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Which med. for 4 yr old? Topamax, Depakote or Keppra?

Wed, 09/27/2006 - 21:38
Hello, New here but not to seizures. Cameron my 4 1/2 yr old has been on tegratol for just over a yr now. He is tiny so the dr. has him on a light dose of tegratol. Move it up to more Teg. and Cameron was monster. Hitting, not listening, moving all the time. So we kept him at a good level and he was fine. Well in the past weeks he has had seizures again and one at his PreK class. The dr. wanted to change meds from tegratol to either Topamax, Depakote or Keppra. Hope I am spelling those right. I know each child is different but is there one that seems to work well with complex partial seizures and not getting aggressive behavior? I am leaning towards topamax as the one I go with. Depakote maybe next if Topamax is not so good then keppra 3rd choice. Is that what you would say? Thank YOU! Paige (Cameron stroke at birth, right side weakness, sensory issues, speech delay (apraxia) complex partial seizures)

Comments

Re: Which med. for 4 yr old? Topamax, Depakote or Keppra?

Submitted by ekoorb on Thu, 2006-09-28 - 16:14
My 5 year old is on Topomax. She only takes 15mgs. She weighs between 35 and 40 pounds and this is a low dose for her weight. When she started it back in February, I definitely saw some behavior issues (like hitting and being impulsive which she would never normally do) and she was sad at first but she has adapted to it now. That is not to say that if she is tired, sometimes behavior resurfaces but for the most part, we have been happy with it. She was diagnosed with Benign Occipital Childhood Epilepsy. I hope this helps.

Re: Which med. for 4 yr old? Topamax, Depakote or Keppra?

Submitted by paigeg on Thu, 2006-09-28 - 16:47
Thank you so much for both of your replies! Those are the two I was leaning towards. So it is good to hear both of your experiences with each one. Cameron will be on a low dose as well because he is about only 30 pounds and does not eat much. Thank you! I will talk to the dr. soon and make a choice. This is hard stuff! Paige Cameron stroke at birth, right side weakness, complex partial seizures. Evan 2yrs old.

Re: Which med. for 4 yr old? Topamax, Depakote or Keppra?

Submitted by Linkaye52 on Mon, 2008-01-28 - 03:47
Just wanted to add a few comments about Depakote and Topamax. My grandson is on lamictal in the mornings and depakote sprinkles in the morning and evenings. He was on topamax at one time, but they made him very lethargic and whiny.  It slowed down his seizures, but when he did have one it was worse, because at one time he fell and lost consciousness, spraining his ankle real bad in the process. That's when they put him on depakote. His seizures are a lot less now, though he still has them. Aidan also has speech problems and weakness on one side, though he has never had a stroke. They did think he had autism at one time, because he has sensory issues. He hates noises and absolutely hates getting his hair cut. They ruled out autism, though. He still has difficulty focusing on things and sitting still. He goes to school 4 days a week in the mornings for early childhood development. There he receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. I just hope when he starts kindergarten he will be ready. Good luck to all of you.

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