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Keppra...? I have recently been diagnosed with epilepsy and prescribed Keppra. Is Keppra a good medication to take? Side effects? Experiences? I'd be greatful of any insight because just looking up medications on the internet doesn't always help, especially on the Keppra site, for it's basicly just advertisement. I'd like to hear experiences with Keppra, thanks.

a doc replied: "Keppra is a relatively new anti-epileptic drug that is generally very well-tolerated. In addition to minimal side effects, it also has fewer interactions with other medications than most seizure medicines. I haven't personally taken the drug, but for most types of seizures this is the first drug I've seen used in my training so far."

Looking for a decongestive medicine safe to take with phenobarbital and keppra which I take for my seizures.? psydophedrin (not sure about the spelling) seems to trigger my seizures.

Hits P replied: "Avoid decongestant tablets especially pseudoephedrine if you are on these medicines. Your best bet is to use an inhalant or a decongestant nasal spray ( though nasal spray should be used only for a few days). Ask your pharmacist - he will know your medicine history and will be able to recommend the best remedy"

where could i find keppra in Malaysia? im looking for a medicine for my seizure and i've read about keppra and i think i should try it..

hopebrendenply replied: "http://www.constant.com.my/ Above is the website for a Malaysian pharmacy. You can find more Malaysian pharmacies by clicking on the link below. My best, Hope"

Has anyone taken a seizure medication named Keppra? My dad had an unexpected Grand Mal Seizure this weekend and was put on Keppra. The doctor told him there should be NO side effects. However, within 24 hours my dad became very easily irritated and negative. My dad is one of the most laid back and positive guys I know....so this demeanor change is really out of the ordinary. Cany anyone give me any information on YOUR experience with Keppra. I've looked it up on the internet, but I'd like to hear some personal experience stories to see if Dad is having a reaction or if he is dealing with something else. Thanks.

gedd500 replied: "Yep, I've been on Keppra for about 3 years now. I don't know how many people have side effects from keppra , but mood changes are a common one. I know I sometimes have mood swings, my friends are just used to it and kind of let me know I'm acting badly. Many anti seizure medications have more mental side effects than physical ones because they are basically messing with your brain (if that makes any sense at all). Memory problems, mood swings, and drowsiness are all common. Your dad could also be dealing with the stress of being diagnosed with epilepsy. It's never fun to find out you've got some kind of medical problem, and epilepsy is one that has a negative stereotype. Hopefully he will get a handle on that. You might want to let his doctor know of his mood changes, but he probably won't change the medication for a couple weeks to see how it goes."

My 3 month old daughter has very complicated and somewhat unknown medical problems. Does anyone know...? ...of a VERY good Neurologist that I can take her to? She has a chromosome disorder that the doctors have never seen before. We don't know what goes along with it so we are having to just watch and wait. We do know that it is the cause for a large hole in her heart that was surgically repaired on Nov. 14th, along with some physical features. Small, low placed ears, wide nasal bridge, underdeveloped jaw and pelvis, larger forehead. About 2 weeks after surgery she had a seizure in the hospital but the doctors blew it off because she didn't do it again in their presence... She had another one in the hospital that the nurse chalked up to an "underdeveloped nervous system" and said wasn't a seizure. Since we brought her home she has started having them more frequently and after 2 stays in the hospital (she was sent home because she didn't "perform"), 2 EEG's, and a fight with the Neurologist, it has been found that they are, indeed seizures. Before the seizures became more frequent, she had started doing a myoclonic jerk. This happens upward of 40 or 50 times in a day some days. She is also having strange "dystonic" movements where her eyes will look in strange directions, her head will turn from side to side constantly, her arms and legs will move. This will sometimes last for 30 min or more at a time where she just can't stop moving. I am having no luck with the doctors here. They aren't looking at the whole picture and are telling me that it's "just myoclonis" or "just dystonic movement" and "we are treating the seizures". Well, since she's been on Keppra, the seizures aren't as violent or frequent, but still happen every couple of days. The myoclonic spells and dystonic spells seem to happen when she is gearing up for a seizure or has just had one. My question is, has anyone seen this in an infant and what was done to help control this? Does anyone know of a GOOD neurologist that I can take her to? I am willing to travel as far as I have to in order to get her the help she needs because the answers just aren't coming from Arkansas.

kle_sam replied: "I would do some research on the internet and figure out the top 25 children's hospitals in the USA and contact all of them. I know the Children's hospital in Denver is good. And not terrifically far from you. The Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto, Canada is a very good research hospital too. Worth contacting. Maybe the Mayo Clinic? A great hospital in general. I just can't imagine how concerned you must be. Big hugs. EDIT: Ok, I did some research for you: Top neurology children's hospitals according to US News: 1Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore Baltimore , MD 55.8 100.0 2 Children's Hospital Boston Boston , MA 47.7 95.0 3 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia , PA 46.4 93.3 4 Children's Hospital Cleveland Clinic Cleveland , OH 27.2 72.7 5 Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Houston , TX 21.5 67.7 6 St. Louis Children's Hospital Saint Louis , MO 18.3 63.4 7 Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Rochester , MN 16.9 56.7 8 Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle Seattle , WA 14.1 56.5 9 Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland Cleveland , OH 14.7 54.8 10 Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Pittsburgh , PA 11 New York-Presbyterian Medical Center New York , NY 10.6 53.6 12 Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. Washington , DC 6.7 51.8 13 Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA 7.7 50.3 14 Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA 8.0 50.2 15 Children's Hospital, Denver Aurora , CO 5.7 49.7 16 Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago Chicago , IL 4.3 49.0 17 Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati , OH 4.4 48.9 18 Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif. Palo Alto , CA 11.0 48.4 19 UCSF Children's Hospital, San Francisco San Francisco , CA 12.5 48.2 20 Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville Nashville , TN 21 Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Detroit , MI 1.5 45.1 22 Miami Children's Hospital Miami , FL 4.9 44.7 23 Children's Medical Center Dallas Dallas , TX 1.5 44.6 24 Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio Columbus , OH 3.3 44.5 25 Schneider Children's Hospital, North Shore-LIJ Health System, New Hyde Park, N.Y. New Hyde Park , NY 0.0 44.4 26 Riley Hospital for Children Clarian Health Partners, Indianapolis Indianapolis , IN 1.5 43.9 27 Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Atlanta , GA 0.0 43.8 28 Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Milwaukee , WI 2.9 43.8 29 C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor , MI 1.4 43.0 30 Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City Salt Lake City , UT Top general children's hospitals according to US News 1Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia , PA 50.0 100.0 2 Children's Hospital Boston Boston , MA 43.6 94.0 3 Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Cincinnati , OH 24.9 67.5 4 Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore Baltimore , MD 19.5 60.8 5 Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Cleveland Cleveland , OH 18.0 60.2 6 Texas Children's Hospital, Houston Houston , TX 18.2 57.9 7 Children's Hospital, Denver Aurora , CO 14.0 52.6 8 Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, Seattle Seattle , WA 13.5 51.8 9 Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA 9.9 50.0 10 Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Pittsburgh , PA 11.4 49.3 11 New York-Presbyterian Medical Center New York , NY 9.8 48.7 12 Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif. Palo Alto , CA 9.0 48.2 13 Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C. Washington , DC 8.9 46.8 14 Children's Hospital Cleveland Clinic Cleveland , OH 6.3 46.7 15 Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio Columbus , OH 6.0 45.1 16 Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA, Los Angeles Los Angeles , CA 5.0 44.3 17 St. Louis Children's Hospital Saint Louis , MO 7.6 44.3 18 Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago Chicago , IL 7.6 44.0 19 Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Atlanta , GA 4.6 41.9 20 UCSF Children's Hospital, San Francisco San Francisco , CA 21 Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston Boston , MA 4.6 40.1 22 Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City Salt Lake City , UT 3.2 39.8 23 Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville Nashville , TN 3.1 39.4 24 Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock Little Rock , AR 4.5 39.3 25 Children's Medical Center Dallas Dallas , TX 1.9 39.2 26 C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor , MI 3.0 39.2 27 Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center, Durham, N.C. Durham , NC 3.2 38.0 28 Children's Hospital at Montefiore, New York Bronx , NY 1.3 37.9 29 Schneider Children's Hospital, North Shore-LIJ Health System, New Hyde Park, N.Y. New Hyde Park , NY 1.7 37.9 30 Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Milwaukee , WI This is supposed to be a really good children's neurology hospital in NYC: Maybe these people can help guide you?"

Alethia MD replied: "The Scott and White hospital in Temple Tx. is one of the finest hospitals in the US, and near arkansas Of course, the Massachussetts General, and the Cedars, in Seattle. Best wishes for you and your little girl."

yoo_hoo_kiki replied: "I would take your child to shands hospital in Gainsvill FL if you are able to. It is one of the best hospitals in the country. I think i found a team of dr's that might help. Faris M. Al-Mousily, M.D. Specialty - Pediatric Cardiology (Certified) Edgard O. Andrade, M.D. Specialty - Pediatric Neurology The dr's listed are the best ped dr's in their field in FL. If you qualify their is a Ronald McDonald house of charities close by (5miles away) that you can stay at for free if your child needs to stay at the hospital. I hope this helps."

awolfewoman replied: "I am sorry that I cannot recall things the way I used to - but I think I saw something like this described on one of the cable health shows. Not that I would ever dream of suggesting a diagnosis, but they did cite a doctor who specialized in pediatric neurological conditions. It may have been a Discovery Channel or Science channel. I suggest that you contact the Texas hospital suggested by one of the other respondents, and see if you can arrange an appointment with their neurologist or referral to pediatric specialist. You may want to send a letter to various specialists asking them if they would be able to review your case and either consult or refer - make the letter very business-like and to the point. Enclose a brief description of the problems you have seen, again, making this as to-the-point as you can and not pouring out your pain. Hopefully this approach will get you to the right doctor. Best of luck!"

Tina replied: "Our daughter has Aortic Stenosis and has a heart murmur - she receives excellent care at Children's Hospital in Boston. I believe it is considered the #2 children's hospital in the country. Here is a link: When my daughter was in the Cardiac Unit, we met a family who had traveled from North Carolina to receive treatment and another family who had traveled from Iceland. Hope this info helps! Don't stop searching for answers - my thoughts and prayers are with you!"

Any tips or Information about coping with my 1year old's Epilepsy? My son is just turning 1 on the 25th of August and has had 4 seizures since the end of May. He is now on Keppra and has been taking that for about 3weeks. He hasn't had a seizure since he has been on his meds but I am still scared to death. I can't leave him alone, if he starts crying I immediately pick him up to try and stop him, I am scared to give him baths, and I have him on a video camera monitor while he sleeps. Its driving me crazy any answers or suggestions would help. P.S. He doesn't have convulsions during his seizures he stops breathing, turns blue and goes limp from 30seconds up to 3mins so far. So it is very scary because he looks dead.

jmada05 replied: "I can imagine how scared you must be/feel, but you are doing all you are suspose to do right now, as you have in under a M.D.,s care and on medication to decrease seizures. There really isn,t anymore you can do. Try to remain calm yourself,as this will help him, sounds like you are doing your very best!!!"

DrIG replied: "Your concern and care for the baby can easily be understood. Speak to your doctor and see if here are any support groups in your area. You need not only help for your baby but for yourself as well. That is why I recommended support groups. I went to yahoo search and asked about "epilepsy care for infants" and it turned up a number of good sites. Copy and paste into your browser. Good luck and things will get better."

emtd65 replied: "I know how scary this can be. I used to pick up a little girl on the ambulance from the time she was born until she was two - until the family relocated. It is very hard not to become over protective or what some my interpret as smothering. You should see if there are any support groups in your area. Talking to other parents who know how it is to have a child with the same condition may help. It always helps to know you are not alone. After he has a seizure he is, what is called postical. This is why he goes limp etc. Everyone will experience this after a seizure. Always talk to him and touch him - although some doctors will tell you differently, I believe it helps to let them know you are near. Also look on webmd. They have several support groups there. Good luck and God Bless."

Auras. Does anyone know what they r. I have them and they're creepy. How do I stop them? I am on keppra for epilipsy and not long ago had I think was like an unpleasant aura. I want to know if anyone out there has them andd if they know hoiw to stop them. I don't know if its the tablets as I have never had them before I went on these tablets. I just want to stop the auras as I would rather be dead than keep having this creepy feeling like someone is trying to take over my mind. I have always thought that there is a spirit in this house that we have been renting for nearly one year now as my cats sometimes keep looking up at the walls and ceilings. Its freaking me out. I'd love to know how to stop them.

roscoedeadbeat replied: "In spirituality and New Age belief, an aura is a subtle field of luminous multicolored radiation surrounding a person or object as a cocoon or halo. An aura may be held to represent or be composed of soul vibrations or chakras, and may reflect the moods or thoughts of the person it surrounds. Skeptics such as Robert Todd Carroll say that although there is no scientific evidence for supernatural perception of auras, auras may be seen for explainable reasons such as migraines or synaesthesia."

Angel_Blue replied: "i am on keppra also!... nice to find someone to relate to... first, what do you mean by an aura? those preclude a seizure, warning you that one is on its way. at which point, you should go some place where you won't hurt yourself. if you don't have seizures after these auras you mention, then they are not auras. on the other hand, there IS a creepy sort of seizure, where you'll be walking along, and suddenly feel as if two raw wires just touched each other for a nanosecond. i HATE it when that happens... THEY freak ME out.... but i'd rather have them than the seizures i DO have. last one, i was on the stairs, fell really hard, and broke both my ankles... one in 2 places. and i'm sorry if you feel like you're losing your mind, but i doubt its because of the keppra.... then again, it MIGHT be some sort of weird sensitivity to the drug if you've never had it before. personally, i am so happy to have keppra: nothing else worked on me -- none of them -- and i was born this way. as for your cats.. they're cats. maybe they wish they could jump that high, think they see something moving [even if it was just dust or a cobweb]... maybe they see a shadow... could be anything. but i doubt you are losing your mind. for one thing, you wouldn't even remember HOW to type, or what the Imternet was...."

Any other parents to kids with epilepsy? My daughter was diagnosed today with epilepsy in the form of partial seizures. She has had three that I have seen in the past 4 months. To anyone else dealing with this, when did you choose to medicate? Her neurologist wants us to start her on Keppra, but I'm so nervous because of the side effects, I don't know which is worse, the seizures or side effects. She has never lost consciousness, it looks like she has a head jerk for 3-4 minutes. Any thoughts or opinions on this? I am hesistant to medicate her but I don't want to risk anything harmful. Thanks :'(

n4w05 replied: "I don't have a child that has epilepsy but my mum does and the medication worked well for her although it didn't stop the seizures. She had an operation 10 years ago that removed the part of the brain with the scarred tissue and has only had 2 seizures since. It's a scary thought but well worth considering as before the operation there was a lot of jobs my mum couldn't get and she wasn't allowed to drive as it was a risk to her life and others"

Melody-Lynn replied: "I would keep her on the medication and all anti convulsant medicines have sides effects such as nausea heart burn increase or decrease appetite drowsiness sometime diarrhea if you do not give her the medicine her seizures will worsen and she could have a bad episode and slip away into a coma then possible death the medication will prevent seizures from coming on. The medication is not harmful her body will grow immune to the medication and the side effects will gradually go away in time. If you have any other questions talk to the neurologist."

trhwsh replied: "Well, the you have every right to be afraid that is for certain. However, they are making the medication much more safe for children now. Their are diets out there that you can try. Seizures can take away from brain function. The medication you want to stay the futherest from is dialantin. It has done the most harm over the years to children and adults alike, and it can change the mood drastically. I had seizures at one time and meds did not set well with me. But I have seen some children in the last few years do so well on the medications. I had had a car wreck and that is when the seizures started. I ended up not taking any medications because the meds just caused all kinds of problems, then one day I stopped having them as quickly as I had started. My brain had to go through a healing process I guess. Anyway, I know a friend who has a child with seizures and she takes meds and seems to be doing really well. She is eight years old. She has been on the meds for two years. The diet you would have to go to a web site about. I would look for forems with Seizure disscussions and they could give you all kinds of medications. Just type in on line support groups for parents with children who have seizures. or epilepsy."

Parents of child(ren) with seizure disorder? I am looking to connect with parents in similar situations. I have a 2 and a half year old son who had has seizures since he was 2 days old. He is taking Keppra and it is working really well. Whats your story and how do you cope? He had tubes put in his ears in April to help reoccuring ear infections which brought on fever which broght on seizures. He's only had 1 seizure since!!!! (his seizures are not solely Febrile though, he has them with or without fever, fever just makes them more likely)

Big Sexxy replied: "My 3 year old son has a history of seizures since 15 months. He would get them with a high fever and has since had his tonsils taken out and tubes inserted in his ears. The seizures are pretty much under control now, but I certainly sympathize with you. I hope that all goes well for you. God Bless You."

6 year old with Epilepsy. Ever heard of some of these symptoms? If so, please contribute your thoughts.? Okay, LONG story but i'll keep it as short as possible. My 6 year old son was diagnosed in March 2009 with Complex Partial seizures because he suddenly started having seizures a few times a week and occasionally 2x a day. They lasted anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 min. We, of course called an ambulance every time and he spent 5 days at Egleston in Atlanta. They did an MRI, an EEG, an EKG and various other X-Rays and blood tests.They could find no cause for the seizures which I guess happens a LOT with epilepsy. Anyway, he was put on Trileptal *3cc/5ml 2xdaily*. His seizures stopped until the end of June when he had two within 12 hours. After those, he was seizure free until November. (Just to add some info; In August, his new teacher suggested I have him tested for ADD because he couldn't focus in school and was having a hard time keeping up educationally because of it. His doctor put him on 5mg of Adderall in the a.m. for 2 months, then increased to Adderall XR10mg-We only gave him that medicine during the week when he had to be at school) In November his seizures came back. He was having one approx. every other day for about 2 wks then they started occuring multiple times a day until finally in december, his neuro suggested we put him into the hospital if he had another one. That same afternoon, he went into a seizure that lasted for 35 minutes so we took him to the ER where they contacted his neuro and . they gave him Ativan and Keppra (*250 I.v.) At this point, his seizures started happening for about 1-5 minutes, every 5 minutes. He was transferred to Egleston where they continued the Keppra and Ativan. He had a BAD reaction to the Ativan and started hallucinating about skeletons coming out of the wall, etc.. so they quit giving him that, Thank God! His seizures actually stopped during the night though..supposedly..It seemed more like they just started coming in a different form! He seemed almost narcoleptic because he just kept dropping out of consciousness every 5 minutes for about 24 hours. I was told it was the side effects of the Ativan wearing off and that it would stop within a day or so. The next a.m. (while still under the effects of the Ativan) they did another extended EEG, still nothing! Well, they said they saw a little seizure activity on the right side of his brain but didn't tell me much else. For the next two days we stayed at the hospital because he kept having these strange seizure/narcoleptic episodes. They finally said that it was the Keppra and that it should wear off and we should follow up in 3-4 weeks. Over the next day or so, I realized that during these episodes, he would try to curl into the fetal position, refuses to look toward any source of bright light (even with his eyes squeezed shut) and would become aggressive afterward. My normally sweet, loving child was now saying "Don't touch me!" and trying to hit and bite me! About 2 days after we got home I had to take my daughter to their pediatrician for a check up and my son went with us. His doctor witnessed two of these strange unconscious episodes" and had him taken to Scottish Rite by ambulance. Once there, I was told it was just medication side effects and to take a B6 supplement to counteract the "Keppra Rage"....They did another EEG and sent us home to follow up this week to allow the Keppra time to get into his system and any side effects to subside. This week, I called. He is still having these odd episodes a couple of times a day. They have increased his Keppra again but he still has them. He is completely unconscious at first but after a few minutes he can hear me but cannot talk, open his eyes or move his body any more than to twitch his fingers or move his head a tiny amount on command. I'm confused by all this! We have withdrawn him from school this week and are now homeschooling him so he will no longer be taking any ADD medicine--I haven't given it to him since the last week of November because he wasn't attending school. Anyone have any thoughts on why his seizures may have changed? His neuro is okay I guess. She def knows her stuff (even graduated from Johns Hopkins) but should I seek another opinion? I hate not knowing whats wrong with him or if he will grow out of it. I also HATE the fact that he has to just keep taking more and more medicine!! Thoughts? Advice? Opinions?

Altagracia replied: "about it you can get information from here"

Nah Z replied: "Unfortunately, your experience isn't uncommon or incomprehensible at all. Every seizure you have makes you predisposed to even more seizures, and as you age, the nature of your seizures can radically change, because your brain is changing just as radically. Be patient. Track his symptoms, track his seizures, interact with his doctor. Communicate your concerns with his doctor, but realize that all anti-convulsants take time to work and time to adjust to side effects. Don't expect a magic bullet, but do work on management."