Can anyone suggest any other medication besides Keppra for seizures?

After having two brain aneurysms rupture I was put on many different medications for seizures. The only drug that worked for me was Keppra but it was new to the market. I’ve been on it for 25 years and now I’m starting to lose my teeth it causes dry mouth which causes your teeth to decay (wish someone had told me). Also I’ve been sweating like a crazy person just doing a minimal activity. I thought menopause but now I’m leaning that it may be Keppra. I’m hoping to be able to find something comparable because I can’t live like this. I truly hope that we all can find a substitute that works for us all

Hi @tfrap369
Can't be something being done for dry mouth so as not to harm your teeth any longer? Perhaps your doctor could prescribe some medications to combat those side-effects, so that you can stay on Keppra.
Chris (@santosha)

@tfrap369
I would ask my pharmacist what if any medications can increase production of saliva, I believe there are some. I used Biotene but there are other OTC remedies. Also, have a serious talk with your dentist, be persistent, The same with your other doctors, don't let the subject drop until they offer you a solution that you're happy with. Remember your doctor, dentist, pharmacist, etc. are working for you not the other way around. If your physicians aren't willing to address your problems either get a second opinion or change doctors.
Have you always been on mono therapy? If so perhaps a combination might work. I assume you've had seizures since you say “only drug that worked for me was Keppra.”
Do you have tonic-clonic seizures?
Take care and be strong,
Jake

My daughter is not able to tolerate Keppra, so they have her on Briviact. I have been told that Briviact is called Keppra Light. Perhaps you can check into that one as an alternative.

Best,

Stacy

Thank you. I’ll check into that

Thank you for your response. I am taking a medication to help produce saliva but it’s not enough. My mouth is still very dry. I’ve used Biotene, hard sugar free candy and gum. But sadly nothing helps.

I’ve never heard of mono therapy, what is that?

I’ve had different types of seizures. I believe I’ve had the one you mentioned. In addition to grand mal and partial complex seizures.

I look forward to your response

It took several years and 3 neurologist to get my seizures under control. It was try this drug or that one at increasing dosages. Some made me sick, others exhausted. Lamictal gave me some control, but not 100%. My current neurologist recommended adding Trileptal to my Lamictal instead of changing one for the other. It did wonders.

I foolishly tried to reduce my dosage hoping to eliminate both. That caused a seizure bad enough to put me in the hospital.

I was under full control until I had a bad fall in Walmart last year and my nightmare returned along with a few hospital stays.

Hospital-based neurologists questioned the use of 2 similar drugs, claiming there's no need for both, one or the other should work. I ask does mixing the 2 put me at a greater risk than taking only 1, they say no, my response is "why would anyone risk changing".

One hospital-based neuroloist suggested I be put in the hospital for 5 days with no seizure drugs to bring on a seizure and determine their cause. That seems risky and a little crazy to me.

@tfrap369
Hi,
Mono therapy is taking only one medication or treatment at a time.
Like you I have always had multiple seizure types,
Grand-Mal now “Tonic clonic”
Petie Mal now “Absence”
Simple partial, now “Focal Aware”
Complex Partial now “Focal Impaired”
Status Epilepticus
I don't know anything about saliva-producing drugs but could they increase the dose or add another one, if others exist? Have you tried over-the- counter drugs similar to Biotene? There are quite a few.
Take care,
Jake

@tonyde
Your very lucky you got your seizures under control in a few years. Some of these Neurologists are dumb as a rock.
When you had a seizure and went to the hospital, did you go into status epilepticus where your seizure lasted longer than normal and they had to give you possibly various medicines to stop them or did they put you into an induced coma?
I too five different seizure meds a day. I originally took Dilantin, it was the go-to drug 60 years ago because there wasn't much of a choice back then, 4 or 5 seizure meds that I know of and almost 40 today.
You mentioned “One hospital-based neuroloist suggested I be put in the hospital for 5 days with no seizure drugs to bring on a seizure and determine their cause.” Are you talking about an Epilepsy Center to locate the seizure focus (where the seizure begins) which is different than the cause?
Take care,
Jake

Thank you for your response. I’ll talk to my neurologist about this when I see him. Initially I was being treated at Yale but once everything was stable I went to a different doctor.

With respect to the dry mouth, yes I’ve tried everything to and treat that. Unfortunately nothing works.