Keppra and alcohol
Common Questions and Answers about Keppra and alcohol
keppra
TL;DR: I think Keppra makes me dehydrated because alcohol makes me feel super-dehydrated even if I follow the 2:1 water:alcohol ratio, and because I seem to have a hard time staying hydrated in general. But I'm seeing little if any literature to support dehydration as a Keppra side effect. Does anyone else have any ideas?
TL;DR: I think Keppra makes me dehydrated because alcohol makes me feel super-dehydrated even if I follow the 2:1 water:alcohol ratio, and because I seem to have a hard time staying hydrated in general. But I'm seeing little if any literature to support dehydration as a Keppra side effect. Does anyone else have any ideas?
But last month I started seeing a new neurologist, who said that this is neither a Keppra thing nor an epilepsy thing, and in fact, he has no idea what it's about. And that Keppra is processed through the kidneys, not the liver. So I'm back to the drawing board.
And two neurologists now have told me it's okay to drink, provided that I never get drunk (because that does lower your seizure threshold). And as previously stated, alcohol doesn't get me drunk anymore anyway.
At first I thought this a side effect of the anticonvulsant I take (Keppra) -- the instructions say to avoid alcohol because very serious interactions can occur, although they never specify what those interactions are.
A couple medical professionals I talked to about it said that it's because Keppra increases the level of enzymes present in my liver, thereby speeding up my liver's metabolic rate. So my body just skips the drunkenness stage altogether.
My name is Joy and in 2000 I had a very large frontaltemporal meningioma removed by surgery I was lucky that I had a lot of medical training was an emt for 12 years and I recognized I was seriously ill and thought it was a brain tumor long story short I had a dr who kept telling me it was only job stress. At the time I was working at a medium security mens prison. Not stressful for me at all its just how you deal with life. Being a take c harge person I fired the quack dr.
I had been on phenobarbital for 28 years. My Dr took me off of phenobarbital and prescribed keppra. He said it would make feel better than phenobarbital did(fewer side effects like fatigue) within a couple of weeks, I started drinking again and haven't been able to stop. Is there any way that keppra could somehow be responsible?
My daughter is now experiencing several side effects to keppra. She is extremely drowsy, very short tempered, depressed, and is reporting to me that her memory is 'foggy'. She's on a very low dose of keppra, only 250 mg at night and 125 mg in the morning. She's been on it a total of 3 weeks now. I've been with her and she seems to be very melancholy and also short fused over the many situations. She weighs 100 pounds and is 20 years old.
I read something on rxlist about moodswings and irritibility related to Keppra. It's believed that Keppra makes your brain "dump" Vitamin B6 at times which lowers dopamine or seratonin levels and makes you feel horrible.
Does your daughter take vitamins? I'd try some Vitamin B6 if her multivitamin doesn't contain it. I started taking Trader Joe's High Potency vitamins and feel much, much better since starting.
Good luck.
My husband has occasional seizures. He's had them off and on most of his life but now they are getting more frequent and are worse seizures. He' 41. He currently takes Keppra twice daily and is on high blood pressure medicine (both of which have just been increased). He also takes Lorazepam for "emergencies" when he feels a seizure coming on. My concern is that his doctor may not fully understand how much he drinks (alcohol).
They are like a partial complex seizure. I saw a neurologist and was started on Keppra. I was up to 2,500mg a day and they were not stopping. I began to track them carefully and I believe I saw a pattern of only during the 2nd half of my monthly cycle, days 15 - 28 (and usually between 18 and 21) My neurologist decided to put me in the hospital to do a video EEG monitoring and I told him the dates it needed to be. We hit it right and it was determined that my seizures are NES.
Anyone else on Keppra to prevent myoclonic jerks (JME diagnosed)? I am, and have been on Keppra for almost 5 years. Started at age 23 and I am now 28. At the beginning they made me very sluggish, but after about 2 months I felt wonderful (since it was the first time in my life I wasn't having seizures!!
After a very frightening last 2 weeks of my boyfriend on Keppra my doctor did say to ween him off which I've done. Today is the first day off it and he still seems to have the dillusional aggressive side effects that I am hopeful after reading your post.....I pray to god that the old person before this drug comes back. How was those last few weeks for your son?
Was on lamicatal er when shaking started on right side of body but had a allergic reaction to it..
I to have been taking Keppra and told can't drive for six months, yesterday my Oncologist informed me that only a Neurologist can authorize driving and I will need to probably get off keppra to get permission to drive. Was also informed that you can not just stop this drug.
So after staying overnight and at the vet the next day he came home and has been on Keppra and phenobarbital. 500mg 2x a day Keppra and 60mg 2x a day pheno. He has the side effects which are lessening but hasn't been as bad as I read could be. He is very responsive and is pretty much himself besides the side effects(weak legs, tired). It's been 6 days and no seizures so far. Will be going to vet in a week for check up and blood test again. I am so on edge..
I have no health insurance. I was finally got a really basic coverage, but it doesn't cover keppra. i've been taking keppra for a 2 months. I was switched to phenobarbitol for when I run out. since keppra is not on the charity's formulary.
I hope to God that I cant find some source of keppra before I run out. The phenobarb is scary.
So I'm excited about the links here:
http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/index.php
http://www.needymeds.
I am pregnant with my second child. I'm 37 +2 and I have epilepsy. My 1st pregnancy was 11 yrs ago. I was actually on Depakote and high risk but I have a very health normal very active 10 yr old boy! I'm taking Keppra now and they still consider me high risk but the risk is much lower with Keppra then it was with Depakote. They have done several ultrasounds and baby is great!! They have me taking 1000mg of Folic acid in top of my prenatal vitamins.
My son has been on Keppra since he was 3 months old, he is 3 now and still on it. It works well with other meds. I know that this med can cause behavioral problems. If you do some research you will find that one of the side effects of Keppra is irritability. Things will even out as he gets used to the med but if this is a problem I know it will continue to be a problem. My son still gets cranky from this med. I also know that a seizure can cause them to be a little cranky too.
As my DD is in Keppra, and has previously been on other seizure meds, the Keppra, by far has had the least amount of side-effects. You could ask if some of her mood changes, memory loss, etc. are from the stroke vs. the Keppra. Please do not wean her off the medication without a Dr's directive... that could cause withdrawal seizures.
My thoughts are with you that your mother gets well soon.
I started having seizures when I was 12 yrs. and they put me on dilantin and other meds. they never got under control so good until I went to a new doctor (because I moved) and at that time I was about 38, and the doctor did a MRI and other test. He then said to me the first thing we have to do is get you off of dilantin. He showed me that that pill was eating up half of my brain (it is called cerebellar atrophy). He slowly put me on different levels of Keppra and I haven't been better.
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