I've been on Keppra for 9 days. A few days ago I started itching on my lower stomach and my right eye. I thought nothing of the tummy itching. Maybe dry skin (hey, it's Phoenix and dry is a given around here) and the eye was probably allergies.

Today I actually LOOKED at my lower abdomen and there was a rash. A raised, red, bumpy, OMGOSH, rash. And my eye is still driving me nuts. So I looked all over online about Keppra side effects. It said if you get a rash, "no matter how small or mild" to "call your doctor immediately." So I called the dr and was told to quit the Keppra NOW. And that I had to go in to see her on Monday (the PA was the one who called). I said, "I will have seizures all weekend if you take me off the Keppra and I had a grand mal this last time to which you guys said all my seizures will now be grand mal."

The PA said, "Yes, we realize you will have seizures. You'll have to take precautions." I said, "You don't understand. I have a SYRINX in my cervical spinal cord. That's a pocket of brain fluid that has severely damaged my spinal cord. My neck can snap extremely easily. And if I"m flopping around like I did last Saturday - ONE TIME - I'm in danger. I CAN'T go cold turkey." He explained that they have to stop the reaction because it is known to cause a condition where the skin will literally peel away.

The lesser of the two evils is I live with skin peeling away as opposed to dying from a fragile spinal cord. He said he'd call me back and went to talk to the dr. He called back and they called in another anti-seizure med. I couldn't understand what he said because his accent is very, very thick. It began with a B and almost sounded like "bitmap" though I know that's not it.

I also told him this rash is like the rash I get when hospital tape touches my skin. It spreads til we stop it with steroids. Last time I had the rash spread from belly button to knees from having one piece of hospital tape over an incision on my stomach. I ended up getting two big time shots, a topical cream AND a medrol dosepack of prednisone.

I told the PA I happened to have a dose pack of prednisone and asked if I should take it. He said, "Yes of course, take it." He was making decisions on the fly and I finally said, "Look, I have 7 diseases, I take handfuls of medicine each day, you need to be SURE about things - I'm not your normal patient." He said he was sure and that I was to call if there were any problems.

(sigh). Anyone else ever have the rash reaction to seizure meds? I can't take Gapapentin (Neurontin) or anything in that family because of psychosis, and I'm kind of freaking out right now. I HATE that I'm this sick and I can't just be an easy fix. I already figure I'll end up in the ER this weekend...