Trileptal when he was diagnosed 2 years ago. All was well for about 9 months, then the seizures returned. We then tried Keppra - he turned into someone we did not know so our experience was miserable and short-lived. We then tried Lamictal and he developed a rash. Back to Trileptal - again - it worked for a while, then it didn't. We have been on Topamax for a while now and started just this week to transistion off of it and onto Depakote. The Topamax eroded his memory and speaking skills little by little. It was just awful to watch him deteriorate. So we are on both Topamax and Depakote right now - the last two nights we have had seizures and he is all doped up. He has a slight cold so I am convincing myself his immune system is down. I can only hope and pray we get onto Depakote and we get our sweet little boy back. It just pains me to give him all of this stuff and watch what it does. We are on our 4th Doctor and it seems many like to treat the disease and forget about the child. Our newest Dr. seems different ( hope). Many sleepless nights and all we try to do is be patient and love and support him. He is in Kindergarten again and seems OK academically for now but with these drugs, it is a wonder he is doing as well as he is. I am so afraid for him and do all I can to keep spirits high and hope for the best. Austin has complex partial, his seizures are eye blinking, abscense and an occasional much more severe seizures including projectile vomiting.
My heart goes out to all of you facing these challenges and problems. We must stay diligent and alert. I challenge our Dr. at every turn - it is our right and our obligation to our children. Thanks, Ed
I see some of the postings here are older, but for many of us, the challenges and pain remain. My son, Austin is 6. We started with Trileptal when he was diagnosed 2 years ago. All was well for about 9 months, then the seizures returned. We then tried Keppra - he turned into someone we did not know so our experience was miserable and short-lived. We then tried Lamictal and he developed a rash. Back to Trileptal - again - it worked for a while, then it didn't. We have been on Topamax for a while now and started just this week to transistion off of it and onto Depakote. The Topamax eroded his memory and speaking skills little by little. It was just awful to watch him deteriorate. So we are on both Topamax and Depakote right now - the last two nights we have had seizures and he is all doped up. He has a slight cold so I am convincing myself his immune system is down. I can only hope and pray we get onto Depakote and we get our sweet little boy back. It just pains me to give him all of this stuff and watch what it does. We are on our 4th Doctor and it seems many like to treat the disease and forget about the child. Our newest Dr. seems different ( hope). Many sleepless nights and all we try to do is be patient and love and support him. He is in Kindergarten again and seems OK academically for now but with these drugs, it is a wonder he is doing as well as he is. I am so afraid for him and do all I can to keep spirits high and hope for the best. Austin has complex partial, his seizures are eye blinking, abscense and an occasional much more severe seizures including projectile vomiting.
My heart goes out to all of you facing these challenges and problems. We must stay diligent and alert. I challenge our Dr. at every turn - it is our right and our obligation to our children. Thanks, Ed
Which Med?
Submitted by four_of_em05 on Fri, 2008-01-25 - 12:59
My 2 year old son started on tegratol for his seizures started very low dose then gradually increased, the higher the dose got the worse his behavior also got. I watched my beautiful boy turn into a ugly horrible monster. He would pull hair, spit, kick, hit his older siblings, for no reason, they would be sitting on the floor watching tv and he would go over unprovoked. I called his neurologist and we weaned him off. He had 2 seizures a week later within 90 minutes of each other and was placed on Keppra, so far so good, no issues with seizures or behavior and he's at the middle dose. We go back next week to see if we keep him there or to move up. I guess I would recommend that for your little guy.