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 take 3000 mg of keppra and 600 mg of tegratol a day,)not a typo) still not fully seizure free and am having alot of dizzy spells.which i was told by my neuro that it was vertigo due to the pollen in the air. can all this med make me gain weight. not a little person , but have gain about 20 pounds in the last month or so. wating or exercise habbits have not changed. could it be the meds.
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.
5 days after starting the keppra, my heart started racing and I was getting very dizzy. It always happened in the morning. One morning about 2 weeks later it was so bad I went to the urgent care clinic. I ended up being taken in ambulance to the ER as they said I was to unstable to let my husband drive me. Blood pressure would drop every time I sat up or stood up. Tachycardia resulted. I ended up staying the night at the hospital, and they could not figure out what it was.
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!!
ve tried massage therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, diet change and exercise. Nothing has ever fully relieved my headache. I just got out of the hospital after 3 weeks. My neurologist is out of ideas. He referred me to Mayo and even they said there was nothing they could do. My neurologist is doing another round of Botox and referring me to a headache center. I didn't know if the Epilepsy could possibly contribute? I would really appreciate any help or advice anyone has to offer.
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 muscle spazms along with the in my arms and legs. Chest pain occasionally. Ive had acid reflux and IBS since i was 16. Taking nexium, and whatever else they can prescribe to help, but mine is cronic so theres not much they can do. I have only had one seizure so far.. But im wondering what i can tell myself with all these symtoms im having. Iv heard people talk about Raynauds syndrom? But i dont seam to have cold feet or hands alot of the time, occasionally. And no discoloration.
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.
To keep weight under check while on the medication, dietary modification by limited carbohydrate intake and regular physical exercise is advised. Most people are able to maintain the weight by these conservative methods. If this is a major issue and conservative management is not helpful, you may seek a review with your treating doctor for a possible change in the medication.
Hope this is helpful.
Take care!
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