Can anyone suggest any other medication besides Keppra for seizures?

@1710dave
Hi Dave
What type of seizures do you have?
What meds have you tried?
Have any of the meds helped? It might be best if another medicine was added instead of changing your medicine all together although monotherapy seems best. Have you ever had control?
Jake

I am on zonisamide, (Zonegran). This has been the best solution for me. I did not take Keppra, but took it years ago. I did not like it, and refuse to take again. Zonisamide had side affects, A lot of my hair came out. I looked online they did a 6 month study on it. But it came back curly, which I loved, having straight hair all my life. The good news in a way was it is also used for weight loss, which has killed my appetite. But my hair has come in straight again, no curly. It has controlled my seizures, which is a blessing. I was diagnosed early 2000 no seizures until around 2008, then again 2010.

You might ask your Neurologist about Trileptal immediate release or Oxtellar extended release they both come in generic which is Oxcarbazepine or Lamictal/Lamotrigine. Like Zonegran/Zonisamide they all can control Generalized or Focal seizures.
What type of seizures do you have?
Are you interested in changing to another drug or adding a second one.
Jake

I have seizures that last 20 to 30 minutes at a time.The first year I had one in 2014 and it was a year before I had another one.As time go's on I have having them more.I have them about a month apart now.I am taking 500mg keppra twice a day,I don't know if the pill gets weaker over time.Does anyone know this.I need to find a good doctor that might want to help me a little.

You may need to increase your dose. I am currently taking 1,000mg of Extended Release Keppra, 200mg of Lamictal in the morning and 1,500mg of Extended Release Keppra, 200mg of Lamictal in the evening. You may need to increase your dosage. I have gran mal seizures that only last 1-2 mins. It takes about 30 minutes to come to. Good luck finding a dosage that works.

I have had grand mal seizures since the mid 970s. Went through several different drugs since then. Once I started taking carbamazepine (brand name tegretol) XR 400 mg 3 times daily, I have not had any seizure activity since the mid 1990s. While doing research is good, the best person to discuss this with is your neurologist.

@1710dave
I haven't heard that tolerance is a problem with Keppra but everyone is different so who knows for sure. Most people I talk to who have their seizures controlled have been on the same dose.
Usually tolerance occurs with the benzodiazepines like Atavan, Valum, Klonopin. I was on Klonopin and my dose was raised to almost the maximum dose. Have you asked your neurologist about increasing your Keppra? Virtually everyone I know takes more than 1,000 mg. Is Keppra all you take?
Jake

My son takes Lamotrigine (spelling?) 2x a day and Zonisamide (sp?) 1 big dose at night for his seizures. He has had some Big seizures...shaking, falling down... but these medicines, or something, are helping him to only have only occasional 'frozen seizures' now. These 'freeze' him in his tracks and affect his memory of the whole time he was frozen And the sleeping/waking period of up to 2 hours afterwards. Luckily, he can be led to a place to lie down and slowly wake up from this which is very fortunate for us all as he's a big guy. When he wakes up, he has totally lost those hours from his memory.

@beccahp
By ‘Frozen Seizures’ do you mean Absence Seizures?
I was curious how your son acted during these seizures?
Does he just stare blankly as though he’s daydreaming or does he have some slight movements? Can he respond.
Has the doctor used terms like Absence, Focal, Focal Aware, Focal Impaired? Approximately how long do they last?
regarding his memory loss, is that just temporary or is it permanent? If he’s having absent seizures memory loss is usually short-term. i’m curious if he’s not having oh cool impaired/complex partial seizures primarily because of the sleep time. With epilepsy there always seems to be more questions than answers.
Take care,
Jake

Hi Jake,
Zach's Neurologist called them Frozen Seizures and said only part of his brain was frozen or affected. Yes, he stares blankly and all his movements are frozen in place. One time, he was talking with his sister on the phone and just froze with it in front of his mouth and staring blankly while sister was trying to get his attention from the phone. She sort of figured out what had happened.
They last from as short as 3 minutes to 15 or so, I guess.
He does not respond at all during these, but is able to be led by the arm to a place to lie down. If he is already laying in the recliner, with no resistance, I can rearrange his head/arms for more comfort.
The memory of those frozen minutes do not come back to him but he can sometimes recall what was happening just before it happened.
Yes, lots more questions than answers, unfortunately. 🙁
All the best to you,
🙂 Beccahp