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Is it possible?
Tue, 04/11/2017 - 11:09I started seeing my epileptologist back in August of last year and have been placed on Keppra (1,000 mg daily) to treat seizures he think I am having. I have had my MRI, ambulatory EKG done and both came back normal. He then placed me on the medicine until my next appointment. That was in February. My next appointment is this Thursday.
I am nervous because since I have been on this new medication, I have had lesser seizures (that I know of) (I only know I have them because some time has been missing or I get hung up on or miss parts of a show I might be watching on Netflix) but the ones I do still have I feel the effects afterwards. I also started having staring spells. These spells are different than the Partial Absence Seizure or Absence Seizures my epileptologist thinks I am having. These spells happen when I am fully aware of my surroundings, but like a daze I cannot stop or do anything about. My heart doesn't seem to race or anything like that, but I freeze in time like nothing else matters.
Is it possible to have staring spells while on Keppra and while aware or conscious?
Comments
Yes a person can have a
Submitted by just_joe on Tue, 2017-04-11 - 15:57
Yes a person can have a seizure while taking medications for seizures. Yes those times you were dazed or stopped and heard everything might have been seizures. I had them and knew what was said I just couldn't respond. There fore th teacher wrote me up for day dreaming in class. Focal seizures can do thet as well as simple partial seizures. The dosage you are taking is low. Myself I take 4500 mg a day which is the highest dosage the maker wants anybody to take. When at your visit do discuss these with him and ask about changing the dosage. It can be increased a little at a time and by doing that you might find the gold point. (perfect dosage and medication). Also ask if they can be called since a lot can be done in a phone call. Like another increase and a visit a month or so later. For me I was with the neurologist group since 1971 so they knew I would call and they gave answers to questions and did make dosage changes and a few times a medication was added to work with the original one or a complete change by easing me off one and onto the next. But good relationships help get things done. Today I still have a seizure every 8-14 days (At times longer) that last a few seconds and even my GP didn't know I had one while we were discussing a problem. He had seen me in the same kinds of seizures before that were 5-8 minutes in length and took 15-45 minutes t get back to normal. He then said he knows now why I hadn't changed my neurologists.
it's possible to have
Submitted by Amy Jo on Tue, 2017-04-11 - 12:10
it's possible to have seizures while on any seizure medication - common possibilities maybe the dose is too low, too high, or the drug is not good fit for the person or seizure type. 1000mg/day of keppra isn't a large dose for an adult (when our 8yo took 900mg, it only reduced her seizures*), although some people do ok with low doses. ask your doc how you can work with him to find the best drug/dose combination without waiting for appts - e.g. our docs allow us to call in and note seizures and they call back with dose adjustments when it's an appropriate time since the last adjustment.* seizures then only partially responded to drugs, partial seizures can be hard to fully control in some people. being aware in a seizure is usually a simple partial seizure as it is unlikely you have atypical absence which has less abrupt start/stop than absence. complex partial could explain your time loss, that's what happened to our child.