Hi everybody - hows it going ?

I am going onto Keppra as Lamictal did not do the job for me.

I realize that everyone is different but on the whole I would like to find out which of the two medications has the least side effects, as well as been the most effective in controlling the average seizure.

Thanks a lot Craig...:)

Hi Craig

Like you said, meds all effect different people in different ways and as everyone's epilepsy is different, one person's "wonder drug" will be another's nightmare. So I can't give you much more than my experiences with both of them.

Lamictal was the first drug my neuro tried me on (Dec 1998). He chose this drug because it is generally effective in controlling my type of epilepsy (Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy; I have tonic clonics, myoclonic jerks and absence seizures) and because I am a female of child bearing age (Lamictal has fewer bad reports concerning side effects for any future pregnancies - I realise the pregnancy bit isn't of much concern to you, being male, but it was very important in my neuro's decision). So the Lamictal controlled my tc's reasonably well but not the other 2 types - other drugs were introduced and taken away but I've always remained on quite a low dosage of Lamictal until recently when my neuro finally came to the conclusion it wasn't doing it's job. I was introduced to Keppra (after trying Clonazepam, Epilem and Topamax) a couple of years ago and experienced no side effects other than "mad half hours" (which were sometimes quite good fun actually) and these eventually stopped, but it hasn't controlled my seizures all that well, so Lyrica has now been added in (Lamictal will be tapered out soon).

So that's my experience with those ones, seizure wise Lamictal was better for me than Keppra but side-effect wise Keppra has been the best for me out of all my drugs :) . However I have heard some horror stories about Keppra and mood swings (it's also used as a mood stabiliser for bipolar disorder)... Here are some of the recognised effects though:

Sleepiness (typical of most AED's); loss of strength and energy; dizziness; anxiety; nervousness; irritability; other mood changes. Also problems with coughing/dry throat, swollen/tender glands and tingling (pins and needles). Because Keppra is a relatively new drug the long term side effects are not known :( .

Look on old threads on these boards for more info and other people's experiences on Keppra, there's loads.

Good luck!
Eilidh
x

I was switching from Keppra to Lamictal, after taking Keppra with little improvement. At the halfway point, where I was taking both, I saw a huge improvement. So I stayed on both, and increased the dose a bit. I have no side effects, other than severe dry mouth, especially when I sleep. I have a really demanding job, and I can actually concentrate most of the time. I also sleep really well. I seem to recall bouts of insomnia when I was on K.