Signing out for now due to information overload!
I was not perscribed keppra post surgery rather gabbepentin but…my daughter takes keppra for epilepsy and she adds vitamin B6 to help with the mooods. It seems to work for her.
Michele, I have been on Keppra for 6 years... used preventively also. I have a sleep eeg done every year and the results of that test are what keep me on the medication. They need to see if your brain waves are disturbed. My doc says that is what determines whether or not I can go off of it. They don't think I ever will....
I didn’t even know I had a aneurysm till mine bursted. I Was lucky I survived. I Was on gabipenten n still am I was taking abilify that drug I think is the reason I had a seizure now I take kepra n gabipenten but not abilify
I was also on Keppra and slowly weaned off. All the different chemical changes or whatever made me anxious and depressed. It took a while with much medical help to get better but in about 2 months I did. 2 years later I am still mentally fine still with help from a psychiatrist and medications. Hang in there it will get better. Sue S.
I didn't like keppra either. I actually had to switch doctors to get one to change my meds. I was about
1.5 - 2 years out of surgery before I decided to make the change.
I did have seizures after surgery and continue to have petite ones to this date occasionally.
Best wishes,
Jim R
I've been on Keppra 750mg twice daily for about 3 1/2 years and haven't had any problems with it. Keppra was the third drug they tried me on. One gave me headaches, one had me so confused that I swore I was getting early onset alzheimers! Everyone is different in how their bodies react to drugs. I would let your doctor know you are having problems.
Our daughter suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm in May of this year and did have a seizure while being air lifted to the hospital. She has been on Keppra as a preventive and has not had any seizures. She still has no use of her left arm or hand, nor can she drive due to vision loss.
I spoke with her doctor regarding the Keppra as she has severe mood swings and he shared that is a side affect of the Keppra. During surgery they discovered four more aneurysms which they coiled. She goes for her first angiogram on the 29th of December and we are praying that everything is good.
Hang in there as I am sure you will see relief once you are off the Keppra. Her doctor said he could put her on the long lasting slow release Keppra which would be taken once a day as that might help with mood swings then decided against changing as he is going to wean her off once the angiogram is complete.
In addition to my above post, I forgot to add in the amount I was taking. My dose of Kepra was on
1250 mg am and 1750 mg pm.
yep..I had to wait a year too to drive after my brain aneurysm which was back in 09'. It's not selfish it's just one more thing that is going to make you feel like you were before, on this one you have all the right in the world to be selfish which actually you are not being. It's like FREEDOM which is something we all understand. I have also been taking Keppra since 09' too and it hasn't bothered me at all just the Doc's want me to stay on it mainly because of all the med's I have to take now just to be safe,I only had one seizure and that was when the aneurysm ruptured (grade 4)...you'll be fine, no worries
Thank you everyone for sharing! The doctor called me back finally and I have been given permission to start weaning off the Keppra!!! I am both excited an nervous at the same time! I am 33 yrs old and never had a seizure (thankfully)! I will still be restricted from driving until I see him for my 6 week follow up from surgery which is 1/8. (A little more then 6 weeks due to the holidays!) My clipping surgery was on an unruptured aneurysm so luckily I was only on the keppra preventively after surgery. Hopefully all goes well with the weaning and my follow up! Thanks everyone!
I’m glad that you are doing well after the surgery !! This re-couping from this kind of surgery (I am a surviver) is a piece of cake. (Lol) Things are a little different for a while but things will work out for you, I promise. It did for me.
I had my surgery 12/27/1997 and survived. My surgern did not put me on Keppra. But 15 years later after the surgery I had a seizure. A different Doctor put me on Keppra 2x a day (forever) and I haven’t had any problems at all with Keppra. My only problem was that I couldn’t drive for 6 months !! (ha) But the new Doctor wondered why the surgern didn’t put me on Keppra from the start ? He said that the ‘Clip’ on the Brain is a 'foreign body’ and when you have a 'foreign body’ a seizure will happen. Who now’s why back then.
Anyway, just hang in there so things will work out.
Pat,,
I have had a ruptured and then clipped aneurysm 6 years ago, it was a rough recovery! I was on an anti seizure medication until I left the hospital a month later. One year after surgery and then again another year after that I had grand mall seizures which resulted in me having to take Keppra, 500 mg twice daily. I have had no seizures since 2011 and I feel great. I have the anger issues, but I always thought it was from the aneurysm itself and not the medication. It took me 3 months after surgery and rehab to be able to drive again. All I can say is be patient it all will get better with time. Good luck!
I would like to hear more from people who have had clipping for an unruptured aneurysm. Is it common to be put on anti seizure medication right after surgery? Is it common to have headaches after? If you weren't put on anriseizure medication were you grumpy anyway?
Hi Carol, I had a 4mm unruptured aneurysm clipping. I was not put on anti seizure medication. I had a pretty bad headache for about a week after surgery. I took percocets for the first 4 days, which totally took care of the pain (except for the last half hour or so), and then weaned myself off and onto tylenol for a few days. Off all pain meds at that point.
I was very blissful and happy for the first month or so (surgery was Oct). Then, during the second month, I became very emotional and grumpy and just irritated all the time. I don't know if it was the surgery or the cabin fever! Its hard being at home watching tv all day long.
Carol, I am 6 years out from my clipping and have been on Keppra XR (time release) for the whole time. Take yearly EEG's which show some brain wave disturbance so my neurologist doesn't want to chance a seizure, thus the 1000 mgs. Keppra daily. Fairly often I have a headache upon waking up but it soon goes away.
Kit34 said:
Hi Carol, I had a 4mm unruptured aneurysm clipping. I was not put on anti seizure medication. I had a pretty bad headache for about a week after surgery. I took percocets for the first 4 days, which totally took care of the pain (except for the last half hour or so), and then weaned myself off and onto tylenol for a few days. Off all pain meds at that point.
I was very blissful and happy for the first month or so (surgery was Oct). Then, during the second month, I became very emotional and grumpy and just irritated all the time. I don't know if it was the surgery or the cabin fever! Its hard being at home watching tv all day long.
I will have a hard time not driving, too. I am trying to get bills paid for three months and birthday presents bought and wrapped for three months.
Hi Michele
So good to hear you are doing so well so soon after your surgery, you seem very positive which really helps on the road to recovery. Not sure about the keppra as they give you a different anti seizure medication in the UK but it’s still not very nice & I too found I couldn’t sleep well either so they let me go off it after 2 months.
It’s so nice to see success stories on this site as having my next operation on the 27 January to clip a left MCA which is 8mm & which now has a daughter aneurysm on the side of it so it needs fixing pretty quickly but I’m still absolutely terrified. Did your GP give you anything to calm you down prior to the op or the docs at the hospital? I am so nervous I hope I can go through with it. I previously had a rupture & went into surgery unconscious so don’t remember a thing but this time it’s a bit different.
Well Michele continue with your speedy recovery & you will be zipping around in your car before you know it, after all we have the summer to look forward to now.
Take care & god bless
Susannah
Hi Carol. I had an unruptured cerebral aneurysm (no symptoms according to doctors). They found it by during a MRI. I was having vision problems for which I thought was that macular degeneration. Being afraid of losing my eyesight (blurred vision that would come and go) I waited 1 year but gave in and went to see an opthomologist. He could find nothing so referred me to a retina specialist. He also could find nothing and then referred me to a neurologist whom suggest I have a MRI. Having had some balance problems, neuro problems, etc for about 10 years (my 1st neurologist did tests but found nothing in 2 years). I thought my 2nd neurologist was going to tell me that I had MS. Instead she told me on August 15, 2011 that I had a 7.5 mm aneurysm. Made an appointment with a neurosurgeon and he did a craniotomy clipping on 10-10-11. Once inside he found another small one near the same area and fixed that also. I had no idea of what to expect post surgery. I just put my faith in God and told myself if it was my time to go so be it. I found that to be very peaceful, especially since I am not a church person. Serenity set in and stayed.
Now for post-surgery, everyone is different and has different meds, conditions related to the surgery, etc. I had surgery on a Monday and went home Friday evening with pain pills and anti seizure meds. I had stitches and staples removed approx. 10 days post-op.
About 1 month later I started with headaches which turned into severe migraines, 24/7 for about 3 months. No meds helped. I found this board and asked people about my concerns. The migraines were torture. My neuro put me on Verapamil and it took about 4 weeks to get into my system and NO migraines since. I tried to go off 2x's but within a week headache started so I went right back on the verapamil being I didn't want to wait till the headaches were migraines. I can tell you I also developed other problems (not all mentioned here), but both the neurologist and neurosurgeon claim all the postop problems had nothing to do with the aneurysm or surgery. I say to myself, B.S., lol. I had none of the post-op problems pre-surgery. Some people get clippings and end up just fine and others end up with new problems. I suppose fixing one thing can trigger other conditions. I just take one day at a time and to be honest there are many days I wish they had never found the aneurysm. If not for the fear of losing my eyesight I would never have pursued any doctor. Even now with my follow up's I just say I'm doing great even if not. Every time I open my mouth they start more testing, find more things, etc. I am 64 and just don't want to spend all my free time visiting doctors and having test after tests. Unless in severe pain I just go for follow ups and keep my mouth shut.
If you have questions, come to this group with them. Everyone here was of more help than any doctor and so many of us go through the same post surgical problems from hair loss to migraines, etc. I was losing so much hair and my neurosurgeons PA told me the surgery should have nothing to do with hair loss. About 4 months later the hair stopped coming out. but having very thick hair I am lucky with that situation. I have to say the migraines were the worse and if not for the verapamil I doubt I would be here. If you have any health conditions pre surgery make sure your doctors know. Like high BP or cholesterol, etc. It will help them in regulating your meds. The anti seizure I was on was only for about 2-3 weeks. I don't want to create any stress for you but I would rather be honest. Had I known more about post op problems I am not sure I would or would not have surgery. It's a hard decision. If you have any questions feel free to ask. As I said, we all have different outcomes and cannot predict, but only speak of our own problems. By the way, I was not grumpy at all till the migraines started. At that point I was crying and very depressed in trying to alleviate the pain. God Bless and keep us posted. Jeanne
carol72 said:
I would like to hear more from people who have had clipping for an unruptured aneurysm. Is it common to be put on anti seizure medication right after surgery? Is it common to have headaches after? If you weren't put on anriseizure medication were you grumpy anyway?
Hi Michele. 4 weeks post surgery you probably are not fully recovered even though you may feel like you are. You probably have some swelling still if you had a craniotomy. Personality changes are normal, some strong, some less obvious or just none. It takes time for a full recovery. My neurosurgeon stated it could be 1 year for FULL recovery if ever. I did not have a full recovery and its been 3 years. I am functional, can drive, but I cannot work. I have some neurological problems when it comes to learning, understanding new things, following conversations, memory, etc. I did start driving though after 4 weeks and tolerance is very bad for me too. Hope you feel better soon. Give yourself time and research here. You would be surprised as to how many people are going through the same or similar situations. Take care of yourself. Jeanne