Keppra for Seizures User Reviews (Page 4)

• SJT...
• December 18, 2007

"I have been taking Keppra for 6 years now. It has helped my grand mal seizures out somewhat. My doctor has tried me on so many other seizure meds along with this one. I have experienced mood changes and all kinds of others, but this is the only seizure med that keeps them calmed down. Not kept away, but calmed down enough to where I can have somewhat of a life."

• Nka...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 11, 2015

"My fiancé (22 yrs old, 130 lbs) has been on Keppra combined with Vimpat for over a year, and he has had very bad mood swings, weight loss, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, depression, and irritability/quick temper. We are trying to find out if there is another medication he can take in combination with these to help combat the side effects, or if someone has found another med that works as well with less severe side effects, seeing this is the only med that has helped his seizures so far (diagnosed at 17). Anyone else with a similar problem, or know what might help?"

• Bob...
• June 30, 2011

"I have been taking Keppra for 4 years. When I keep up with a 2000 mg dose daily, I rarely have seizures anymore. When I go off the medicine, they come back. I would have to say it does the trick with minimal side effects."

• CKL...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 22, 2015

"I am 37 years old and have had Petit Mal seizures since I was 2 years old. My seizures were always controlled on Epival. However, this drug isn't safe during pregnancy, so my doctor prescribed me Keppra (500 mg) before we started to try for a baby. Keppra works well for me to control the Petit Mal seizures. However, it has really bad side effects. It made me extremely tired and quite moody. The worst part about this medication is that it caused me to have 2 Grand Mal seizures (10 weeks and 18 weeks). Before these 2 seizures, I had never had a Grand Mal before. I am now off of Keppra and on Lamotrigine and feel great. I have energy and feel like myself again. Best of all, no Grand Mal seizures!"

• Anonymous
• August 19, 2009

"This has been my lifesaver. I've been on this for 7 years or more. I take 4500 mg a day along with 600 mg Lamictal a day. With each increase, I have better control, but this knocked me out when increased in larger increments. People say I look tired, but I'm so used to it I don't notice. Unfortunately, I can't think straight. My reading, comprehension, and learning are shot. I've been trying college for years, each increase brings better control. I wish I could stop the medication for a few days to see if there is another world out there, but my brain gives me an unfortunate reminder if I'm late."

• G G...
• June 17, 2008

"I have been taking Keppra for 3 years now. I used to take Lamictal and felt crazy during that time. I used to feel sleepy, and at first, I couldn't wake up in the morning when I started taking Keppra, but now I am happy to be on it. My biggest issue with Keppra is the rising cost and the fact that my body gets used to it, so I have to increase my dose."

• Al1...
• December 14, 2017

"My boyfriend is 22 years old, and he has never experienced seizures before. Then one day at work, after not eating or sleeping very well, he had a seizure (I forget what kind of seizure). He was rushed to the hospital, and they did scans and tried to send him home. After 10 minutes of leaving the hospital, he had another seizure. (Just to mention, his dad's sister has seizures and is on Dilantin.) Then he had a bunch of CAT scans and an EEG, and nothing came back. But now he has to take Keppra 4000 mg a day for 3 months. He hates it. He's very moody now, depressed, and he was never like this before. They are going to do a stress test after the 3 months of taking Keppra and see if not sleeping and eating right caused abnormal brain waves... I just want this to be over."

• Ang...
• February 16, 2012

"In April 2010, I went into grand mal seizures, which were found to be due to brain cancer. After surgery and being sent home, I was put on Keppra. As of Feb 2012, I have not had a seizure since, but I have found this medicine makes me very tired and I itch all over all the time. I was taking 500 mg in the morning and 500 mg in the evening. Then we changed it to 1000 mg in the evening and none in the morning. I find it very hard to get motivated in the mornings. I want to stay in bed and sleep. I take antidepressants, but I'm not depressed or crying. I had been, and they felt under the circumstances I needed to stay on the antidepressant. We tried changing it, and I still stayed very tired, and that is why I am sure it's the Keppra making me so tired. Otherwise, kudos."

• Rya...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 16, 2016

"My brother had a tumor 15 years ago removed after having a seizure. Takes 1000 mg Keppra a day. He has mood swings, diarrhea if he does eat before, and delusional. Still effective. I started having anxiety attacks and seizures at 24 years of age. Neurologist prescribed me Keppra 500 mg daily and 2 mg Xanax a day when needed, usually, I break Xanax into pieces as you can because they have little bars to do so. I don't have any side effects besides feeling sleepy at the end of the day. I don't take Xanax until after work at the end of the day as Xanax does make me sleepy. Keppra deserves a 10 for me. But my brother rates it a 7. Everyone is different. I know this is for Keppra, but Xanax is not for anyone, a lot of people can't handle the drug and can't control themselves. Let the doctor determine."

• Kar...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 2, 2013

"It works most of the time. I developed epilepsy when I was almost 60 years old, and the first medication I took gave me horrible headaches. This works, but it also can give me diarrhea, and when that happens and the medicine doesn't stay in my body long enough to work, I can have mild attacks. Sometimes I have the mild, brief attacks even when the medicine stays in me."

• Nel...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 7, 2023

"I've been on Keppra for about 6 years. Over my lifetime, I've been prone to periodic depression, but this drug brought on almost major depression, especially the last 2 plus years. It also caused a lot of anger, irritability, agitation, impatience, fatigue, and easily brought on crying (I was never a big crier). I'm off it now for only 6 days. Too soon to say, but I do feel a bit calmer. I pray that I improve."

• Ala...
• April 6, 2009

"I have been taking Keppra for about four years now. I have had no negative side effects or weird stuff that happens to those on Keppra. I plan on taking 2000 mg daily, so hopefully I will not have any seizures."

• Hai...
• November 18, 2007

"My daughter is now six years old, and she began taking Keppra at age 3 after the severe seizure she had that put her in a coma. She has many behavioral issues with Keppra as a downfall, but it has maintained control of the grand mal seizures. So, we give it a chance for the simple reason of the seizure-free time."

• rob...
• September 2, 2009

"My 19-year-old daughter started having grand mal seizures 3 years ago and was started on Keppra. She was started at 500 mg/day and is now at 1000 mg/day. Since starting, her seizures have been kept about 95% at bay. She still has an occasional mild seizure (2 in the past year), and they haven't been nearly as intense or as long as before starting Keppra. I'm very pleased, and I know she is relieved. The only side effect I've noticed is some constipation. I haven't seen any negative changes in her demeanor."

• Anonymous
• November 16, 2011

"I've been taking this medicine since December 2009, and I haven't had a seizure while taking it. I've doubled my dose according to my doctor's instructions since then and am now taking 3000 mg/day, the max adult dose. I've noticed an increase in anxiety and severe anxiety symptoms since beginning Keppra, but other than that, it's been a great medicine."

• Anonymous
• January 18, 2016

"I have jerky events that have not technically been epilepsy, but it runs throughout my mom's side of the family, and I have just started Keppra at 2000 mg a day. I have been on Topamax for a couple of years now, and my doctor added Keppra in conjunction with 300 mg Topamax a day, since only 400 mg of Topamax a day was not working and the side effects of memory loss and painful pins/needles were too awful to deal with. Keppra so far has only made me feel zonked and not too hungry, but my memory is coming back, which I am happy about. I also have not had an event. I am sure the zonkiness will wear off with some time."

• Wit...
• May 18, 2015

"I'm 63 now. Using Keppra (levetiracetam) 500 mg has been a good choice by my neurologist for approximately 5 yrs. I take 750 mg at bedtime, and it has worked well. My insurance covers Keppra, but levetiracetam is more affordable and has worked for me."

• wat...
• May 28, 2010

"I did not get seizures daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly, not that I'm aware of anyway. I had my first major seizure at 37 years old at a wedding, the next one was at 42 years old, and recently, May 10 (46 years old), on my way to work at our ferry. I've been on Tegretol, Dilantin, and now Keppra... now I see the difference. The Keppra is working great where before I may have been having light seizures and did not know it. My eyes were blinking too fast. I thought that was tired eyes, my right hand would become numb while sleeping, and I thought it was just from sleeping the wrong way."

• yog...
• July 16, 2008

"I had brain surgery in December 1996. A tumor was found in the middle of my brain. I had been having blackouts for 16 years before they could find it. I had been on Dilantin before the surgery. It worked, but the doctor said Keppra was much better, so I was put on Keppra after the operation and haven't had a blackout since."

• Luk...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 15, 2016

"I have had epilepsy from 18 months old, started on Epilim. By the time I turned 3, I was seizure-free till I was 16. Just before my math exam, I had a seizure, wasn't exactly sure what caused it. I went to my GP, I was put on 100 mg of lamotrigine, then went up to 250 mg of lamotrigine, finished on 300. The drug didn't work at all. I was then referred to see a neurologist, and we started off taking Keppra 500 mg alongside the lamotrigine. We then moved to 750 mg of Keppra with the lamotrigine BD. After all of that, we then moved to 1000 mg BD, since then to know, I'm now on 4 grams a day alongside 600 mg of oxcarbazepine and currently on 6 mg of Perampanel. I'm getting the drowsiness, tiredness, and from the Keppra, I'm turning aggressive."

• Lor...
• June 5, 2008

"My epilepsy began when I was 7 years old, and I've always been treated with multiple drugs because seizures didn't stop. I've been using Keppra for 3 weeks and haven't had any seizures. I'm so happy with this drug. The only side effect I've felt is I get a bit sleepy after taking the pill. I surely recommend it."

• off...
• January 19, 2011

"After thirty-plus years unable to control nocturnal seizures with Dilantin, Tegretol, and now, Tegretol XR, I now take 500 mg of Keppra twice daily plus the XR and am controlled night and day with no noticeable side effects. This has lasted for the last six years. I am very pleased and glad to get rid of those nocturnal seizures with their aftereffects. The difficult part is the cost of the non-generic, especially as I get older."

• Mar...
• April 12, 2015

"I began using generic Keppra in 10/14 after four seizures, 500 mg in the am and pm. There were abnormalities in my EEG. No seizures, but very sleepy and sluggish during the day and weight gain. Neurologist changed medication to one Keppra extended release three weeks ago, and now I'm losing my hair. I'm calling the neurologist to see what we can do."

• Sha...
• October 5, 2008

"Really is a wonder drug. It almost got rid of all my seizures, but they are back again due to a trigger. It kept them away for 3 months, which is a miracle for me. I would get seizures every day for months. It was miserable. Plus, this stuff hasn't given me awful side effects like many other anti-convulsant medicines."

• dat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 7, 2022

"Do not take Keppra if you have any psychiatric issues. It may stop seizures, but with the terrifying risk of Keppra rage. There is no need to take the risk. Try a different AED, this drug was a nightmare. I lost my job because of Keppra rage."