Keppra, memory problems

[Hermanm]

, my story,

I'm a 64 year old , reasonably fit Male,

in January 2020 ,

I had a fit in my sleep , and was taken to hospital,

I don't recall anything about it.

after a MRI scan of my head , (normal),

my consultant told me I had, Temporal lobe epilepsy,

and prescribed me 750 mg of Keppra 2x daily,

to be honest I've never felt well since,

I could tick every box on the Keppra side effects list,

depression, anger , sleep problems,, the list is long!

after a few weeks,

I started getting very sleepy, a couple of hours after taking my morning tablet,

sometimes I'd drop off for an hour on the couch ,

when I wake up, I have no idea who, where , or even what I am!!

takes a couple of minutes for things to return, I presume these are partial awareness seizures?

my problem is ,

I don't recall having them after the night seizure, and before I started taking Keppra.

a gap of a few weeks

Now I'm not sure if its epilepsy,

or a medication side effect!, and my memory is getting so bad its embarrassing ,

about a year before I had my first seizure, I'd been working in my shed ,for months

breathing in diesel exhaust fumes , from a leaking heater.

my consultant said its it's got nothing to do with it , but I'm not so sure,

anyone else have similar problems?

cheers.

[Shorehampete]

Hi. I started having sleep seizures about 4 years ago and was put on Epilim. Unfortunately the seizures continued so the consultant added keppra to my prescription. Like you I really struggled with the side effects and started having absence seizures so asked to be taken off keppra and I'm now on Epilim and Zonisamide which took a few weeks to get used to but seems to be working. I've had a couple of sleep seizures but no absence seizures and feel a lot better. As for my memory well this seems to be a common problem from what I hear so I always carry a notebook at work now to help.

Shoreham Pete

[Callapso]

Hi, my husband started off on Keppra and he had most of the side effects and his mild seizures became worse. He had extreme memory issues as well. We asked for a med change and he was put on Epilim. It took about 8 weeks to get the switch over complete and then his seizures and memory issues started to reduce. He is now 12 months seizure free!

[happy48]

Everybody reacts differently to medication. TL epilepsy affects the memory.

I have TL epilepsy and am taking Keppra 750mg x 2 daily. Since taking this medication I have felt a lot brighter. I can think quicker and have no side effects. I also take Lamictal 150mg x 2 daily. Side effects with this have been tremors. I have been on Epilim, Phenytoin and Phenobarbitone all making me drowsy with side effects.

[EpilepsyAction1 Partner Epilepsy Action]

Hi Hermanm

Memory problems can happen with epilepsy (epilepsy.org.uk/info/health... And we know side effects can happen with epilepsy medicines and it can take a little while to find a medicine and dose that works for you (epilepsy.org.uk/info/treatm... .

But managing this and feeling depressed (epilepsy.org.uk/info/health..., angry and having sleep problems (epilepsy.org.uk/info/health... sounds tough.

It could be worth keeping a diary of everything you're noticing at the moment (epilepsy.org.uk/info/diagno... and talking to your consultant or epilepsy nurse. They may be able to look again at your medicines.

You'd also be welcome to call and talk things through with us at the Helpline (epilepsy.org.uk/info/suppor.... We're open Monday to Friday 8.30am until 5pm and Saturday 10.00am until 4.00pm and the number is 0808 800 5050.

Regards

Mags

Helpline Team.