Someone Please Tell Me About Keppra

Thread moved and reposted for Kim.

There is some info about Keppra on some other threads on this site, from parents of children that can describe what they are feeling. My son is on Keppra and we are slowly weaning him off of it. He is only 2 though so I can just tell you what I notice. He is uncoordinated and weak, he is not yet walking but he tries. From other parents I've read that it makes some feel foggy and they have difficulty concentrating. It is so hard to know with these meds, with my son, we weren't sure if problems were due to seizures or medications. As we wean him off meds slowly, I see that alot of his troubles were from the meds. He had the least amount of side effects with this drug though so that is why we kept him on it the longest. He is now on the Ketogenic Diet and having no seizures that we know of.

I hope this is helpful, Kim

My son, who is six has been on Keppra for over a month. I have to say that it has kept his seizure activity (complex partial and occasional drop seizures) at bay for the most part. However, it is not without side effects. He has autism and doesn't verbalize too much but from what I see it has changed his behavior. He doesn't form his words as well. He seems to be fumbling when walking sometimes. He screams for no apparent reason and will cry for no reason. We are slowly weaning him off and onto another medication. We will hopefully be trying the ketogenic diet very soon. So, in our case, it does control seizure activity but the side effects are too much for him. Margie

I don't have any information to share about Keppra. My daughter's not on it and her doctor has never prescribed it.

But I wanted to say that I'm really sorry to hear that your daughter's seizures have become more frequent. As hard as it is for any of our kids to have seizures, it must be really hard for s girl her age who's really ready to have an independent adult life.

And how hard for you! It sounds like her epilepsy has been well-controlled until now, and to have it become such a big problem is really concerning.

I guess the one thing I'd suggest is that she might want to see another neurologist, other than the one who prescribed the Keppra. There's another thread on here about a college-aged girl who was having trouble with sz. control that you might find helpful.

My daughter has been on Keppra since before xmas. I am only noticing now that it is somewhat helping with her seizures (abcence seiz). She is very tired and emotional and her side effects are all behaviour related. She is also taking Lamictal with the Keppra. Since day one my daughter has bad side effects to any meds and they are all behaviour related. She has been taking Risperidone to help control her moods. We'll see what will happen in the future. Wish you luck!

My daughter is 12 years old and an identical twin. She was diagnosed with Generalized Epilepsy last month by EEG. She had her first seizure 2 years ago, then nothing. She had her 2nd one in March, which we then went and had the EEG which led to the diagnosis.The neurologist put her on Keppra and the side effects have been horrible. She isn't the same child, it is scary and heartbreaking to say the least. My once bright and humerous child has become this foggy, zoned out girl.

I am a RN in a children's hospital and give Keppra all the time, in large doses to kids in the ICU, so have never had experience with it on the outside world until now. I have to say, that as a mother, and a nurse, the side effects of this drug far outwiegh the benefits for my daughter and am going to wean her off of it and try alternative therapy. I recently watched a movie called, FoodMatters which is a documentary. It sparked my own personal research into other therapies for epilepsy for my daughter which I am going to try. 

Has anyone else had any luck with Vitamen B6 therapy, Manganese, taurine, omega-3 or thiamine?

As a nurse, I will say that the incidence of kids having seizures is rising at an incredible rate, and I can only wonder if our food and environment have something to do with this rise. Obviously, the drug companies don't want to research this, because thier profit margins are rising like mad with this new rise in epilepsy, but as a health care professional, I feel like it is my duty to mom's (and dad's) like us, to look into this for our children. 

Sarah