Community Forum Archive
The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.
Is keppra that bad?
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 17:48Comments
Re: Is keppra that bad?
Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Tue, 2009-09-22 - 04:19
Hi ELSL,
I was on Dilantin until bone-loss problems. When Keppra was added too rapidly with the Dilantin, the emotional lability was a severe problem. Trying Keppra again, I followed the advice to start Keppra at very small dosages, and built up to a therapeutic dose with very small dose increases over a long period of time. This prevented the adverse side-effects for me, and Keppra prevented my secondary tonic-clonics, but my so far intractable partial seizures continue (I can tolerate them). Dr. Panayiotopoulos cites Keppra as probably the AED that is most free from adverse reactions. The next problem for me was Keppra's high price (between $400 and $500 a month). Due to Medicaid Snafu's with availability and a lack of money, now, I only take Keppra on warning of a secondary tonic-clonic, and Keppra is fast enough to prevent the tonic-clonic, and everything goes OK about 3 out of 4 times. The forum located with the two words Magic Bullet with this website's search-engine includes my Keppra discussion:
http://www.epilepsy.com/discussion/979347
but attempted direct access frequently defaults to this website's home page.
I hope this helps. - Tadzio
Hi ELSL,
I was on Dilantin until bone-loss problems. When Keppra was added too rapidly with the Dilantin, the emotional lability was a severe problem. Trying Keppra again, I followed the advice to start Keppra at very small dosages, and built up to a therapeutic dose with very small dose increases over a long period of time. This prevented the adverse side-effects for me, and Keppra prevented my secondary tonic-clonics, but my so far intractable partial seizures continue (I can tolerate them). Dr. Panayiotopoulos cites Keppra as probably the AED that is most free from adverse reactions. The next problem for me was Keppra's high price (between $400 and $500 a month). Due to Medicaid Snafu's with availability and a lack of money, now, I only take Keppra on warning of a secondary tonic-clonic, and Keppra is fast enough to prevent the tonic-clonic, and everything goes OK about 3 out of 4 times. The forum located with the two words Magic Bullet with this website's search-engine includes my Keppra discussion:
http://www.epilepsy.com/discussion/979347
but attempted direct access frequently defaults to this website's home page.
I hope this helps. - Tadzio
Re: Is keppra that bad?
Submitted by Jshear on Mon, 2009-09-21 - 23:19
I recently posted for some answers as well as I am new to all of this. I have complex partial seizures and was put on Keppra.. I did 250mg in the morning and then again at night.. for the first week I felt fine.. then starting the second week they had me do 500mg in the morning and then again at night.. well when I made that leap I had headaches, extreme fatigue, mood swings (highs and lows) and I was exhausted.. I really could not function right the first few days. I was going to "give up" but after reading about these side effects and how after time they go away I decided to continue.. and here I am day four of that higher dose and I am doing MUCH better... I dink lots of water - stay clear of coffee and sleep.. goodluck