Anyone taking Keppra

SentenceDoing

The side effects of Keppra seem to be very different depending on the person. I take 1250 mg of Keppra twice a day, and I've never had any side effects. I gained weight when I went on Tegretol (15 lbs or so), but lost what I had gained when the Keppra was added. So for me, Keppra made me lose weight, but only what I had gained from the Tegretol.
But then my Tegretol dose was increased, and I gained 15 lbs again. Grr.

Rebecca's Mom

Hi - my daughter Rebecca is taking 1500mg twice a day of keppra. I was really hesitant for her to take keppra due to the "rages". She is 22 and developmentally challenged so it is difficult to make decisions for her. She is very underweight as well. Keppra has not caused any major side effects. Unfortunatelly she has not gained any weight on it either. Hope it works for you.....all the best.....Paula

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Paula

cher1052

I've been taking Keppra for the past 4 years-no problem with it. The weight I gain/lose is from the tegretolxr I take.......Cherie

mom2kiddos

Hi there,
My 3 year old son was on Keppra for about 6 weeks until I asked about changing meds. He had horrible mood swings and terrible outbursts while on that med. Right now we are weaning him off the Keppra and onto Lamictal. It's been 3 weeks and there is already a noticeable difference now that the Keppra amounts have been lessening.
I have heard many people say though, that they experienced no change in behavior.

j2006

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. I am scared to try - but will.

I have a big day this saturday so I will start Sunday.

Really appreciated it.

Jane

KissAmeGal

hey there,
my daughter, who is 4 was on Keppra for awhile, she is just about weened off of it, thursday will be her last day on it. her new neuro put her on Depakote Sprinkles, 250mg 2x's a day, as the Keppra was not completely helping her. since on the Depakote,,,,,,,there has been a huge improvement. she hardly has the seizures anymore!!!! even the EEG she had done showed improvement while on the Depakote Spr. and although she is only 4, i guess the keppra WAS causing her to have outbursts........as since she's almost off of it, i don't see them anymore! : )
she was on the keppra at first as they dx'd her with complex partial seizures, now they are generalized. but things look good on the Dep. Sprinkles.

Good luck to you!

Travis from MN

In my situation, I was fighting a Dr who wanted to put me back on a bad combo when I started on Keppra. I somewhat quickly went up to 3000/day (1500mg AM and PM) and was fine. I had issues when the Dr did not pay attention to my complaints of problems and pushed me to 4000/day when symptoms started. Once I was reduced (ER Dr orders) back to 3000/day; within 36 hours I was back to normal, no problems.

That was what (making me think!!) a good 6-7 YEARS ago. Just in the last 20 months (or so) I had Keppra lowered for the first time due to high blood levels, but no noticable symptoms (like I had at 4000). We were only trying to drop my levels from mid 60's to where I had held before. Last test I was still a little high. Still am on Keppra.

Overall I give it good review from **my personal experience** on it; but each patient is different.

Over the years I have started out on (and am still on) Tegretol (in some form over the years). As well as:

Phenobarbital, Lamictal, Dilantin, Topamax, Depakote, Zonegran. (all but Topa has been in the past)... Meds effect our memory as well. I think thats my list :-)

I cannot comment on Keppra as Monotherapy (one medication only). I have almost always been on poly-therapy (two or more medications).

--Travis

aussie308

I take 750 mg. of keppa daily, broken up into 3 250mg doses. I was taking 500mg. once daily when I started on it but it made me way too sleepy. My dr. increased me to 750 after removing another med. and the way I take it I have no problems at all with side effects. I also take Trileptal 600mg. daily and just today stopped taking primidone all together after being weaned off. So far the keppra Trileptal combo works well for me with minimal side effects. The only one that bothers me occasionally anymore is daytime sleepiness if I'm not up doing something.

I think every person reacts differently to every med. And unfortunately in my experience over the last 5 1/2 yrs. anti-seiz. meds seem to have a very high potential for negative side effects.

Best of luck and hope you can tolerate it well as I do.

j2006

I started Keppra today. 250mg in the morning and I just took another 250mg. I am so very tired.

I am hoping that int he weeks to come it will get better.

Because I am having seizures I am not sleeping - therefore I got this"brain fog" - where I feel like I am walking around in a dream. I have had this syptm a year and 1/2. Today just a few hours after I took the Keppra it got better. So i am hoping the tiredness will subside.

Anyone have severe tiredness in the beginning but got better?

sher66

Hello,
I hope you have better luck then i did on Keppra. I to was very sleepy and fatigued. I was on the med about 4 weeks and all of a sudden i started crying for no reason. I became very emotional, also has rage episodes and could not come up with a answer why! My doc took me off and every thing went away.
sherr

j2006

Well this dose I took this evening - i just cleaned the entire house! This is weird. Sleept during the first dose this morning and now I have too much energy. Not anxiety thank God.

I hope this evens out! i hope i can sleep tonight.

cher1052

I don't remember those kinds of side effects-do yourself a favor and keep a journal-and talk with your nero about what has been happening. Good luck-Cherie

neurowreck

I was on Keppra briefly; the constipation was not responding to anything, and not worth any possible benefits when it added a risk factor for the seizures....I can take Tegretrol- with stable weight (and have for years), Klonopin, and Neurontin (though for another neuro disorder), along with as needed Ativan. This combo has helped me more than any of the other meds I"ve tried during the past 21 years. Weird how different folks can respond so differently to the same meds.

sunsweet

I took Keppra all the way up to 3000 mg (1500 mg x 2) and it brought me into a state of psychosis (a side-effect) and had to be taken off of it.

Keppra for me!