Brivaracetam for Seizures User Reviews

• Use...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 18, 2024

Brivaracetam "For over two decades, I relied on Keppra to control my seizures, and it worked flawlessly in that regard. However, it transformed me in ways I hadn’t anticipated. I went from being a peaceful, easygoing person to becoming incredibly angry and bitter. Life lost its color; I found myself hating everything and unable to enjoy even the simplest moments. It was heart-wrenching. Two months ago, I made a life-changing decision to switch to Briviact. The transformation was almost immediate. Within a week, the dark cloud of anger lifted, and I started feeling like myself again. The side effects I endured with Keppra vanished, and I began to see the beauty in life once more. I'm writing this review to encourage anyone suffering from the side effects of Keppra to consider trying Briviact. There's a significant chance that Briviact may cause fewer side effects compared to Keppra. It's truly worth considering, especially if you're looking for relief and a better quality of life."

• PTa...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 20, 2018

Brivaracetam "I was prescribed Briviact (am & pm). This replaced Keppra which caused severe mood issues. I have been on Briviact for 3 months. No notable side effects compared to the numerous anti-seizure medications I have taken the past thirty years. Seems to be working. I may still be having partial seizures but no tonic clonic seizures or complex partial seizures. I take it along with Topiramate (am & pm). I'm quite pleased with Briviact. I know everyone is different but I hope this information is helpful to anyone considering it. Good luck."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 20, 2023

Brivaracetam "I started having seizures in my sleep two years ago. I was placed on Keppra, but hated the side effects, and upping the dose after each seizure made the side effects worse. I tried 5 other different medications, but they all caused side effects or made me break out in a giant rash. I switched to Briviact 100mg in the morning and at night about a month and a half ago. Side effects at first were dizziness and fatigue, but those lifted after the first two weeks. I occasionally have headaches, but those go away with caffeine and Motrin. I’ve been pleased with Briviact, no seizures and little to no side effects."

• Lil...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 4, 2021

Brivaracetam "I wish my Dr told me this was a controlled substance. I feel horrible on it, and I feel even worse than horrible trying to get off. Tinnitus, depression, anger, irritability, panic attacks, sadness, and now in withdrawal add severe insomnia. I can't wait to get off and rest my brain. Keppra worked. This drug is nothing like it for me. And so much harder to get off than any other anti-epileptic medication I have taken."

• Ifu...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 14, 2022

Brivaracetam "I was born with epilepsy, and my last grand mal was at 5. I'm 55 now and started having petit mals in my 20s but did not know until diagnosed in my late 40s. Tried every med out there and had allergic reactions to everything I tried. Have a vagal nerve stimulator and have been on Briviact for 3 years now. I'm up to 125 mg in the AM and 100 mg in the PM. I have no problems on it, but I honestly am not totally sure if I'm totally seizure-free. But I am very happy that I've had no reactions to it at all. Just keep in mind we are all unique in our chemical makeup, so of course, what works for me may not work for you. Without Briviact or Zoloft for depression, I feel like I've been given over to a reprobate mind. So far, I'm feeling human again, and I'm extremely grateful. Just find what works for you and do not settle for something that you feel is not right. I hope this is hopeful for someone."

• Jam...
• April 25, 2020

Brivaracetam "I have been taking Briviact and just want to know if anybody else out there has difficulty in opening bowels, also suffers from bad bouts of indigestion, issues, also suffers from bad headaches. My body started coming out in red rashes on hands, face, legs. Swelling started this medication November 2019."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 30, 2023

Brivaracetam "Briviact works perfectly for my partial seizures. Three years without seizures and almost no side effects. My dosage is 100 mg per day with 600 mg oxcarbazepine - two times am/pm with 50 mg Briviact and 300 mg oxcarbazepine (kids' dosage). I crack pills and found the perfect dosage for myself. I know it is not a good idea to crack pills, but I'm glad I did. There are light side effects like sleepiness, but nothing even close compared to Keppra and other AEDs. Respect to all those people who developed and introduced this medication."

• Tjs...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 29, 2017

Brivaracetam "Took my first 25 mg Briviact pill yesterday morning. Felt fine. Took another 25 mg last night, without problems. So glad to find a good med, finally! Took it again this morning, and I felt ok. Then about 2.5 hours before time to take it again, it was a completely different story. I was nervous, irritable, agitated, want to scream my head off, tense, feeling like the incredible Hulk is going to explode out of my body, want to cry, don't talk to me, don't touch me, don't look at me, don't breathe my direction, eyes darting back and forth, and serious drug withdrawal kind of feeling!!! NO!!! I WILL NOT BE TAKING MY NEXT DOSE!!!"

• fat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 20, 2023

Brivaracetam "I was on 2000 mg of Keppra and thought it was bad until I switched to 200 mg of Briviact. The first two weeks were fine, but the third and fourth months were not. I have not stopped crying. I feel so depressed, and I've never felt this way before, and I don't even feel like I'm in my own body. I'm assuming I still need to adjust to it. My next appointment is in a couple of weeks, I will discuss this with the doctor."

• Who...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 13, 2021

Brivaracetam "Been taking Briviact 50 mg 2x daily for over three weeks now with my Topiramate 150 mg 2x daily. I have a TBI from a trucking accident, and this works wonders. I normally have 3-8 mini seizures a day, or non-epileptic. Since taking Briviact, only one."

• Bri...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 17, 2023

Brivaracetam "I have been using Briviact for over 4.5 years now and have been seizure free! I also take Vimpat, which I was prescribed before I was prescribed Briviact. Vimpat worked well, but I still had a few seizures, so my neurologist prescribed 50 mg twice daily. I can’t complain, honestly! I can’t tell you how thankful I am to be seizure free this long. I used to stress a lot in the past, which normally triggered my seizures, but my medications are working, and I am not feeling as stressed."

• Par...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 24, 2017

Brivaracetam "Starting taking Briviact 200 mg March 26, 2017, had my first seizure June 11th, less than 3 months after I started using it. Gave it another try and had another seizure Oct 20, 2017, 4 months, 9 days from the last one. It does not work as well as Brand Keppra XR 3000 mg to stop seizures. It is easier to take just one pill in the AM and one in the PM, but that's about it. Also very expensive, and my insurance would only pay for 50% of it. For me, it does work well."

• Bri...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 2, 2022

Brivaracetam "I was on 1500 mg of Keppra every day after a seizure, which happened a year after brain surgery (I was on 500 mg after the surgery) to remove a benign tumor. I had major depression and irritability, aggression. I was okay most of the time, but I would go into depression if I thought about sad things, and things would set me off to the point of shouting and pounding my fists on the counter. I switched to Briviact 100 mg twice a day, and it is like night and day. The mood swings and rage issues stopped. I am not sure how it would compare to how I was before being on any meds for this, but compared to Keppra, I feel like a normal human again. I am generally a very mellow kind of person, so it's nice to return to my old self. No numbness or panic attacks except another seizure after 2 years when I had missed a dose, plus I had more alcohol than over the holidays AND it turned out I had mild Covid (had all vaccine doses, but had a slight fever), all 3 reduce the meds' effectiveness."

• Anonymous
• July 25, 2021

Brivaracetam "I took Briviact 50 mg in the morning and evening for a week, and on the third day, I started having difficulty passing urine, and the next day, it stopped completely, and I had to have urine removed from the catheter."

• Dva...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 8, 2019

Brivaracetam "My son is non-verbal, autistic, with a seizure disorder. Started taking 50 mg twice a day for two weeks, no seizures, but he will not get in the car to go to his day program. We are on day three of staying at home. The neurologist wants to try for two more weeks, then reevaluate."

• Her...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 1, 2023

Brivaracetam "My son, age 16, is on Briviact 75 mg. The doctor started him on Keppra and increased the dose to 1000 mg twice daily. However, the migraines were very bad and lasted more than 2 months. He has since switched to Briviact 50 mg twice daily. This was a relief. His migraines stopped and he seems to be doing okay, but he had another seizure, so the dosage was increased to 75 mg twice daily. This is his third week and he is seizure-free so far and has no migraines. However, we had to rush to the ER for chest pain once. No issues were found with the heart, and he was sent home. It appears he had chest spasms, not sure if linked to Briviact. However, we are seeing increased congestion with this new dosage."

• Mai...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 5, 2018

Brivaracetam "Taking Briviact for 3 months, 50 mg twice daily along with 200 mg Topiramate. I have got fluid retention on my feet, ankles, and a small amount on my stomach. This isn't a known side effect, but I have reported it and let my neurologist know."

• non...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 3, 2019

Brivaracetam "My daughter was on Briviact for a short time. It was a nightmare. She moaned and groaned all night long. After that, she was too frightened to sleep. She was exhausted and shaky on her feet. The drug was given as an alternative to Keppra. She is now off of both drugs but still suffers occasional episodes of moaning at night."

• Res...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 28, 2021

"Unknown for seizures. I would recommend it for cognitive disorder. In short, I'd say it gave me ADD, only a problem on higher doses. My overall cognitive function is back to and above normal before TBI and seizures, even while having unwanted stupor-like side effects from other epilepsy meds. (Google = tested for Alzheimer's) upon first starting 50 mg, my senses, spatial awareness, and long-term memory recall improved. (Taste differences in all food, never noticed before. Sight improved, peripheral vision greater distance. Hearing higher pitch sounds more also further objects) @ 100 mg side effects became a problem (increased awareness of all body aches, some heart/lung pain. Hearing was too much, needed a radio just to sleep. Without a steady/random sound, noises as far as 0.25 miles kept me awake) (became more agitated, due to lack of better sleep. Body aches also added to agitation, nothing major but constant awareness of body is a problem. No off switch for level of consciousness)"

• Zom...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 11, 2020

"I had a grand mal seizure in March 2020, that completely came out of nowhere. Was originally put on levetiracetam 2x daily in the 750 mg tablets. Had to be taken off of it due to intense mood swings and intense anxiety. Also didn't help that I was still getting migraines. So I got put on Briviact 50 mg 2x daily. I was told that I wouldn't have to worry about it causing any more mood swings. And here I am 2 1/2 months in, and things just feel wrong. I have horrible brain fog, anxiety that's through the roof, and irregular bowel movements. I'm having issues with memory, as well as issues with my balance. I usually get help to stand up and end up collapsing back on the ground. Not sure if this is normal, and I've tried communicating with my neurologist but to no avail. I'm sure it works for someone, but unfortunately for me it just incapacitated me further."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 9, 2021

"Keppra was working well for me. I would get it at the CVS down the street. I put in a refill request and did it through the mail order Caremark. The version of Keppra I received made me feel slow and made my memory even worse than usual. I told my neurologist about this and asked for a new prescription so I could get it filled at the regular CVS. He preferred to do a prescription for Briviact. In hindsight, I can practically guarantee it was since Briviact is so very expensive it means he gets a much larger kickback for prescribing it. Briviact has made me feel even slower than the mail order Keppra and is also giving me a ‘brain fog.’ Supposedly, it’s a better version of Keppra, but I severely doubt that’s true. And it also makes me very tired in addition to feeling extra stupid."

• ano...
• November 17, 2024

"I was taking carbamazepine (ZEN Retard-400 mg twice a day + Frisium). Carbamazepine caused a sleeping tendency throughout the day + got affected by asthma/allergy, which later turned into a skin allergy. After reaching multiple neurologists, got Briv100, no side effects, allergy mainly no fits attacks. After 2 years getting a skin allergy while taking Briv100. Trying to find an alternative."

• Mik...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 18, 2023

Brivaracetam "Tried seven other drugs before a neurologist prescribed Briviact. The only drug that has controlled seizures with very little adverse side effects. 20 months seizure-free taking 50 mg twice daily."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 14, 2023

Brivaracetam "I have been on Briviact for several years. I take 25 mg twice a day. So far, so good."

• Lei...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 27, 2018

Brivaracetam "I’m on 100 mg 2x a day, as well as Topamax 200 3x a day. It has worked really well for my seizures, and it also has helped lessen the severity of my migraines. So, I am really happy."