Vimpat for Seizures User Reviews (Page 5)

• Joe...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 24, 2021

"Effective drug, but within the first 2 hours of taking a dosage, I have to catch myself getting irritable/bad-tempered. In my case, I can't drink caffeine/sugar and take this drug at the same time without turning mean. Very expensive without insurance. ($1509.09/bottle). There is a manufacturer's discount card."

• Cry...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 23, 2015

"I take Vimpat 200 mg in the morning and at night. I have been on it for the past 7 years, but recently I have had severe vertigo to where the room felt like it was spinning, and I would end up sick for hours. I have to take a pill for dizziness, it's gotten so bad. I think it's time for a change. I'm just scared to change because I have Grand Mal seizures, and I am severely allergic to Lamictal and Dilantin. I don't know what to do next. I take Depakote 500 mg ER in the morning and at night and 250 mg ER at night. But I need that extra med at night to keep my seizures at bay."

• djc...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 6, 2021

"I've had seizures since I was 8, mine were tonic-clonic on both sides of the brain. Normally, I was seeing a neurologist but didn't know there is an epilepticus doctor that just specializes in just epilepsy and can help you better. Anyway, I'm 45 now and take Vimpat and Keppra and can't sleep. I keep smelling ammonia and sometimes I feel so angry, but thank goodness I can control my rage. I get so tired sometimes I sleep until I pee myself. It is just crazy, I'd rather try to get off these meds than be on them!"

• Cye...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 24, 2018

"I started this medication in 2011. The Vimpat, along with clonazepam, has worked perfectly for me. I haven't had a seizure since 2012. I do notice my vision has changed, a little more blurred, but I am over 55, so I guess that also comes with age. I am happy Vimpat works for me!"

• Bjo...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 16, 2015

"Vimpat made me see double of everything after the first week I took it. Very bad feeling did not help my seizures well. Only down by 50%. And felt at night restless in legs. Dizziness when walking in the daytime. Not take anymore, feel better. Now take Topamax, and I find it much better."

• giz...
• August 9, 2015

"Been taking Dilantin for grand mal. Started getting partial and hangover headache every day. Started Vimpat. Clear head, no headaches, no partials or headache. Side effects: constipation and limited sleep, so take melatonin for sleep and Colace. So far, so good."

• mdb...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 29, 2024

"Vimpat has been a lifesaver for me. After my brain tumor, which caused seizures that never left, and trying just about all the seizure meds, this is the only one that really works. Every medicine has side effects, but this medicine has the least for me. I highly recommend and push through the side effects of titrating to your sweet level of seizure stopping."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 20, 2024

"I started having seizures during my menopause... I thought that it was hormonal, and doctors believed that the amount of seizures I was having was not hormonal. They determined it was the temporal lobe. I was put on every gut-wrenching pill that took away all warnings that a seizure would happen, and that was worse for me, in my opinion, since I had to walk everywhere. In October 2017, I was put on VIMPAT at Johns Hopkins, which was not part of Kaiser's formulary, and that is the reason why that drug was not offered. I was asked to try it and, wow, talk about fantastic. No more seizures and none of the problems of memory or words or things that you are determining drug-related because, for me, it was seizure-related. I am experiencing weight gain, and I do not know if it is from age or the pills. I exercise, and it does not seem to help. So, it is weight gain, but otherwise, it's totally fantastic."

• jcr...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 11, 2016

"I was on Keppra, my doctor switched me to Vimpat. I can't see right. Walking is like a newborn trying to begin to walk, hitting into walls, trouble sleeping, biting my inner cheeks a lot, very sore. Can't sleep well. Feel something is going on while sleeping. My bottom front lip is all cut and very sore. I don't recommend, not worth it. I would rather have seizures."

• Anonymous
• October 14, 2021

"Honestly, one of the worst seizure medications I have ever been on. I haven't been able to move my body all day. The whole upper half of my body is locked up the whole entire time of taking this medication. My shoulders were locked up occasionally, and I just thought it was weird. I didn't think it was from this medication. I have also not been able to remember anything. The first night I took this medication, I vomited everywhere. I feel like I'm spinning, and I've been taking this medication for at least a month and a half. Do not let your doctor put you on this medication, please trust me. I have not been able to move all damn day. It also says it causes anxiety, and I have BPD and all kinds of other issues, so I'm pretty annoyed at my doctor. It seems like all these neurologists aren't good at thinking. This medication is also extremely expensive, and I have insurance. Even with insurance, it was expensive. This medication cost too much, and it's completely ineffective. It just caused me more pain than I was in."

• Anonymous
• April 18, 2021

"I have been on 3000 mg Keppra 750, and now I'm 1000 mg Keppra with Vimpat. Keppra seems to work some days, but mostly keeps me up, less appetite. I am 36, being diagnosed just a year ago with TLE epilepsy. I can't drive, work, or even live alone. One thing that has helped with panic attacks, manic episodes is taking vitamin B6. It helps with the neuroreceptors."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 12, 2017

"Had blurry double vision the first week and a half, felt mildly drunk-headed, also random spaciness, and yes, that's a word lol. Also on Trileptal. So far, it's helped, but it seems to be an intoxicating substance, or it really brings out the side effect profile of clonazepam. I would bet it's Vimpat alone."

• CHR...
• November 18, 2023

"I recently switched from phenytoin to Vimpat and everything went very smoothly. I am very grateful for that because I have God to thank for it. I don't have any side effects, and it has done wonders for me. I am thankful for that as well. God has answered all of my prayers. He has not let me down at all. This drug has been a wonder drug for me."

• Spl...
• September 10, 2022

"Good pill. I like Vimpat better than Keppra! But at the beginning, you will experience anxiety and brain fog. When I say it slows your brain down, it slows it down for a couple of weeks. And the short-term memory loss you’ll have for a couple of weeks is horrible. Once you get past all of that, you’ll feel good! I’m on the 150 mg. You gotta push to get past the anxiety it gives you! It gave me such bad anxiety I ended up having a seizure! Lol."

• Vim...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 1, 2015

"I was initially given 75 mg twice a day for a seizure related to a brain tumor. The tumor was removed. I started radiation and chemo 1 month later on the same dose for another month. I went to a neurologist because I was told he would prescribe any meds for anti-seizure. Well, he doubled the dose for 2 weeks, then tripled it. Now I'm totally useless. They won't tell me why they tripled the dose, only that I could have another seizure and that doctor was responsible. I'm not understanding why, if I had absolutely no symptoms, why he would do this."

• Jie...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 31, 2021

"Drugs work okay, but can't take more than 300 mg a day without side effects (anger problems). Current insurance company will only pay for 75% of the cost, therefore, going to talk to neuro about finding a new drug. Taken all the old stuff (Keppra, Tegretol, Depakote), Depakote is awful."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 18, 2021

"I have been using this drug for years now, switched to this from levetiracetam because it would make me very drowsy every day. Vimpat doesn't come with that side effect and it does effectively prevent my nocturnal seizures. Unfortunately, there have been times where I either forgot or ran out of tablets, and if I had stress during that time, relapses would occur. So, I don't see myself ever coming off this drug. As other people are saying, I have also been having trouble with speech and memory, and it's getting noticeably worse. Levetiracetam was also recommended as a memory-protecting drug, but it causes too much drowsiness."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 21, 2021

"I went unconscious driving, and have had an insane irregular heartbeat. I am in the process of switching medicine. It is listed as a side effect and missed by many people at the hospital that this medicine could be the problem. The serious downfall of this medicine is the cost and lack of data showing side effects."

• Try...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 21, 2021

"Vimpat doesn't stop nocturnal seizures for me. 200 mg am and pm. Side effects are mild, the biggest problem for me is not constipation but motility. I can't go for two days at a time. Very annoying but tolerable if this would work. Also taking Fycompa, no help but had to reduce because it caused eye irritation. I wish Parke Davis still made Dilantin back when it worked right!!!"

• Rav...
• March 22, 2021

"I started taking Vimpat two and a half weeks ago. I started at 50 mg twice daily and now I'm on 100 mg twice daily as I come off of Carbatrol. It's worth noting that I also take Keppra. I find my seizures have gone WAY down, and the ones I have are much weaker. However, I have noticed a change in my thought process. Nothing I consider to be bad, but definitely different. If I had to describe it, I now think in tie-dye. For example, one night I sat there thinking about ghosts. Simple enough, right? Well, then I thought, if when we die, we are a spirit and spirits roam the world...what happens when everyone is dead? Are we all a bunch of spirits roaming Earth? And if that's the case, then when we look at meteors that used to be planets out in space, are the hunks of rock covered in spirits of other beings that once lived? So naturally, I talked to a friend about this, and we discovered that a side effect can be mania. However, I don't feel manic. I just feel good, productive, happy."

• 042...
• February 19, 2021

"USE WITH MAJOR CAUTION. This medicine does wonders for seizures but can very easily over-medicate you. This stuff had me to the point I thought my own family was against me. I truly thought I was all alone, and thank God."

• SMS...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 26, 2023

"I have been taking Vimpat since 2014, and it works pretty well for me, although I do still have an occasional seizure. I want to comment on the considerable expense. When I was still working, I found vouchers from the manufacturer for brand-name Vimpat. Sometimes I paid as little as $40 for a 30-day supply. They will not give vouchers if you are on Medicare or any government program, so after I retired, I insisted on the generic Lacosamide, which is expensive but much cheaper than the brand without a voucher, of course. I did not know for a long time that there was a generic. I hope the voucher information is useful."

• Luc...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 22, 2022

"I had one seizure and was put on Keppra, and I had all the side effects there were, plus some, so the doctor put me on Vimpat. I told the doctor that I have never had a seizure before, and I am taking a lot of other meds for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, no thyroid, just a lot of other things. I'm worried about their interaction with other things, and I only have one kidney and have brain cancer. I'm wondering if I should have even been put on this kind of med for the simple reason that I have only had that one. Would anybody know? My insurance covers $1,600.00, but I still have to pay $90.00 a month, that's a lot to pay when you don't have that much money at the end of the month."

• Con...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 20, 2022

"My problem with this medication is that the liquid form has been stopped. My pharmacy is being told it is on back order with no ETA on getting it in. My child has been on this medication for a few years and now will have to suffer withdrawals because of this. With the hopes that different medication can get into his system and get the seizures back under control and help stop the withdrawal seizures to boot."

• bar...
• September 7, 2009

"Vimpat has been a great medicine compared to all of the other seizure medicines. Vimpat has minimal side effects, and this is a HUGE benefit to me."