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Vimpat causing delusions?
Sun, 03/17/2019 - 11:53Topic: Medication Issues
My husband first started having seziures when he was 15 and has been on depakote in differing doses up until August of 2018. He was 32 at the time. His neurologist said his liver enzymes were slightly elevated so she took him off depakote and put him on keppra. Not only did it not work (even after upping his dose) but he started to have delusions and hallucinations. It got so bad he ended up in a mental health facility on a 96 hour hold. It was only after that happened that his neurologist listened to me and agreed to change his meds. It was like pulling teeth to get her to do it. I wanted him back on depakote but she wouldn't do it. She prescribed vimpat. He's been taking that but recently the delusions have come back and according to my husband they never really went away. He was just dealing with them on his own and pretending to be ok. I thought he had developed an anxiety disorder because of what happened. He's back on a 96 hour hold and will hopefully get out in a few days. We live in a small town. There's only 1 neurologist in the area and we have to drive 30 minutes just to see her. Getting a new one is out of the question. He was fine on the depakote. Now he's not. I guess my question is has anyone else had the same reactions from vimpat or keppra? And is there any advice for dealing with a neurologist that seems to care more about using the latest drug than the mental health of one of her patients?
Comments
Lamotrigine has
Submitted by Athena_5ce4563aba984 on Tue, 2019-05-21 - 16:24
Lamotrigine has hallucinations as a rare side effect, so I wouldn't be surprised if other AEDs have that effect sometimes too.
I've had increased anxiety
Submitted by birdman on Sun, 2019-03-17 - 21:50
I've had increased anxiety from both Vimpat and Keppra but not to any extreme like you describe of your husband. But I certainly agree with you on the idea that our neurologists often seem more concerned about getting us on more medication than about keeping us in a healthy state of mind. One way I've been able to deal with this has been to keep careful record and be sure of what works best for me. Another way I continue to deal with it is to struggle to understand these creatures who treat patients. I read books like "The Silent World of Doctor and Patient", "The Practice of Autonomy", "What Doctors Feel", and "How Doctors Think". These have helped me get some understanding of why they don't treat me as I expect. I must say that the elevated liver enzymes from Depakote would be pretty serious. Also I was on Depakote for many years and got good control for a while. Then seizures happened. I increased and was good for a while, then seizures happened, increase...... It went on for several years like this until it got too high and I had to switch. Depakote has a high "drug tolerance" which means the patient gets used to it and needs more. It doesn't seem like a good drug for long term seizure management. I used to travel 2 1/2 hours to see an epilepsy specialist, now I have one only 1 1/4 hour from home. It's worth it not only to have a better choice of doctors but to have doctors who can treat with alternative therapies. Mike