Terrible twos or keppra side effects?

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Hello! I have never posted on one of these before but I need some advice. My son has been taking Keppra since March 17th( so about 6 weeks). He has 1.2mL twice a day. When he first started to keppra he was really tired and a bit more aggressive. I thought it was eventually going to stop once he gets properly calibrated but it has not. I am getting notes home from daycare saying he has been throwing toys and hitting other kids. He also has been extremely clumsy. EVERY time he tries to run he trips. He also has been acting very hyperactive and not able to focus very much. I am not sure what to do. I don't know whether to appropriate this to him being a 2 year old boy( terrible twos) or if its really the keppra messing with him. Has anyone else experienced this type of behavior in their 2 year olds? If so how did you handle it?

Comments

HiI’m new to medication. My

Submitted by Zoeysmom2016 on Sat, 2018-04-28 - 00:01

HiI’m new to medication. My daughter was just prescribed medicine today. It’s not the same as your son however I wanted to let you know my daughter is 2 and 3 months and she actually has started the same things. She’s been throwing toys food or anything really for a few months now, she picked up hitting at daycare which thank god she doesn’t do it often and she does not stay still! To the point I and other think she might be ADHD! The neurologist today stated she’s too young to give that type of diagnosis but holy she doesn’t focus. I hope this helps some? Could be age related or both maybe talk with your sons doctor and see... good luck!

First, is the Keppra

Submitted by zacksdad on Sat, 2018-04-28 - 10:13

First, is the Keppra controlling the seizures? If it is then you'll need to learn to deal with the aggression. As frustrating as the behavior is, it's better than possible brain damage from uncontrolled seizures. My son has been taking Keppra (in combination with a multitude of other AED's) since about 20 months. He's now 9. Try asking your neurologist about Vitamin B-6. My boy has been taking 100 to 200 milligrams a day since he was two. It helps a little. What was he like before he started the Keppra? That might give you an idea of a baseline for behavior. My boy was asked to leave daycare because of his uncontrollable aggression. Although at the time, he was taking 2000 milligrams a day. It's possible that this will fade over time as his body adjusts to the medication... six weeks is not really a long time in the big scheme of things.Another thing to remember is that behaviors induced by medication will not respond to normal disciplinary techniques. Time-outs are useless... Try redirecting him to a toy or activity that he really enjoys when he has an outburst. When he gets older and can take pills, ask about extended release Keppra (KeppraXR). It releases the dosage slowly so his system isn't flooded with the medication all at once. When my son was on the liquid, you could time the outbursts to the administration of his drugs.How is he sleeping? I'm not sure if it listed on the FDA flyers that you get from the pharmacist, but I'm pretty sure that Keppra can (and does) cause sleep disruption. It used to be impossible to get him to go to sleep before 10 or 11 PM (and sometimes later) and he'd frequently wake up in the middle of the night and take hours before he'd go back to sleep again. Talk to your neurologist about melatonin. My boy takes 9 mg's with his evening medication. It helps!There are other medications that he could be taking. but all AED's have side effects. Some more problematic that others. You can ask your neurologist about that. The important thing is that he is not having seizures. I hope this helps.

First, is the Keppra controlling the seizures?  If it is then you'll need to learn to deal with the aggression.  As frustrating as the behavior is, it's better than possible brain damage from uncontrolled seizures.  My son has been taking Keppra (in combination with a multitude of other AED's) since about 20 months.  He's now 9.  Try asking your neurologist about Vitamin B-6.  My boy has been taking 100 to 200 milligrams a day since he was two.  It helps a little.  What was he like before he started the Keppra?  That might give you an idea of a baseline for behavior.  My boy was asked to leave daycare because of his uncontrollable aggression.  Although at the time, he was taking 2000 milligrams a day.  It's possible that this will fade over time as his body adjusts to the medication... six weeks is not really a long time in the big scheme of things.Another thing to remember is that behaviors induced by medication will not respond to normal disciplinary techniques.  Time-outs are useless...  Try redirecting him to a toy or activity that he really enjoys when he has an outburst.  When he gets older and can take pills, ask about extended release Keppra (KeppraXR).  It releases the dosage slowly so his system isn't flooded with the medication all at once.  When my son was on the liquid, you could time the outbursts to the administration of his drugs.How is he sleeping?  I'm not sure if it listed on the FDA flyers that you get from the pharmacist, but I'm pretty sure that Keppra can (and does) cause sleep disruption.  It used to be impossible to get him to go to sleep before 10 or 11 PM (and sometimes later) and he'd frequently wake up in the middle of the night and take hours before he'd go back to sleep again.  Talk to your neurologist about melatonin.  My boy takes 9 mg's with his evening medication.  It helps!There are other medications that he could be taking. but all AED's have side effects.  Some more problematic that others.  You can ask your neurologist about that.  The important thing is that he is not having seizures.  I hope this helps.

First, is the Keppra controlling the seizures? If it is then you'll need to learn to deal with the aggression. As frustrating as the behavior is, it's better than possible brain damage from uncontrolled seizures. My son has been taking Keppra (in combination with a multitude of other AED's) since about 20 months. He's now 9. Try asking your neurologist about Vitamin B-6. My boy has been taking 100 to 200 milligrams a day since he was two. It helps a little. What was he like before he started the Keppra? That might give you an idea of a baseline for behavior. My boy was asked to leave daycare because of his uncontrollable aggression. Although at the time, he was taking 2000 milligrams a day. It's possible that this will fade over time as his body adjusts to the medication... six weeks is not really a long time in the big scheme of things.Another thing to remember is that behaviors induced by medication will not respond to normal disciplinary techniques. Time-outs are useless... Try redirecting him to a toy or activity that he really enjoys when he has an outburst. When he gets older and can take pills, ask about extended release Keppra (KeppraXR). It releases the dosage slowly so his system isn't flooded with the medication all at once. When my son was on the liquid, you could time the outbursts to the administration of his drugs.How is he sleeping? I'm not sure if it listed on the FDA flyers that you get from the pharmacist, but I'm pretty sure that Keppra can (and does) cause sleep disruption. It used to be impossible to get him to go to sleep before 10 or 11 PM (and sometimes later) and he'd frequently wake up in the middle of the night and take hours before he'd go back to sleep again. Talk to your neurologist about melatonin. My boy takes 9 mg's with his evening medication. It helps!There are other medications that he could be taking. but all AED's have side effects. Some more problematic that others. You can ask your neurologist about that. The important thing is that he is not having seizures. I hope this helps.

We experienced that when our

Submitted by CharlesMom on Wed, 2018-05-02 - 00:59

We experienced that when our son was 2 on keppra. We eventually took him off of it. He was breaking something every day and being aggressive. Plus they weren’t stopping to seizures anyway. That’s a hard one. But I agree, if it’s stopping the seizures, then it’s doing the job.