Vimpat - are memory issues transient?

Hi @hillsboro
Everyone reacts differently to those medications. I have stayed on for over a year on Vimpat and had several issues with it, including Aphasia and memory issues and getting pretty ill. But I know people that Vimpat has worked pretty well.
Have you been sleeping well on this medication? As we know, sleep is essential for the health of our brain.
Memory issues are well known to be a consequence of epilepsy. Perhaps your epilepsy has evolved, affecting your memory. I had no problems with my memory for a long time, but this changed from one year to the other. Perhaps it is related to your epilepsy and not the medication itself. What kind of epilepsy do you have? Temporal Lobe Epilepsy that directly affects the hippocampus?
Chris (@santosha)

I appreciate your response. I have had epilepsy for almost 40 years. I am trying to sort out exactly what you point out. Is this the med or evolving cognitive issues of epilepsy. Or anxiety that has escalated due to some intense life disruptions. I am so sorry that Vimpat didn’t work for you and you were ill. My question remains, have others experienced cognitive slowing on Vimpat as a side effect that fades as your body adjusts to the medication?

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My pleasure @hillsboro19
Jake (@jakedduck1) any suggestions on how to investigate if the cognitive decline comes from a medication or from an epilepsy advancement? Doing an MRI perhaps? You know so much!
Have a nice Sunday!
Chris (@santosha)

Recent MRI suggests “all is as it should for someone my age”. Rather ambiguous. But my neurologist did not make further suggestions. I really trust him. Top epileptologist at Mayo. I have messaged him but he is out of the office until early September. My husband thinks it’s anxiety not the Vimpat. I have looked and looked online. It is listed in all the side effects “that may diminish” as the body adjusts. Just looking for people’s experience with this.

@hillsboro19, @jakeduck1,@santosha,
I’m wondering same thing. Been on lacosimide since 2022 and memory and depression,anxiety slowly worsening. Natural course or med. I think both. Chris, my neuro here is giving me a referral to Vanderbilt epilepsy center so hopefully can help with these blasted nocturnal grand mals!

Go to drugs.com - Vimpat User Reviews and Ratings. I could not get it to copy and paste. Lots and lots of comments about memory loss, short term memory loss, difficulty with verbal articulation. And much more but those are the ones related to my question. Many comments about Vimpat working for seizure control but lots of those folks said they also had memory issues that affected their lives.

Hi @baa
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you. I do also believe that both the meds and my epilepsy have made my memory worse.
As to depression, I believe both the meds and my sleep issues caused it. Thankfully, now that I am off AEDs having switched to medical cannabis and other alternative treatments, I am out of my depression and sleep has been much better.
But I still continue to have those memory gaps, but less than while I was taking some AEDs. This is from my condition of temporal lobe epilepsy.
@baa, great that your doctor referred you to Vanderbilt epilepsy center. I hope all goes well and that discoveries are made!
Have all a nice week!
Chris (@santosha)

@santosha
So happy to hear you are off AEDs. I hate medicine as there are so many side effects. I know sometimes it is necessary, but still hate, and if there are other therapies that work, that is always better!
I know I’m hurting my heart by struggling with Bipap, but I honestly am trying. Just can’t sleep with the darned thing🥺
However, so good to hear that you are better and bless you dear lady!🌷

Hi @hillsboro
I have checked this website many times for the side-effects of AEDs while I was taking them. It was very helpful.
But again, every person has a personal reaction to those meds. I, for example, am a very sensitive person to medication since my childhood. I even had the rare side-effects while taking Vimpat.
I believe the best is to compare how you feel now versus the last med you took. Remembering that the body needs some time to adapt to a new med. For example, I had a skin rash with Lamictal in the first month and it disappeared afterward. But I had to get off this drug because I had severe insomnia which did not get better after 3 months of usage.
I believe that another good exam to do is the neuropsychological assessment. I did it in 2019 when I started treating my epilepsy with AEDs and it showed that both my cognitive and executive functions were impacted. Now that I am off AEDs, I am thinking of repeating it again to see if the results have changed.
Chris (@santosha)

@baa
Thank you so much for your kind words. What I say to people still struggling with meds and their condition is "Do not give up"!
Learning and studying about epilepsy and exchanging experiences with others were key to getting better and exploring other treatment alternatives.
When will you be at the epilepsy center, I mean the dates?
While you are with Bipap, one thing that can help you is practicing Yoga Nidra. While I had severe insomnia, I practiced it more than once a day and it helped me a lot. I still continue to practice it daily after lunch as I believe it increases my seizure threshold. As I have mentioned in other posts, 30 minutes of yoga nidra can correspond to up to 3 hours of deep sleep. It is a practice, where you lay down on your back on your bed or yoga mat, listen and do this mental relaxation. Give it a try!
Wishing you a beautiful week and stay strong!
Chris (@santosha)