Anyone been on Keppra? I’m going on it after various failed drugs, and, aside from the “KeppRage” I’ve heard about, I don’t know of any other experiences/side effects of it. I was having some serious memory problems on one of the other drugs, and I was wondering if there were any memory/other mental functioning problems you experienced on it??
Hi there,
Im Aaron. I take a gram of Keppra daily to stop partial seizures of my Occipital lobe. My experience on this drug has been terrific. Gotta admit I had a short fuse the first couple weeks I was on the stuff. But it has improved my quality of life more than I can express. I went from having seisures 4 to 5 times a month to having them 4 to 5 times a year. With little to no side effects. Might be a little bold of me to say but I feel all this talk of KeppRage is a it exaggerated. Give it a try. You wont turn into the Incredible Hulk. Good luck to you!!
I've been on Keppra three times, for me it was truly a life saver. Not only had the other anticonvulsants I tried failed to control my seizures they also left me feeling very suicidal. Fortunately I was able to talk about it and my friends and family were helpful and supportive and neurologist who is great, worked really hard to help me find the right medication.
With Keppra the only time I had breakthrough seizures was when the insurer refused to pay for the name brand and I had to go on generic. The bad thing about going on the generic was not only did I have breakthrough seizures every time I was put on it, I also had breakthrough seizures every time the pharmacy purchased their generic Keppra from a different manufacturer than the time before. So my doctor had to write the order for name brand Keppra only.
Anyhow my mood improved. I still felt a little low but nothing like the depression I experienced on the other meds. I don't remember having any rages on the Keppra. I did experience hair loss. However I was on a really high dose of Keppra for a good long while after gamma knife. On the upside my gums did improve with the med change. I still had occasional forgetfulness but on Keppra it was more like - walking into a room to get something and then occasionally forgetting why I went in there/what I was looking for.
The difference between forgetfulness on Keppra and the other anticonvulsants is with the nastier meds I might not remember for weeks or ever why I went in there, what I was after, no matter how hard I tried. And it would happen many, many, many times every day. Whereas on the Keppra it didn't happen very often and most times it would come back to me and usually fairly soon too. Which was a tremendous improvement.
My memory on the other seizure meds was so bad that I became a chronic interrupter, this because if I didn't hurry up and quick get whatever thought it was in my mind out I would forget what I was trying to say. Not so bad if it's just idle gossip you're trying to communicate perhaps but very scary when it's something like - Help! I'm bleeding! Fortunately that time there was blood so though I forgot what it was I was trying to report at least the person I was attempting to communicate with was able to guess.
Anyhow as with all of the seizure meds I've ever tried I had problems with acid reflux while on Keppra but the good news is after only just three or four days off Keppra for me it has always completely, entirely gone away. I don't have GERD but when I'm on seizure meds I have GERD like symptoms. Then I have to be on routine Prilosec and gulp Tums like Tic Tacs. Now that I'm seizure med fee though I no longer need antacids, am able to drink coffee and enjoy eating whatever I care to whenever I wish :)
Hopefully you'll have better luck with the generic version of Keppra than I did or at least able to be on a much lower dose because it's very expensive. At one point just the cost of my Keppra alone was $600.00 a month. Then I had to have the Prilosec. And then I needed vitamin B-12 shots because of the long term stomach acid suppression caused by the antacids, as well as iron, which even though the iron is dirt cheap was still just one more added expense thing... Fortunately even though each and every insurer fought me at every turn ultimately, eventually it (along with all my other meds) was covered but I really don't know how families without insurance cope.
Even before I got on Keppra, when I was on much more affordable AEDs well at one point I was on something like 26 pills a day - a far cry from inexpensive that's for sure! Plus on those other meds I was constantly in and out of the doctor, the ER and the hospital for blood test after blood test, brain scans/imaging, breakthrough seizures, for malabsorption, for phenytoin crisis, for... I think eventually the insurer just decided it would probably be cheaper in the long run to just pay for the Keppra if it would keep me out of the ER and away from having to have yet another MRI just to make sure I wasn't having a bleed.
Other than the things I mentioned I can't think of any other issues/mental problems specific to the Keppra. Pretty much all seizure meds make me feel slow, sluggish - less than ideally quick, thick, dumb and stupid. All leave me to some degree with zip for an attention span and completely rob me of all abillity to do anything but the very most basic and simple of math in my head. I'm very grateful I didn't have to be on seizure meds as a child because I don't see how any child could go to school drugged like that and learn and feel good about themselves and be happy to live life in such a state.
About all I can hope is that maybe if children are started on them early enough then they never develop those issues because with nothing else to compare it to for them that is normal as it's all they've ever known? Or maybe children, able to be on lower doses, don't have such a time of it? I don't know I can only just hope that in schools they have special programs to help children in regular classrooms because it seems like a child would be very at risk in a traditional setting of being labeled slow, disobedient, obstinate, difficult, lazy or just plain not trying if they were sent to school all drugged up like that without any kind of awareness, understanding on the part of the school/teachers about what they were really up against, facing every day. If it's such a challenge as it was for me as an adult then I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like for a child.
I'm on the generic of Keppra and haven't had any problem at all. Thankfully, it works very well for me.
I been on Keppra for 13 years (both name brand and generic). I have never had any problem with it. Keppra is a God send!!
Amen, Kimberly!
I’m on Keppra and have been fine. It seems to have reduced my seizures.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR RESPONSES!!
I have been on keppra since May 2010 and I think it has really helped me. I don’t notice any side effects. Brooke
I've been on Keppra (generic) for a year now. I kept increasing from 500mg twice per day up to 2000mg twice per day and the side effects weren't as pronounced with each increase. When I started taking it, I had a noticeably hard time sleeping for about a week. That difficulty was present but less severe with each increase in dosage. I felt a little bit of general uneasiness (stomach, balance, mood, etc.) with each dose increase, but it was very minimal. Keppra still didn't hold me even after exceeding the max recommended dose, so I started taking Vimpat with it and I've only had one focal seizure in the past 3 months or so.
I guess to answer your question directly: I definitely never had any rage or other lasting psychological side effects.
My daughter tried every anti-seizure med out there. Once they added Keppra they have definitely decreased alot. My daughter is 16yrs old but cognitive is only 2months so as far as memory problems that would apply to her. I can say it has done very well with her seizures though. She is on that combined with Topamax. Best of luck to you!!!
I had the same problem with my daughter. The generics DONT work for her only the brand name. Every time she has to go into the hospital I have to take her supply with us too. Yes, very expensive and an insurance battle every month as everything else is too. Amazing story hope you are doing well!!
Hello! I took keppra for several years. I felt fatigue, but no serious mood swings. in my experience anything that reduces my seizures gives me a feeling of more well being. Good luck dear!
I had been taken off Keppra for a little while and put on monotherapy with just Lamictal 200mg twice a day. Then on March 31st I had another seizure at work and got put back on it along with the Lamictal. I do believe the time I was off of the Keppra my memory was better, but now that I am back on it I get so frustrated because it seems to make me forgetful and generally look stupid in front of my donors. (I work at a blood donation center). But I haven't had any issues with anger. Might be because I take Prozac. LOL....
Melissa....You are right...I have no problem with anger since taking Keppra and I also take an anti-depression med, Lexapro....so I think it may be the solution for those who have an issue with anger while taking Keppra......Very, very interesting!
Hi. I am in the process of weaning off Tegretol which I have been on for 20 years, and going on Keppra now. Before that I was on Dilantin for 18 years. It has been 55 years since AVM, but still get partial seizures. I will let you know if I get any meaner than I already am.
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