Keppra and Depression: What Users Say (Page 2)

• New...
• April 27, 2009

For Seizures "Had my first seizure this year, put on Keppra a month later. Stopped the seizures, but makes me sleepy all the time. I have mood swings, depression, irritable, and get frustrated easily. Tried to talk to my neurologist, but was told the only side effect Keppra has is being tired. Too scared to ask if I could try anything else because this is supposed to be the safest drug available."

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

For Seizures "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?"

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

For Seizures "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?"

• Use...
• January 17, 2013

For Epilepsy "I had my first seizure when I was 17 (now 23). I always wanted to be on medications that were safe, so one day when I had a family. And now I have my family with a healthy boy. I do have to say I was having depression, I was having dizzy spells and really bad headaches. But I talked to my doctor, he lowered my dose and gave me Topamax to take with it. And now my headaches are gone. It is very hard to actually find the right medication for yourself. I wish you all the best!"

• Al1...
• December 14, 2017

For Seizures "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."

• Anonymous
• July 10, 2011

For New Daily Persistent Headache "I have had chronic migraines for 16 years. Because of my hypersensitivity to many medications (antidepressants, Topamax, Depakote, and the list keeps going), I had a great deal of trouble finding a preventative medicine that my body could tolerate at a therapeutic dose. Keppra keeps my migraines to a minimum (about 8 per year, which is so much better than the every other day I was experiencing). I do have some fatigue and depression as side effects, but they are worth the trade-off."

• nic...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 21, 2020

For Epilepsy "So far I have had a terrible experience with this drug, Keppra. They increased the dosage by 1500 mg a day. So now I'm taking 1500 mg 2x a day on top of Lamictal. I always feel tired, moody, and depressed. Most recently, I started having suicidal thoughts and feeling lonely. I hope these side effects end soon."

• Anonymous
• January 30, 2016

For Epilepsy "I was diagnosed at 13 years old with grand mal seizures due to my period. Was put on Keppra 250 mg twice a day. I'm 21 now and still take it. It does control my seizures (though I still get auras once in a while), and I have experienced all the side effects. My parents and friends will be the first to tell you how drastically I have changed from this medication. It makes you very irritable, tired, depressed, crazy mood swings, and short-tempered. Through the years, I've learned to handle it better. When I was 15, I stopped taking them to see if I grew out of it, suggested by my neuro, and had 3 seizures in 3 days. Have been taking it every day ever since. Keeps me living a normal life, like driving a car and going to school!"

• Anonymous
• September 17, 2019

For Epilepsy "I have been taking 200 mg of Keppra twice a day after my second seizure, which was 4 months ago. For the first month, roughly, I had constant mood swings and almost no appetite. It wasn't uncommon for me to randomly start feeling depressed, and those phases could last up to multiple days on end. I would also have random anger that seemingly came from nowhere to the point where I would start fights with my family over the dumbest things. Even after that first month, which is supposed to be when your body gets used to the drug, I continually had mood swings and random depression. Although it has stopped me from seizing, I highly do not recommend."

• Rob...
• July 27, 2010

For Epilepsy "Started off using Keppra with Tegretol and at the regular 500 mg dose per day. Later upped to 1000 mg per day. Once they removed my Tegretol dose, I began to have violent seizures. Now I have Tegretol back, and my dosage of Keppra was doubled again. Now at 2000 mg per day. I'm now depressed, tired, nauseated, and don't really want to eat at all. I'll have to talk to my doctor about changing my medication."

• Doo...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 12, 2020

For Seizures "At the age of 48, my brother was diagnosed with epilepsy seizures. At that time, he almost died because nothing would stop them. After multiple seizures back to back, like 20+, the only thing that would even help control them was name-brand medication (Keppra). They started him out at six 500 mg daily. Many different symptoms with this I've noticed over the years, so I will list a few: mood swings, anxiety, depression, memory loss of dates and time, agitated, lies. Talked to the doctor about the amount of seizures he experienced since the last visit, and at times he gets violent. This medication still doesn't control them like it should, but by taking it, he at least has a chance."

• Pri...
• March 23, 2017

For Epilepsy "So I had times where I'd black out and have amnesia. Basically, it would scare my parents, and after the second time it happened, they took me to the doctor. We went through all the tests, and they all came back normal except for my EEG. It came back abnormal. I was immediately put on Keppra and hated every second of it. I started off with 500 mg, 2x a day. After the first dose, I was hallucinating and very confused. The four-hour mark was the worst. I was super loopy and couldn't focus for nothing. The medicine caused me to have mood swings and go into a deep depression. My advice, if you have any sort of mental illness, DON'T TAKE IT. I've struggled with bulimia, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder for years. Seizures stopped. Wasn't worth it."

• xar...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 6, 2020

For Epilepsy "I was always a very happy person with a lot of energy, but since I started Keppra, I became violent, with uncontrollable rage, depressed, tired, dizzy, and I attacked my cat for almost doing nothing. I don't recognize myself. I just want to lie down all the day and stay in bed."

• Jew...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 4, 2017

For Epilepsy "Keppra was fine for me at first (500 mg twice a day) for 2 months. I suffer from complex partial seizures and experienced a grand mal recently. Then I experienced extreme tiredness, confusion, headaches, greatly increased my depression, could barely go from my bedroom to the living room (never mind managing leaving my house). I had to go back to my neurologist to get switched off such a horrible drug for me. Aptiom (once a day!) so far is a better choice for me."

• jl2...
• September 24, 2011

For Seizures "Have been on Keppra for about 8 months now. Only one seizure, but the side effects are getting to me. Depressed, irritable, weight gain. Neurologist has added an antidepressant to see if that helps. Just wish the medication was cheaper."

• Anonymous
• August 15, 2011

For Seizures "I'd been having partial seizures every 2 weeks lasting a few days for about 3 years before having a tonic-clonic seizure and finally agreeing to go on medication. I started on Keppra and the seizures came once a month for about a week, similar to a girl's period, and I became very depressed, suicidal, and uninterested in anything. About 2 years later, I had another tonic-clonic seizure. Shortly after that, I switched to Lamictal and am no longer suicidal but am still depressed and uninterested in anything, and the seizures now come more frequently and randomly."

• Anonymous
• December 4, 2009

For Seizures "Keppra alone did not do anything for me except make me depressed and have 'Keppra rage.' I was up to 1500 mg 2x a day and would still have a grand mal about every 4 months and absence seizures in between. My neuro switched me to Topamax, Depakote, and everything else, but would break out in rashes or have horrible diarrhea and every other side effect. Back to Keppra, I am 2000 mg 2x a day (400 mg a day total) now, weighing 175 (hell of a dose), and got put on Lamictal as well, up to 100 mg 2x a day of that. 1 month since the addition of Lamictal and a higher dose of Keppra and no seizures yet. We shall see."

• Sti...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 23, 2022

For Seizures "I wouldn't give this drug to a dog. It made me totally non-functional. No appetite, no motivation, no energy, could not stay awake - I struggled to get anything done - constructive or otherwise - etc. etc."

• Mak...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 5, 2023

For Seizures "It stopped me from having as many seizures as before, but caused breakthrough seizures, particularly in my sleep. The dosage kept increasing, but that did not stop the seizures. It causes a lot of depression as well."

• Ell...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 28, 2021

For Seizures "I tried lamotrigine twice. Unfortunately, it caused very swollen lymph nodes with fever. I took Keppra 750 mg twice a day for a few months. My kidneys couldn't handle it. I then stopped and tried again, ended up taking 500 mg twice a day. I believe Keppra does stop seizures to some extent, although it causes side effects that are unbearable over time. The biggest issues were personality changes, I became a different human, lacked empathy, was very moody, and hardly happy. I did have bouts of aggression, but for me, it was better than my previous aggressive issues before starting Keppra. I couldn't complete tasks, had memory problems, libido problems, insomnia, and lots of trouble focusing, I had no motivation and lots of sadness, my muscles ached, and I couldn't train at the gym as much as I did before. I felt like I wasn't living my own life. I felt the cost of controlling seizures was just too high. It will work if you can live like a zombie."

• Ell...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 28, 2021

For Seizures "I tried lamotrigine twice. Unfortunately, it caused very swollen lymph nodes with fever. I took Keppra 750 mg twice a day for a few months. My kidneys couldn't handle it. I then stopped and tried again, ended up taking 500 mg twice a day. I believe Keppra does stop seizures to some extent, although it causes side effects that are unbearable over time. The biggest issues were personality changes, I became a different human, lacked empathy, was very moody, and hardly happy. I did have bouts of aggression, but for me, it was better than my previous aggressive issues before starting Keppra. I couldn't complete tasks, had memory problems, libido problems, insomnia, and lots of trouble focusing, I had no motivation and lots of sadness, my muscles ached, and I couldn't train at the gym as much as I did before. I felt like I wasn't living my own life. I felt the cost of controlling seizures was just too high. It will work if you can live like a zombie."

• Ell...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 28, 2021

For Seizures "I tried lamotrigine twice. Unfortunately, it caused very swollen lymph nodes with fever. I took Keppra 750 mg twice a day for a few months. My kidneys couldn't handle it. I then stopped and tried again, ended up taking 500 mg twice a day. I believe Keppra does stop seizures to some extent, although it causes side effects that are unbearable over time. The biggest issues were personality changes, I became a different human, lacked empathy, was very moody, and hardly happy. I did have bouts of aggression, but for me, it was better than my previous aggressive issues before starting Keppra. I couldn't complete tasks, had memory problems, libido problems, insomnia, and lots of trouble focusing, I had no motivation and lots of sadness, my muscles ached, and I couldn't train at the gym as much as I did before. I felt like I wasn't living my own life. I felt the cost of controlling seizures was just too high. It will work if you can live like a zombie."

• Dr ...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 20, 2017

For Epilepsy "Developed epilepsy due to several strokes while fighting sepsis/septic shock about 4 years ago. I am in the middle of weaning off Keppra and moving to Lamictal. While I was seizure-free on Keppra, the Kepprage, depression, and suicidal thoughts made me think it might be better to take my chances with seizures. Hopefully, the Lamictal will be effective. I also wish there was more science behind cannabis, and I lived in a state that allows medical cannabis. CBD seems like an option to supplement the conventional medications, but I can't say I complain about the occasional 'buzz' via full-spectrum cannabis."

• Lin...
• August 31, 2022

For Seizures "In 2018, I had a successful surgery to remove a benign tumor on the lining of the brain; however, two months later, I developed a staph infection in the cavity left by the surgery. So I had two more surgeries after that. Four months later, I had my first hour-long blackout (evidently caused by scar tissue on the brain). I had three more in 8 months' time. Finally, I went to a neurologist. He put me on 250 mg of Keppra twice daily. That’s the lowest dose. Thankfully, I haven’t had any blackouts since I started taking it. However, I hate taking it! All I want to do is sleep. I have zero energy and no motivation to do anything. I’ve lost interest in life! This is not living. I don’t have any of the anger issues I see others have, so I’m thankful for that."

• Lin...
• August 31, 2022

For Seizures "In 2018, I had a successful surgery to remove a benign tumor on the lining of the brain; however, two months later, I developed a staph infection in the cavity left by the surgery. So I had two more surgeries after that. Four months later, I had my first hour-long blackout (evidently caused by scar tissue on the brain). I had three more in 8 months' time. Finally, I went to a neurologist. He put me on 250 mg of Keppra twice daily. That’s the lowest dose. Thankfully, I haven’t had any blackouts since I started taking it. However, I hate taking it! All I want to do is sleep. I have zero energy and no motivation to do anything. I’ve lost interest in life! This is not living. I don’t have any of the anger issues I see others have, so I’m thankful for that."