I'm taking 1 x 400 mg Tegretol Retard morning and night plus 4 x 500mg of Epilim each evening. Is anybody else on these drugs or have experience of them? I have been told that Epilim can cause weight gain and I'm 1 1/2 stone overweight, or maybe I just eat too much anyway!
Come on guys someone must have something to say about these drugs. I've not had a fit for about 9/10 years so they must be working. I did have a 'collapse' a few years ago when I was ill but I've had nothing since.
Okay. You asked for it! My son is on 1250 mg of depakote (same as epilim right?) a day. He's also on 100 mg of keppra per day. No seizures (not until we added keppra actually) but he has gained weight on the depakote and he just can't think like he used to. Only a few pounds weight gain but that's a lot when you are just under five feet tall. Patrick's ten and I pray he doesn't gain a ton. Being a kid with E is hard enough.
His neuro says the weight gain is from the drug making you think you are hungry. It irritates the lining of the stomach and makes you feel like you want to eat more. I haven't noticed Patrick eating that much more but AED's can make you lethargic. I think that contributes to the weight gain too.
Thanks for your reply buliem I really appreciate it.
I'm not aware that Depakota is the same as Epilim but I've not done any research just accepting what meds I've been given. I was told initially that Epilim could cause weight gain. I feel sorry for your son cause kids can be so cruel and I hope you doesn't gain too much more weight - you can cope with weight gain better as an adult; I am now cycling to work and I'm not feeling so lethargic as you say. It's a bit concerning that he had no seizures until he went on keppra - should you be talking to your consultant about that?
What makes him unable to think like he used to? Is this a side effect of one of the drugs; the fact that he has become lethargic or the fact that he has epilepsy? I'd be interested to hear what you and other people have to say about that because I have recently heard that from another source but I thought that was the side effect of a drug.
Actually it is 1000 mg of Keppra. Sorry the 100 was a typo. I looked it up and Epilim is essentially the same drug as Epilim. It is Valproate.
Patrick was on 1500 mgs of depakote but he was really out of it and he was still having seizures. Grand mals in fact. His blood levels were well over therapeutic (something the neuro denies) but the drug company and the pharmacist support. Anyway we couldn't go up anymore on the depakote so we added the Keppra. Poof! No more seizures.
Yes the drugs have slowed him down quite a lot and have negatively affected his attention span. All AEDs do that though to one extent or the other. It's a trade off. His seizures could be life threatening so we have to accept the side effects I guess. Having seizures of course made him tired and foggy headed too.
Do a web search on epilepsy and learning/memory. Epilepsy can negatively effect these things. It's not just the drugs.
BTW Patrick only had petite mal (abscence seizures) before the depakote. Not sure if the disease just progressed or the depakote caused them and the keppra stopped it. Epilepsy can be such a tricky disease.
Tegretol Retard & Epilim
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