Fycompa and Anger: What Users Say

• gra...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 27, 2014

For Seizures "My boyfriend started this medication for better seizure control. He has had personality changes, confusion, aggression, hostility, delusions, depression, and severe thought problems that caused him to have antipsychotic and antidepressant medication increased because of existing bipolar disorder. Our relationship is about over because of this medication. We will see the neurologist ASAP to see if he can get off this medicine. Scared because it's addictive. He had similar reactions to Vimpat with suicidal thoughts."

• gra...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 27, 2014

For Seizures "My boyfriend started this medication for better seizure control. He has had personality changes, confusion, aggression, hostility, delusions, depression, and severe thought problems that caused him to have antipsychotic and antidepressant medication increased because of existing bipolar disorder. Our relationship is about over because of this medication. We will see the neurologist ASAP to see if he can get off this medicine. Scared because it's addictive. He had similar reactions to Vimpat with suicidal thoughts."

• Cai...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 23, 2018

For Epilepsy "My husband has been taking Gabapentin and Vimpat for a long time, yet still having seizures regularly. His doctor added Fycompa a little over a month ago for his temporal lobe seizures. Although Fycompa is definitely helping with his seizures, his personality and mental state have changed so much. He's very irritable and angry about everything and everyone. He's considered ending his life because he hates the person he's become. Yet, he didn't want to stop taking it because his seizures had diminished dramatically. Our daughter begged him tonight to stop taking it because she is so worried about him, as am I. That's what finally got his attention. He has decided to stop the Fycompa. We're hoping things get better very soon."

• ano...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 31, 2015

For Seizures "Having tried 7 other medications, none of which controlled my seizures, I was happily surprised that a dose of 4 mg of Fycompa does. More than 12 months and no seizures. Luckily, I have not experienced suicidal thoughts. The only side effects I experience are a little aggression and tiredness, but only very mild."

• AB2...
• August 28, 2017

For Epilepsy "I have generalized epilepsy, and it's very hard to control. Fycompa was working like a magical drug for the first 2 months, then all the side effects hit me like a rock. The first was anger. I would get mad and irritated very easily, which wasn't like me. Personality change is a big one-being someone you're not. All the bad side effects I got, but seizure-free now for a year."

• Txg...
• February 27, 2021

For Seizures "In the 50 years I have had seizures, I have never taken a worse drug. I reported it to the FDA bad drug website. The side effects were so terrible they changed my entire personality. Made me angry, impatient, and almost evil. My neurologist didn't want to take me off the medicine, it was an adjunct medicine, not my primary one, so I carefully reversed my dosage and changed back to the previous medication."

• AVM...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 22, 2023

For Seizures "I have a large arteriovenous malformation (AVM) that stretches across part of my temporal and frontal lobes. I had tonic-clonic seizures at least once a week, sometimes at work, on the train, while walking, while shopping… basically anywhere. I have been prescribed different medications in the past, including Topamax, Keppra, Trileptal, Mogadon, Lamotrigine, and Tegretol, but they have not worked. Fycompa is the only medication that has been able to control my seizures. Yes, I do get side effects such as severe migraines if I’m more than 1 hour late taking it, anger problems, weight gain, lethargy, depression, poor sleep, unable to focus, slurred speech, memory issues, and I feel like I’m high/tipsy 1-2 hours after taking it. But I willingly accept these side effects as long as I never have a seizure in a public place again. I’m a civil engineer and cannot afford to have seizures on an active construction site. I love Fycompa!"

• 197...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 19, 2017

For Epilepsy "Good points: reduced my seizures and made me feel overall a lot more confident. If I ever had a seizure, I tended to know when it might occur and my 'trigger' points. Bad points: It made me in some ways overconfident, to the point of feeling careless. Not so much suicidal, but thoughtless and self-indulgent. I would get angry easily. I work in a professional place and therefore had to taper down from it, though I am still on a low dose."

• not...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 18, 2017

For Epilepsy "This medicine has made me more angry than usual, and it doesn't help with my seizures. It also makes me sleepier than usual."