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Toddler, Keppra, Sleeping...help!
Thu, 03/07/2019 - 13:37Topic: Parents & Caregivers
My 16 month old is on 100 mg of Keppra twice a day plus Vitamin B6 once a day. He started on this right after he turned one year old. He had seizures at birth for 3 days (went home on phenobarbital and weened off after a few months) and was seizure free until he turned 1 year old. The doctors then put him on Keppra. Anyways, long story short, he used to sleep all night and nap twice a day. From 6 months old until the day he started the medicine. Now, he wakes up through the night screaming and crying (I really think he has nightmares) and barely naps. The neurologist blamed it on getting older and not the medicine. I’m just hoping someone else out there had this problem with their toddler and found a solution... I’m nervous about switching to a different medicine because I don’t want breakthrough seizures. So, for now, I’m dealing with the side effects of Keppra. I could use some advice from anyone in a similar situation..
Comments
My daughter started keppra at
Submitted by tabitha_tad on Thu, 2019-03-07 - 15:33
My daughter started keppra at 6, so I wouldn't be able to help you out with that age group, but I do recall her having night terrors around 12-18 months. I almost wonder if he isn't going through that normal stage. I would start logging it in a journal to bring to the neuro. Is he seeing the neuro every 6 months?
Wow, I just saw your comment
Submitted by Loren on Thu, 2019-09-12 - 23:10
Wow, I just saw your comment (i didn't receive any notification of it) and I cannot believe that we have been dealing with this issue - still - for 189 days! He does see neuro every 6 months and I will be making a log from now on. I wondered if its night terrors as well...
I would push back on the
Submitted by Amy Jo on Thu, 2019-03-07 - 14:11
I would push back on the neurologist, ask if there's something else with the B6 that could help this before considering different medications, even entertain some other supplements. Because if that's an issue for only this one patient, it still matters. Although I would also suggest asking when the epilepsy should be re-evaluated because we saw really messed up sleep cycles on my kiddo during a 5 day EEG - some medications 'helped' this via that common side effect of making kiddo more tired but some people with epilepsy have more disrupted sleep cycles and epilepsy can change as a child grows. And if your neurologist isn't an epileptologist, consider switching to one. If this doctor isn't a good overall fit for your family and you live in an area with a wide selection of docs, consider switching.