[ I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND NEURO CHANGED MY KEPPRA 750MG, AND KEPPRA500MG TO KEPPRA 1000MG, HE IS NOW HAVING ME TAKE KEPPRA 1000MG TWICE A DAY, IT IS MAKING ME VERY VERY TIRED, IS THIS ONE SIDE EFFECT, WHEN I WAS TAKING KEPPRA IN SMALLER MG I WAS NOT AS TIRED. WHEN NEURO GOT ME ON THIS MED HE DID IT ALL IN ONE DAY, DID NOT GIVE BODY ANY WARNING. I ALSO TAKE LAMICTAL , ZONEGRAN. HE ALSO LOWERED THOSE MG AND DOSES DOWN AT SAME TIME AND ONE DAY ALO, HE REALLY SCREWED UP MY SYSTEMED. IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO, I AM TALKING TO HIM NEXT WEEK AS I CAN`T TAKE THIS MUCH LONGER. SHOULD I BE CHANGING NEUROS???????
NANA1

Years ago I was put on Keppra 2000. It made me very tired, but no seizures. I jacked it up to 3000 (against his knowledge) & I was good to go. No longer tired. It's the level & adjustment from the other drugs. The lamictal I was put on this summer I hate. But then I am on way too many drugs (currently 4) to figure out which one is screwing "what" up.
All you can do is have your questions ready & wait it out. I've been dealing w/ bad vision in A.M. for hours, tired, & memory shot since all these drugs were thrown in the pot. I'll trade you!

i have been finding myself sleeping longer in the morning( don`t now if this is side effect of meds or just plain tired) but thank you so much for answering me flopper, really am still new to this so did not think any one would answer.

I was unable to gather this from your post, but if the Keppra increase is fairly recent, then the fatigue and sleepiness is pretty normal and as a general rule, can take at least several weeks before med side effects start to subside. Especially, when the dosage of the med is raised (or lowered) a signifigant amount in a short time period.

In addition to that, you are on several other meds, so that will have an effect on how your body handles things. That is one thing my neuro always emphasizes-- the more meds you are on, the greater the chance of side effects.

I am on Keppra, Lamictal, and many other meds, and anytime I make a change in my med regimine-- whether it be adding stuff, taking things away, dosages, etc it would throw my body off for a little while; and to specifically address the Keprra, yes I also saw an increase in fatigue until my body adjusted.

Keep in touch with your neurologist-- ask questions, tell him/her your concerns, get information about the meds you are taking side effects, what to do, etc.


Hang in there !
L2L

At this time I am one both Lamital and Keppra, at times I feel tired but not as much as when I first started it.

Darlene

Hi nana

I hope you'll be "adjusting" to this increase to the AEDs quickly. And I hope that you'll be back soon and keep us informed to how you're doing.

Three is a lot to take at one time but I did that too and I'm OK I used to take Keppra, Trileptal and Topamax. Now it's just Topamax and Trileptal.

Best wishes.

My Epileptologist is one of those unsympathetic (or even empathetic) people. However, she's very honest. When she put me on a very high dose of Keppra she told me she's seen many cases where it's taken several months to adjust to the medication.

I, too, was extremely sleepy and also had quite a few various mood swings. The mood changes lasted a few weeks and the general feeling of fatigue took about 3 months. Overall, from what she said, it's the more gentle of AED's regarding the potential damage they can cause to your body (not emotionally) which is why I preferred that.

I didn't have any side effects from Lamictal, it just didn't work at all for me.

Hope that helps some!

Nana- I don't have epilepsy, but I take Keppra for a certain type of neuropathy (nerve pain). My doc has me take 500mg in the am, 500mg at lunch, and 1000mg in the evening. When I had worked up to the full doseage, I was exhausted during the day. Moving the evening dose of 1000mg back from 8 or 9pm to 4-5pm helped me alot. Not sure if this is an option, but it may be worth discussing with your doctor. Take care!

Hi nana,
I have never taken keppra but my epileptologist wanted me to try it until I told him that I found out they are now doing DNA tests on people to find what AED (seizure med) would work the best for that person. This is a fairly new procedure but you might want to ask your neuro to do a DNA blood test on you so they can find the correct seizure med for you with the least side effects. I found out I was drug resistant with my DNA test. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Yes I Will Be Come Back And Let You All Now How It All Going. Today The Headache Is Bad, I Am Wondering If That Is Part Of Sleepy And Nerves Maybe The Headache? I Don`t See My Neuro Until Next Friday ( December 21 He On Vacation), So All I Can Do Is Jot Down Questions And Feelings On Paper Every Day Till I Go See Neuro At This Point I Have No Idea What To Do, Don`t Want To Sleep Alot, Want To Christmas Shop And Be In Holiday Spirit, Thank Goodness I Live By Myself So If I Am In Bad Mood No One Around To Bring Them Down Mood Wise.
I Just Got To Get Neuro To Fill Out New Prescription Of New Stronger Mg On Keppra And More Pills On Keppra, Need Him To Do This For My Lamictal Also, And Same Thing For My Zonegran. Got To Get All This Done Before Christmas.
Nana