Im taking Keppra now and have known people that after the surgery have to take this medicine for the rest of their lives.Ive never had a convulsing seizure just what they call a partial seizure but i dont even recall having those…thought they were just muscle spasms.But my question is …has anybody came off the medicine within a few months after the crainiotomy and have been fine??
Kevin, My neurodoc told me that perhaps I won’t need anti-seizure med for the rest of my life…that they would see how I am doing at the 3 year mark after my crainiotomy. Will…I just cut back on my med myself at the 3 year mark and had a grand mal seizure. To answer your question, don’t try to stop taking the med yourself…have your Doctor make the decision. Once I had my grand mal seizure at the 3 year point, I was then told that I would have to take the med for the rest of my life.
Kevin,
I had embolizations and gamma knife for treatment. My surgeon also told me I could come off my AED so I did, however, 3 months later I had a seizure. Turns out after follow up with my neurologist I will need to stay on life long.
I came off Keppra after my surgery in May 2010. Had an EEG done recently and last week showed high abnormality for seizures/epliepsy so back on meds. They have me on Depakote XR which is not going well. Waiting for a call back from the Dr. today.
Kevin
Let your medical team make the call. I have been on Keppra for about 14 months now. Last week they cut my dosage by half and will monitor me for the next two months. I have never had a seizure, and if i stay seizure free, they are looking at stopping the medication.
Just something my team mentioned - seizures may be brought on by a mix of alcohol, stress and fatigue - but your medical team should guide you. Best of luck, Tony
HI kevin, as others have said, the best thing to do is let your medical people make the call! They are the one's who know what is going on.
I will be taking Keppra for life because I have to, due to my surgery and brain damage, so I think that it's a small price to pay for peace of mind and health!
All the best, Lesley.
My AVM ruptured in July '09 I also had a huge seizure that morning My crani was within a day or so and I started on Kepra then. I was on it for about 1 year until I transferred to a different state for more outpatient rehab. By then I had no more seizures and was working to get back to normal, So after 18 months or so (under medical supervision My new docs let me drop off the Kepra and the Zoloft) I am now a drug free me! However I still take Prevacid for reflux, which I had taken for 10 yrs before and is totally unrelated-- as far as I know-- to the whole AVM detour....
Good Luck
Nicole
I have never had a seizure, either before or after my Craniotomy in 2008. I was put on Keppra after my initial bleed (this is when I was diagnosed, in Sept. 2007) as a preventive medication, and was taken off of it two months after my surgery. I have been off of it now for over three years and am still seizure-free.
I agree with others, though, that you should absolutely stick to your doctor's advice. He/She knows your medical history, and will be able to make the best assessment based on that. Is there a specific reason you want to be off of it? If there is I would bring this up at your next appointment to see if your doc thinks it would be OK for you to start weaning off.
Best of luck!
Hi. I came off Keppra after just 3 months after never having a seizure. Then last week, 18 months after the surgery, I had a grand mal seizure while driving and will probably have to be on anti-seizure meds for life. I was told any scar tissue makes you susceptible for seizures for life. Side effects of meds suck, but seizures are really really scary.
Hey Kevin,
How are you doing? Does your seizure pill has any side-effect on you?
Is your EEG result normal? I was told if the EEG is normal, then you could come off the anti-seizure med.
I had my first seizure, then I was taking Dilantin, a different antiseizure medicine back when they didn’t know what was going on in my head. After a couple of years, I tried to cut back without a doctor, and had another one. The good news was they found the AVM this time. After I had the crainiotomy and gamma knife, a couple years later, I worked with the doctor to get off this stuff. It worked much better by doing it with the doctor. No seizures for 20 years.