Hi jana,

The keppra will make your aunt sleepy that's one side affect of the drug. Before I started to have seizures yrs. ago I had wicked migraine headaches just like your aunt sometimes this will happen before a person starts to have seizures. The difficulty speaking often happens to me when I'm having a complex partial seizure I've heard my Epileptologist tell me that this is part of the motor skill in the brain that's being affected and it happens to me right before I blank out. I know what I want to say but the words won't come out. Since your aunt is having aura seizures tell her that the next time that it happens to tighten up all the muscles in her body and make her hands into tight fists for a few seconds sometimes this will stop the aura seizure from leading into a complex partial seizures. I know it sound strange but I've been told to do this since the early 1970's and it has worked great for me stopping many seizures.
When you are with your aunt keep an eye on her and if you notice that she's smacking her lips, picking at her clothing, and wandering around this is all signs of a complex partial seizure. I used to ask: What day is it? Where am I? and things like that after the seizure was over.
A status seizure is when a person has a seizure that lasts over 15 min. or longer and sometimes a person has to go to the hospital and be given an IV of medication to bring them out to the seizure this type of seizure can cause more brain damage for a person. I had the absence (petit mal) status seizure a few yrs. ago when I was put on the drug neurontin but after I went off the drug I never had that problem again. Tell your aunt to cut back on caffeine, carbs, and starch foods and stay away from nutra sweet because all of these types of foods and sweetners can cause seizures for many people. Here's wishing you and your aunt well. May God Bless the both of you.

Sue