Keppra as a secondary med...
 

Hi all..
Had a seizure the other day, its been a while since I had one unless messing with meds. Not a fun day, stress at work is what I think brought it on (and other junk on my mind). I called the doctors office and they want to add 500 mg. of Keppra to my daily dose of topamax and what Im wondering is how many of you have experience with this med and what are your side effects?
Thanks!!

Keppra Lawsuits
 

Hi Stef,
I'm sorry to hear that you had a sz. but in regards to the keppra I started taking it along with mysoline and diamox in August of last yr. and since then the drug has increased my sz., caused insomnia, and I just recently found out that there are lawsuits out on the drug co. that makes keppra because the generic as well as the brand name has increased sz. for some people and the drug makes a person so tired that they will fall asleep while walking and get injured. It's up to you but I would stay away from the drug. I know it's helped a lot of other people for the better but take my word you will feel tired most of the time. I started taking 2000 mg. a day of the drug and I now take only 500 mg. a day and since I've cut myself back on the drug I've had fewer sz. where before I was having over 30 sz. a month and that has never happened since I had brain surgery back in 1994. To get more info. just go on line and type in keppra lawsuits. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

I have taken Keppra for 11 years now. I took it with Lamictal at first but on my own changed to just the one med because I couldn't afford both. Are you seeing an epileptologist at a comprehensive epilepsy center or a neurologist in general practice? The epileptologist makes a huge difference in your care and quality of life. Why does your doc want to add Keppra with Topamax at this point and what kind of seizures do you have? Tattoo

Hi again. I take Topamax (200 mg am & 100 mg pm) for migraines and cp's & sp's. I rarely have cp's at all anymore unless in certain environments (concerts, loud noises (generally certain types of music etc.) or flashing or bright lights. Also, fast motions- movies and such). Sp's have been more frequent the last few months with my new job (stress), long hours and lack of sleep.
My neuro (havent seen an epi since my surgery back in 02) wants to add 500 mg. of Keppra to my daily dose of Topamax to get rid of the sp's. I've been seeing flashing lights and squiggly lines and getting my deja vu feeling back and just feeling woozy in general. Not a feeling I want to have since I've been doing so good.
I've been reading up on Keppra and am a little concerned about some of the side effects, particularly the fatigue (I'm already tired and work 8-12hours a day). Headaches (I'm trying to prevent daily migraines with the topamax), and mood swings (moody enough as a side effect of surgery).
And to hear that some people actually have an increase in seizures with this med is a little disconcerting... hhmmmmm...

Hi Stef,
I'm sorry to hear that you are getting moody,feeling tired, etc. along with the deja vu feeling coming back. I started to feel exhausted, and began having many more sp and absence sz. I started taking 2000 mg. of keppra but as I mentioned I cut myself back to 500 mg. a day. It's your final decision but I would get off the keppra just like I'm trying to slowly go off the drug it has caused a lot of problems for me and I can see you are having some of the same problems as I did before all the sz. started up. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Keppra
 

I started reading this section because my husband has a long history of tonic seizures and thought I might be able to add something. Instead, I have learned quite a bit about Keppra. I have to take it for trigeminal neuralgia. I have the extreme fatigue and some of the other issues mentioned. My problem is I have tried to stop taking it but my trigeminal neuralgia immediately returns. I also take Lamictal.

I used to take topamax but it caused so many side effects. I was sick as a dog, I was losing all of my hair, it makes you dopey etc. Neurontin caused me a lot of problems also.

My husband has been on brand name Dilantin for years and years and as long as he takes it, he is fine. The neuro adjusts the dosage from time to time. You have to take Dilantin not the generic if you use it as it can cause seizures. Don't believe anyone who says that generic is as good as brand names, it has been proven otherwise for several medications. His neuro has to write a series of letters to our insurance company to get them to cover the brand name, because when they made him take the generic he had a really bad seizure and lost all signs of life. It took him over a year to get over that seizure.