Hi everyone! I'm starting grad school next week and (lucky me) I was diagnosed with epilepsy today. After my seizure the doctors put me on dilantin which is OK but makes me really tired. The neurologist I saw suggested I switch to keppra. Keppra sounds better but I am a little concerned about the memory loss I've read about online. Does almost everyone experience memory loss to varying degrees ? or is this just a side effect that shows up in some patients? I don't know how I'll complete grad school with a bad memory (haha I was worried about completing it BEFORE my memory became an issue) so I'm quite concerned. Any input is appreciated! Thank you,

Most patients who have to take antiseizure drugs go thru a period of experimentation to find the one that works for them, with the least side effects. Keppra also can cause mood changes, that some call Keppra Rage. But not everyone.
Typically Keppra is titrated up, slowly, to see how people react.

I think you will be able to deal with school. Many people on seizure drugs (some take them for Bipolar or for pain control) go to college and grad school and even teach. You may just need TIME to get used to the drug that is chosen for you. Don't hesitate to discuss with your doctor in detail, your needs. They are very used to this...and expect it in fact. Sometimes doses are changed, sometimes the drugs are switched, etc. It is a unique thing for each patient.

Hi. My name is Shane. I've just started college, and I stay busy! I am a single parent [father] and a member of my Highland Elementary’s PTO. I do Relay-4-life, help host a food pantry, participate in shoe boxes for soldiers and are currently raising money for “a walk for literacy”. Combine this with working and managing epilepsy and you might can imagine my full plate. I am sure that being in grad school, even if you are older then me, and might not have a child; your plate is just as full. The trail and error process that comes with finding the correct "seizure med cocktail" is a long, tedious, process. Often, in my cases, as well as that of my two very close epileptic friends, and two additional epileptic school-mates, it takes more then one med to control the seizure activity.

One thing that I want to note, that I wish SOMEONE - ANYONE would have explained to me - is that medications do not cure epilepsy in the same sense that penicillin can cure an infection. It only treats it. It prevents, but it prevents in the same sense that asthma meds do. Attacks will still occur. Medications however, do make epilepsy manageable and much easier to balance and adjust into the full plate that we have as our pre-established lives.

My current meds include Topamax 100 mg twice a day, Klonopin .5 mg three times a day, and Lyrica 75 mg three times daily.

Topamax which I have been on the longest has worked effectively for controlling partial seizures and also prevents the migraines that often accompany epilepsy. Three of the other four people mentioned above are also on this same medication. Topamax treatment usually begins with low dose tablet taken twice daily. Its then gradually increased in dosage to get better control of your seizures. The only side effect I have personally had with this medication is a weird numbing/tingling feeling in my fingers and hands that is similar to the feeling that your get when your foot has fallen asleep. On the best days, I don’t feel it at all, on the worst days, I feel like my entire hands and wrist are fat, swollen, numb, and tingling as if they have been injected with Novocain.

Klonopin is used to control my primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures as well as my myoclonic seizures. (I have myoclonic epilepsy). Klonopin is a benzodiazepine. Sometimes in a high dosage it can make you sleepy, forgetful, or in my case… the way I described it “Make my brain feel like its turned to mush.” I requested that mine be cut in half from 1 mg 3x’s tid to .5 mg tid. Your medication, Dilantin, is a better anticonvulsant then Klonopin; but I choose to go get off Dilantin because of its harsh long term dental side effects. I also liked Klonopin much better then my trail of Ativan, which is sometimes prescribed in replace of Klonopin, but had less seizure control for me, and made me feel “loopy”.

My last medication Lyrica has been VERY, VERY, effective at controlling my seizures. I have quit the medication twice in search of a replacement, and twice had it added as my “personal cocktail completion”. Lyrica eases post seizure pain, while effectively preventing seizures. Lyrica fights the adverse side effects of the Topamax as well. Lyrica however has a side effect. Its one that is difficult to tolerate. It makes you gain weight. This drug, despite its incredible effectiveness with not only myself, but my friends as well, is disliked for this reason. On Lyrica I gained twenty lbs, one of my friends thirteen, one close to forty. But once stop gaining the weight (all gained during the beginning months) the results in the end, may be worth it.

Keppra, while I have not taken it personally, did once discuss it with my neurologist. It was my understanding that it is usually taken twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. My doctor had warned me that depression was a side effect of Keppra, and that had scared me.

If you trust your doctor, then take his advice and trust that he is doing what is best for you. I would ask pharmacist his/her professional opinion – because I ALWAYS ask them. And lastly, I would listen to my own gut. If your instinct tells that you should try the switch then take the jump. Drug and med effects are individualized for everyone; and no one knows you – or your body – better then you do.

On that same note, be sure to listen to your body. As a student and a parent I know that putting your self and your physical needs last is VERY easy to do. But all-night study sessions, a series of late nights, and lack of sleep can increase seizures. You need to sleep your eight to ten hours if it’s possible. For me it is not possible right now. But I do shoot for four to six hours. Because I've learned that repeated nights on 1/2 - 1 hour of sleep patterns leads to days in the hospital. Drink plenty of water, get your far share of potassium, take a multivitamin, try not to skip a dosage no matter how busy or tired you may feel, and lastly don’t hide the salt. It took me a while to get all of those lessons down, but after being told over, over, and over again strapped to a hospital bed “you’re here because your body needed _______" (water/was dehydrated, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and/or sleep/you were just exhausted, people with JMC epilepsy HAVE to sleep…)...etc.

Best of luck,

Sincerely,

Shane.

Alesia,
sorry to hear about the news of yours. I've had seizures all mylife and I think thats easier. They tried Keppra on me and it made me so high and drunk I could hardly walk to the hospital with the help of my Mother. Also having double vision. You will be in my prayers.

Hi just a quick update for anyone interested, I've been on Keppra for a couple of weeks now and it's really not been too bad. I think it is a little different for everyone. i am at a pretty good school (like one of harvard stanford mit princeton but i won't be specific) and i can keep up with the other students which is great. I've noticed i get tired more easily and my memory is maybe a little worse -but honestly i drink some coffee and i can focus on anything Of course it might change over the coming weeks but if anyone's particularly concerned about the cognitive hit you take when starting Keppra i would tell you not to worry too much. good news (at least for me)