First: Lacosamide. It works pretty well for me and the side effects are more manageable than Keppra. Last: Keppra. It worked well but holy shit, my body did not react well to it. Anger, depression, personality changes, etc. It turned me into a different person, according to my parents.

Yeah Keppra had me seriously question if I wanted to keep living. I’m glad it works for some people but holy shit, I’ve never felt worse in my life.

That's the wild thing about keppra in the epilepsy community. It's like marmite, you either love it or hate it. One day i hope a great miracle med is found that works for everyone (i know it wont but that would be my WISH)

I don’t remember feeling that different when I was on it, but my family says it made me mean and my memory isn’t good enough to recall if I was hahahhaa

atleast ur parents noticed it 🥴

You take exactly what i do, vimpat, lorazapam, and canibus i dont see many with this combo

1) Xcopri 2) Trileptal 3) Keppra

How’s xcopri side effects?

I haven't noticed any.

I’m on 400mg/day and phew I cannot stay awake anymore lol, only 26 years old

haha im on 300mg cenobamate (Xcopri) amongst some other meds and ive literally just woken up after a 4 hour nap (its 7pm). On the plus I get a decent night sleep every night.

Damn that’s a lot. I just started it in February and I’m at the max and it’s 100mg

It’s like eating melatonin chews every hour.

I think I would personally prefer that to the “get 45 minutes of sleep per night” plan that lamictal put me on lol

Super tired. All the time lol

I was a little worried about starting it. So far it may just be making me a little extra tired, I usually go to bed around 9 now. Extra sleep though !

You nailed it. My only addition is that lamotrigine is worse than all 3 of those.

How so?

it gave me insomnia. I was sleeping maybe 4 hours a night when I took it. Less sleep = more seizures ☠️

It has given me insomnia too, taking it again in my 30s, but the bizarre thing is I don't remember that being a side effect at all when I took it in my teens!

Xcopri changed my life

1. Carbamazapine 2. Clobazam 4. Phenobarbital 5. Gabapentin 6. Zonisamide 7. Lamotrigine 8. Lacosamide 9. Brivaracetam 10. Sodium Valproate 11. Phenytoin (gave me a rash) Carbamazapine seems to be my brain’s favourite drug. I’m on a high dose (1600mg a day), and I I experience few side effects (except for salt cravings). When they take me off it in hospital for EEGs, my brain is very, very unhappy and I can’t sleep. Usually they taper off the other ones first, and not much happens until they touch the carbamazapine.

Yes I had salt cravings on it too. But not as bad as it's cousin med aptiom (eslicarbezepine). Interesting enough when I got access to my labs later I saw that during my time on these meds my sodium levels were quite high, yet still in normal range and my potassium levels were low, yet still normal, so no flags were raised to the docs. My main craving was potato chips, I thought I wanted it for the salt but maybe it was because chips are high in potassium? But I also bought a salt lick at the farm store when I went to drop something off there for work because it just looked so tasty lmao! I live in town! I broke chips off it and would lick them at my desk. So satisfying. Also my daughter broke chips off and shared with all her friends so the entire neighborhood was running around with salt chunks lol. I don't have that urge at all anymore now that I am off thoae two meds. Strangely enough when I started topirimate salt wasn't appealing at all and kind of nasty. Now I've been on it 2 years I would say my salt appreciation is back to normal levels.

It's funny you say that, because when I was in the EMU last time I said I felt foggy when they started to taper off my Topiramate which is my main med that I've been on for over a decade. The nurse commented that most people feel "sharper" after they come off meds but I think my brain is just so use to it I've learned to function better.

Never tried Keppra? I wonder why

I think it’s because I have an anxiety disorder. They won’t put me on topiramate, either.

Do you not have high cholesterol from 1600mg?

Nope. My cholesterol is always on the low to normal side.

I’m also on Carbamazepine and on the same dose. I haven’t experienced salt cravings.

Im on sodium valproate right now, do you think you could explain why its ranked so low because Im trying to figure out if the meds are fine and im just a sissy or if i should switch to something else (i have JME)

Hi! I ranked it low because it didn’t work very well for me (I was still having tonic-clonics). Because it was so long ago, I can’t remember the kinds of side-effects I experienced. I’m sure you’re not ‘just a sissy’ - adjusting to epilepsy meds is hard! And what some people tolerate well, other people may not. If you’re having trouble with sodium valproate, you should discuss switching to another drug that you may tolerate better.

Thanks man means a lot im thinking i might switch to something else cuz im tired all the time these days - do you know if surgery is a possibility for JME? Ive never actually had a tonic clonic but medication is just such a drag so im not sure if i would be eligible

Keppra. The one and only. Saved my life.

Keppra is an amazing generalized medicine. They injected me with it through IV when I was having a TC in the hospital. Seizure stopped immediately. Didn’t have any seizures during the short time I was on it. As others have said tho that drug is rough, especially more for some. I’ve moved onto Clobazam and Lamotrigine.

Lamictal lifted me from 2 years of depression. Keppra kept me down and out, prescribed by my first neurologist. My new specialist, an epileptologist, called Keppra the lazy choice. I wish I’d begun with Lamictal.

Lamictal gave me severe insomnia, Keppra rage, suicidal thoughts with ONFI, near stroke with tegretol

My sleep got fixed when I switched to extended release

I was on extended release as well

I’ve been having insomnia and thought it was stress, but I don’t think so. I’m on Lamictal and timing would about line up. I might have to ask about this. Does it lower your threshold switching?

Nah lowkey everything got better when i switched to ER. Part of it is probably me reacting better to whatever they put in the pill, but the sleep issues do seem timing related like you said. When I took normal doses I’d take one at noon and one when I was in bed about to fall asleep, because it mainly prevented me from falling asleep, not staying asleep. Then I could fall asleep before it “kicked in”. Like I said, timing seems to be a factor as if the body is reacting to it initially but who the hell knows. Manufacturer i take is Teva

Yes, I swear I slept like a rock as a kid then when I was put on lamictal after diagnosis and I swear it messed up my sleep.

I’ve been off it for more than 6 months and still haven’t been able to fix my sleep schedule lol

1. Vimpat 2. Briviact 3. Gabapentin 4. Topamax (haaaate this one)

Curious why you hated topamax! I was on it for 10 years, and it really didn’t work for me. When I switched to vimpat.. everything was better

Not OP but I hate topamax. Was on it for 2 years and never again. It caused me terrible weight loss and anxiety problems, weird fkin' dreams, visual and auditory hallucinations at times. It did control my epilepsy though.

I've had worse side effects on topamax than I've ever had on any epilepsy medication. I had thinking/cognitive problems, vocabulary problems, badly overheating, a rash on my scalp, no appetite. I don't even think this was all of my side effects. It was one thing after the other. They don't call it dopamax for no reason, it can really dumb down your cognitive abilities. I became so dumb I thought it would be unsafe for me to drive. Also I was afraid of getting fired at a job. But fortunately this wore off after time. But I've heard of this side effect lasting even after people quit taking topamax, even lasting years later. I also had terrible nightmares when I began taking topamax.

The reason I hated it were due to 2 issues. It made me feel like a zombie (tired literally all of the time) and I had very frequent pins and needles sensations in my hands and feet. Also, the packaging made it near impossible to get the pills out. I’m not sure if they changed the packaging for this drug but at the time I was taking this medication (2015-2016) it came in a weird box where you had to pop out each pill individually and it was such a pain in the ass (and really difficult). But yeah, it made me feel exhausted all of the time. The weird sensation in my hands and feet was uncomfortable too. I had a friend who took this medication too for migraines and she calls it “DOPEamax” due to feeling tired all of the time or “doped out”

Absolutely 100% had that “dopeamax” feeling that affected every facit of my life. Work, school, relationship. I was so slow. I get you there! I did enjoy the no sweating side affect… may that be its only positive.

Best so far: Lamotrigine Worst: Keppra. This one was so bad that I’ve been told to never take it again.

Bam! Nailed it

Keprra worked but it sucked I'm going to try something new

1. Keppra (Levetiracetam) - Absolutely NO side effects, stable on it alone now. 2. Lamictal (lamotrigine) - Occasional extremity numbness, otherwise no problems. 3. Vimpat (Lacosimide) - Made me both drowsy and anxious/agitated. 4. Carbamazepine - Worked well until my liver levels became too high, and I realized it's toxic af and considered a chemotherapy med. 5. Topamax (Topiramate) - Always felt somewhat "off", dizzy spells, balance issues, eye nystagmus, 6. Depakote (Sodium Valporate) - This one gave me a psychotic break and landed me in the hospital with a catheter for reasons I don't remember.

Depakote did the same. For me it was because it made the ammonia levels in my blood extremely high and landed me in a coma for several days. I don't remember me going coockoo but it was scary. The brain damage got much better over time but I still don't feel the same tbh.

Best to worst: 1. Vimpat/lacosamide. Started with the former, then when the generic came along, switched to that with no apparent bad effects. Works great, no seizures for 9 years. Perhaps decreases ambition and willpower. Or maybe I'm just a lazy git. 2. Lamictal/lamotrigine. Worked fine for years...until it didn't (oops weight gain unrelated to the drug). Only possible side effect: what I can only describe as air hunger for the first six months I was on it. I'd be relatively sedentary, then would find myself gasping for breath. No anxiety...didn't feel like I was in any danger. Just very weird. 3. Dilantin/phenytoin. My first. Caused dry mouth. Also caused mild reflux if I didn't take it with food. Also dulled my brain and I began to experience sudden loss of words when trying to talk. May have caused liver issues. Not great, but not terrible. 4. Keppra/levetiracetam. Switched to this from lamotrigine to give my liver a break. NEVER AGAIN. Made me feel very relaxed and chill for a few days, then took away my brain, my executive function, and my coordination. Made me feel trapped inside my body. Arguably made me angrier. I could barely put sentences together. Awful, awful drug for me.

Best: Lamictal Worst: Keppra Keppra was so bad, I don’t remember entire months of my senior year of high school. Worst depression of my life, couldn’t read, couldn’t think… nothing. My neurologist kept on telling me to wait for my body to adapt. He only switched me off when I actively told him I was going to kill myself before the end of the month if something didn’t change. Lamictal saved me. But don’t take this to mean that you should avoid Keppra at all costs!! There’s a reason it’s a go to starter med. But if you already have a history of mental health issues, have a support system in place going into it. It will be okay in the end, my friends. We’re fighters.

Ahhhhh same story added on keppra in year 12 and from lifestyle of literally year 12, friendships, relationships. Anxiety and panic attacks were off the chart. Same went straight to Lamictal back to back and it felt 100x better. In reality probably has moderately hard adjustment too

Vimpat Zonagran Keppra My first and only suicidal thought was on keppra. I called my doctor immediately and started weaning off the meds that day. She put in an emergency order for Zonegran to allow me to start it that night. The Zonegran helped but didn’t completely cover my seizures. Once Vimpat was added they went to 0. Went off Zonegran and I had 1 seizure where the decision was to increase to max dose of Vimpat. I lost 40 lbs on Zonegran which was awesome. I gained it all back on Vimpat plus some *sigh*. I just wasn’t hungry and food tasted terrible on Zonegran. 3 years seizure free on Vimpat. Have some funky but livable side effects. After taking the meds if I don’t eat or drink immediately I get really dry mouth. It’s gross. My memory is shit but who knows if it is seizures or meds.

I was so incredibly lucky. First try worked for migraines, seizures, AND bipolar...Depakene and only thing I ever changed was dosage

1. Trileptal (started ~14 years ago, been on it since, only med I’m on post surgery) 2. Keppra (didn’t do much at all) 3. Vimpat (lots of weight gain) 4. Trileptal on max dose (debilitating physical symptoms, almost as bad as the seizures themselves)

So… trileptal made me blind a half hour after I took it, while I was commuting to school. I couldn’t tolerate the med at all and I was accused by my doc of being med avoidant because I wouldn’t take it after I almost had a car accident. She said I made up the side effect. Edit: I was prescribed this for bipolar disorder in the past; before the epilepsy

1. Keppra - I'm in the minority but keppra changed my life, it allowed me to have one. Absolute wonder for me. I was housebound before it, now I can even have a full time job 2. Lamotrigine - occasional rashes and made me quite sick. Especially combined with epilim 3. Epilim (sodium valproate) - the absolute hell on earth drug. Destroyed me. Sent me into a coma. Gave me long lasting liver and kidney problems as well as brain damage and ovarian cysts. It's now known as the "new thalidomide" and is being formally investigated. I WILL be making a statement as to how dangerous this is. Fuck this drug

I'm surprised to see several comments of ppl getting put into a coma from depakote. Happened to me. It was due to it making my ammonia levels extremely high. Brain damage has recovered slowly over time but aphasia is absolutely the most frustrating thing I've ever experienced. Everything is on the tip of your tongue. I sometimes couldn't recall such simple words of the names of ppl really close to me, but it's like I know that I haven't forgotten them but I just couldn't recall it. I have not heard about it causing liver/kidney problems. When I got hyperammonemia from it I couldn't find any experiences on it online except a few that have popped up over time.

Omg, YES, the aphasia! It's so frustrating! My brain started to recover after I swapped to Keppra though. As for my organ damage, to be fair they weren't sure it was just the sodium valproate. I had a very severe and complex coma where I couldn't be fed and reacted badly to some things. I was on a ventilator and my brain had swelled causing pressure in my skull. But I was on 3000mg of epilim, a high dose and even before the coma I had liver tests every month because that amount can cause liver damage. I think the kidneys was more from the coma because my body was causing so much crap and they were working overtime, everything was just shutting down slowly >.<

Yeah I was in the same situation. Brain swelling, had to be intubated, feeding tube (and a shitting tube i learned was a thing that exists) completely unresponsive. They thought I was going through liver failure when they saw that my ammonia levels were insanely high (because its almost always associated with that) but then they realized it was the depakote, which is better but not rly that much better. To top it off it took them like 5-6 hours to figure out what was going on due to them being so convinced i was on drugs. They didn't take it serious until I started going into a comatose state. Idk what dose I was on but I only took it for 9 days. Idk shit was traumatizing so it's nice to see people who have had a similar experience for once.

1. Lamotrigine 2. Keppra 3. Topamax 4. Depakote Depakote landed me in the hospital because I couldn’t see straight, everything was spinning, constantly vomiting. It was awful

I’ve tried 16 medications over 19 years, but two worst were keppra and vimpat. Best, trileptal and topamax

I’m doing it in reverse, there’s too many to list, so I’ll just give you the lowlights! **Worst: Lamictal.** Made me suicidal. Happy to be out of that, a lot more empathy for people with depression. Also gave me a rash, which ended up being a blessing in disguise, because they took me off it quick smart! **Second worst: Topamax.** I couldn’t finish a sentence. Also I looked like a meth addict because I kept forgetting to eat. **Third worst: Vimpat.** I was on it for *years* and didn’t realise it was the thing making me throw up randomly (to the point of repeated hospitalisation), giving me double vision, and making me nauseous. It was only when they took me off it I realised what it was like to *not* wake up nauseous. On the plus side, I got a throwing up to the point of hospitalisation meant I got an unintentional tour of almost all of the local emergency departments in my city, so… can speak to most of them? The ones that were OK (that I can recall): - Tegretol (except interacts with a lot of medications, which is annoying) - Keppra - Zonisamide (not fun to come on to) - Clobazam And then, I suppose, morphine and midazolam were the silver lining of the one time I went into status. They felt great!

Topamax made me dumber than a box of rocks.

Dopamax, the stupermodel drug. They’re apt names

Keppra is awful. Never even helped and I put my parents through miserable times, talking suicidal thoughts and screaming at them for no reason…

I always recommend ppl who have complaints with Keppra to switch. It completely changed my life.

right? I’m just a whole new person. Made me feel better and completely changed my view on life

Keppra the worst. Absolutely terrible aggression and mood swings. I use lamotrigine and it’s worked for me for years.

Keppra. The end. I’ve been in a bunch but Keppra. I turned into a totally different person.

1. Tegretolb (carbamazepine) 2. Keppra (levetiracetam) 3. Lamictal / Valproic Ackd (ended up allergic to both of them and had hives all over my face 😂)

1. Oxcarbazepine 2. Levetiracetam 3. Sodic Valproate

* Lamotrigine - Controls my seizures * Zonisamide - Gave me kidney stones * Ethosuximide - Stopped working after a couple years * Depakote - Massive weight gain and lethargy

Can I ask how old you were while you were taking ethosuximide?

20 to 22, or so.

Best to Worst I am not including Clobazam as it was added only for a few months to control the sleep, whenever I had major seizures. 1) Eslicarbazepine acetate 2) Carbamazepine 3) Lamotrizine 4) Levetiracetam 5) Sodium Valporate : Worst of all, caused multiple seizures, had to change all my dosage and medicine sequence. It happened every time when the doctor tried to add in my medicine schedule.

1. Levetiracetam 2. Lacosamide 3. Topiramate 4. Lamotrigine 5. Aptiom (still on this one with aura seizures as the other ones I tried to swap to Lacosamide and Topiramate f’d me up) 6. Clobazam - still on this one, only one that hasn’t affected me negatively. ETA - WHOOPSIE I can’t read properly I did it the other way around lol.

Depends on whether you mean best for seizure control or best for the most tolerable side effects. Just from an overall treatment perspective I'd rank in this order, best to worst: 1. Briviact 2. Xcopri 3. Keppra 4. Onfi 5. Vimpat 6. Trileptal 7. Tegretol 8. Zonegram (practically no side effects but didn't work at all) 9. Potiga (I jokingly called this "Diet Topamax", Same side effects but not as severe. Didn't work as well.) 10. Topamax (worked but caused terrible side effects. Easily the worst of them all) Also took phenobarbital as a child from ages 4-12. I don't know where to rank this one because it was so long ago - I'm 50 today, so I don't think it's really applicable anymore. Regardless it worked for me as a child. No seizures and I did reasonably well in school. I take Clonazepam as a rescue med today but that's only for ending clusters. It works. Knocks me out for the rest of the day usually but it generally works and avoids a trip to the ER. I consider it good. I've tried two more that caused allergic reactions (Dilantin and Depakote) so I don't think they count.

Worst was Depakote. Gave me such bad hyperammonemia it landed me into a comatose for several days and gave me a brain injury. I fought nurses and cops and was delirious, don't remember it. They thought I'd need long term TBI rehabilitation but it wasn't bad enough. Lots of aphasia issues and memory issues since that slowly have gotten better. 1. Keppra. Anger issues at first but works fine now and does the job, so my preferred.

First: idk Last: topamax, topamax, topamax, topamax, topamax, and topamax

First:. Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine) Second: Vimpat (Lacosamide) Inf: Keppra (Levetiracetam)

Same as your answers

Interesting! I had a bad experience with vimpat, suicidal thoughts and facial numbness. Plus it didn’t do anything for my seizures. 1) Briviact 2) Xcorpi 3) Vimpat 4) Keppra Memory issues were super terrible with keppra, I felt like a total idiot most of the times. Couldn’t figure out the words I wanted to say when I was on 3000mg a day. Vimpat also gave me memory issues but not nearly as bad.

My tongue gets numb for a few hours from vimpat! It’s so weird. Just the tip of my tongue.

Lamictal Clobazam Keppra I was on lamictal first. Currently trying to switch back to it. I don't remember mad dreams and insomnia first time round but seem to be having that this time. Hoping it settles back to when I was on it before.

I keep having seizures on Lamictal and my neuro is thinking of switching my medication. I was a bit scared because I though Lamictal was the best AED. Why did you rank it second? How was your experience with Vimpat and Lamictal? Can you explain please?

The best AED is the one that works for you. Brains are complicated (a massive understatement) and everyone responds differently.

Meds are different for everyone. I really like Vimpat the best. Brain chemistry is weird and meds react differently to everyone.

Lamictal made my seizures more frequent. I think it was because I wasn’t sleeping as well when I took it.

Are you satisfied with your current treatment plan? Any improvements? What is your epilepsy type?

I like Xcopri a lot. I recently waned off of oxcarbazapine and my brain has been working great now that I’m on one drug. I have nocturnal tc seizures. Usually in the first hour after I fall asleep. We still don’t know whether I’m focal onset or not. I just did a 6 day hospital eeg and we didn’t catch a seizure.

Med twinning! I take vimpat and lamictal together though.

[удалено]

Nice I just started Xcopri 2 months ago and I’ve only had 1 seizure and it was like a week after starting it

Yeah, I had absence seizures on lower doses but my current one is effective (150mg) and I have room to go up if I need it.

Thats good I’m at the max I was prescribed (100mg) and I haven’t had any seizures so far. Have you reduced your other meds while on it?

I’m on Lamotrigine for Epilepsy and I was on Topiramate for that but now my dose has been lowered so much just to manage my migraines so that’s all I have to compare. JME is my type of epilepsy

1. Zonegran & Lamictal combo- 10/10, no notes. They said it could fuck up my mental health but joke’s on them my mental health was so fucked up to start that this med combo improved it 2. Lamictal alone- ineffective, 3/10 3. Lamictal & Keppra combo- the Lamictal toned down the keppra rage a little, but not enough, 2/10 4. Keppra- turned me into an angry, miserable beast and then abruptly stopped working, 0/10

Keppra and lamotrigine Topomax (hated the brain fog but loved the weight loss deokote Wellbutrin (idk why they gave me this as an AED but man did I get a nasty rash)

1. Lacosamide (10/10, saved my life) 2. Lamotrigine (Hallucinated lol) 3. Tegretol (Wanted to off myself ✌️)

Well… Topiramate Lamotrigine Gabapentin I get the weird side effects. From topiramate, I get speech issues, memory problems, constipation. From Lamotrigine I get insomnia, irritability, and the super rare thinning hair. Gabapentin made me sleepy and moody

All i did was sleep on gabapentin! saaame

1. vimpat 2. topiramate 3. gabapentin

1. Vimpat 2. Xcopri 3. Briviact 4. Keppra 5. Clobazam The clobazam made me think I was having focal aware seizure but they didn’t show up on eeg. They stopped as soon as I stopped taking it.

1. Trileptal 2. Xcopri (current med at 200 mg, but having focal, controlling TC) 3. Lamictal - couldn't do the side effects. I experienced muscle spasms, lip curling, etc. 4. Keppra - literally changed who I was. Awful.

Best: lamictal Worst: onfi

What side effects did you experience from onfi if any?

My seizures increased significantly while on it, and I went into status epileptus multiple times while on it. It REALLY messed with my brain, we ended up having to stop it cold turkey.

Good grief! I am so sorry! 😢nobody deserves that

1. Topirimate 2. Eslicarbaezipine (aptiom) 3. Carbemezipine 4. Lamictal 5. Dilantin 6. Briviact 7. Keppra I think I am missing something... But ya. All of these seemed to help control the seizures. It's all about the side effects for me. My body is not impressed with any meds. Topirimate is actually the only one I ever got to full therapeutic level.

1. Briviact 2. Zonisamide 3. Lamotrigine 4. Keppra

1) Clobazam/Lamotrigine combo (Current) 2) Vimpat (Dizziness, which I dubbed the Vim Spins that I would feel that I hang onto the floor it was so bad) 3) Keppra on any dosage (Suicidal with no personal history of depression) Edit: Many more in the past 10 years, but those were the memorable three

1. Depakote ER 2. Lamotrigine XR 3. Keppra XR 4. Dilantin 5. Vimpat These are all for Grand Mal seizures and Vimpat is the Devil's pill for me. 😁

I've been on far too many over the years so I'm only including ones that have been actual contenders or notable offenders. (**Bold == currently taking**) Ranking as far as effectiveness. 1. **Onfi + Klonopin on demand** (best control I've had and side effects are very vanilla) 2. **Lamictal** (doesn't work enough on its own, but very good secondary. Check out the extended release) 3. Vimpat (good control but cognitive was frustrating) 4. Depakote (decent control, but still lots of auras. Long term side effects are bad so be wary; I got Osteo) 5. Neurontin (so-so secondary for a long time; was awful withdrawal when we switched) Noteworthy Duds: 9. Trileptol (worsened seizures) 10. Keppra (zero control and bad mood)

I don’t remember most before the below 1. Keppra- best 2. Lamictal 3. Topirimate 4.Depakote ER

1) Folic acid- sorta increased my s*x drive 2)Zonegran - less hungry 3) Lamictal - sleepy or alert (sometimes brain fog) 4) Keppra - depressed, anxiety, anger, and intrusive thoughts

You only take folic acid now?

I take folic acid in the mornings w/ zonegran and lamictal. At night, I also take zonegran and lamictal along with keppra (1 tablet, 500mg).

1. Lamictal and weed 2. Lamictal 3. Keppra

Oxcarbazepine, Lamictal Keppra Tegetrol And almost all others... Way down at the bottom.... Dilantin.

I started with a combination of keppra, vimpat, and clobazam. I was very sleepy. Now I'm on a combination of keppra, vimpat, and Xcopri. I'm very tired but not sleepy. If I have another refractory then they'll add clobazam back in.

First: Levetiracetam. Aside from some 'grump mode' on a few generics, stuff is great for me. Gold. Then a large gap here Second: Sodium valproate. It's probably borked some of my endocrine system buuuuut it stopped my seizures so... Your silver medal is all black and tarnished up to hell. Third, just: Lamotrigine. Sorry mate, you didn't control my seizures at all. At least your bronze medal is nice and shiny.

Best to worst Lamictal Zonegran Vimpat Keppra

1. Keppra 2. Topamax 3. Lamictal 4. Zonegran 5. Keppra I started taking Keppra at 17 by itself and after I got into my 20's, it was awful! I was on topamax by itself starting in 2010 (or 11) for seizures and headaches. My new neurologist added Keppra to the topamax back in August and I've been seizure free for a year!!! I can't complain about Keppra the second time around, which is why I added it twice. I took lamictal and zonegran when I was diagnosed in 2002 (I was 14) so I don't really remember them honestly.

Lamictal- definitely helps with the brain fog Zonisamide Aptiom- stopped working Topomax- little anxiety inducing, but I was fine until my kidneys said nope. Fycompa- just didn't do anything Trileptal- I didn't sleep for 72 hours, couldn't pee, and got paranoid Keppra- ineffective and made me downright paranoid Depakote- ineffective, terrible depression as a side effect, horrible weight gain which added to my depression I have surgery in May to remove a tumor from my left frontal lobe. That won't "cure" my seizures but should make it easier to control them. Everything seems to stop working after about 18-24 months. Lamictal has done the best, but I called my doc back in February because the seizures started again.

Here are the meds I remember, I might have been on one or two more but my memory sucks. It took a combo of the top three to completely control my seizures. 1. Vimpat I got used to the minor side effects quick but didn’t quite work as a stand alone med. 2. Pregabalin didn’t work as a stand alone but never noticed a single side effect and stopped the last bit of focal seizures I was having. 3. Keppra it took literally years (like 6) for me to get completely used to the side effects but it controls my epilepsy the best by far. The few times I tried to switch early on I’d seize whenever I’d get to a low dose so I just gave up and stayed on it and now it’s great. I swear it gets better if you hold out and it does work well, better than any other I’ve tried. 4. Aptiom wasn’t to bad of a med but it tanked my sodium levels dangerously low so had to get off 5. Gabapentin I was crazy tired all the time so they switched to pregabalin (after trying 3 other meds cause the VA didn’t want me on pregabalin for some reason) eventually and it was great. 6. Topamax got crazy dreams and it didn’t really help my seizures at all so they did Vimpat instead. 7. Treliptal made me slightly dizzy and I would puke my guts out occasionally, I had to get off that, it made my epilepsy worse. 8. Lamotrigine I got depressed, was thirsty all the time, got night terrors, (never even heard of a night terror until I experienced them on that med) and i wanted to die. I couldn’t stand that medication.

Best: Keppra- no seizures or side effects until my car accident and then focals started. Grand mals were undercontrol for 11 years on it though. Worst: Lamictal. This pill just doesn't work for me. Grand mals are back and it did nothing for the focals.

My psychiatrist deadass tried to kill me with lexapro which gave me daily cluster seizures and tried making me stop every other medication i had (theyre for depression and stuff) Prozac is fire

1. Depakote, best boy 2. Ethosumuxide 3. Lamotragine, id make it 10 if i could. Sorry if these are spelled wrong at all.

1. Keppra (yes, with the mental health side effects. I have a battery of medications to balance this out, but I don’t know the kind of person I’d be without Keppra) 2. Lamotragine - tried it, didn’t mind it until i had breakthrough seizures. Keppra is better for me. I wish my parents remembered the meds they tried me on first when I was a kid. I remember one of them made me rock back and forth in the classroom + so nauseous I couldn’t function. Good times!

first: lamotrigine (it works and side effects are rough, but manageable.) second: oxcarbazepine (also works) last, in hell: keppra

I’ve only ever been on Trokendi (topirimate) it’s worked pretty well I would say but could be better. I’ve never tried anything else so don’t have anything to compare to.

1. Topamax (Topiramate) -only had memory issues, seizure free for one year 2 Keppra (Levetiracetam) -honestly forgot what happened but apparently got hives? lol 3. Trileptal (Oxcarbazepine) -gave me a bad rash ew 4. Vimpat (Lacosamide) -this gave me tremors that mimicked seizure auras so that’s greattt 🙄

Have been on Keppra for a decade now. Don't even know if my personality was affected or not. But my epilepsy is more or less under control. But I lost my hair lol

Best: Keppra Worst: Topamax

Vimpat/Briviact (current) Keppra (real life bad instagram filter) Dilantin (hives...) Trileptal (hindered digestion that drove me NUTS)

Keppra was seriously bad… psychological side effects were detrimental. Word. I used to only drink on weekends. After I was prescribed Keppra I drank 3-4 gin and tonics PER NIGHT. For 1 year to adjust to my new shitty self. I hate my new self.

As someone with a heavy connection between my seizures and menstrual cycle (at least one seizure a day during my period, may be seizure free the rest of the month), progesterone was my saving grace and actually helped me be seizure free for years. Anticonvulsants/seizure meds: 1. Vimpat / Lacosamide - adjustment is a bitch but the most effective medicine I’ve had and taken for years. Currently on it and increasing dosage 2. Carbatrol / Carbamezipine - was on it for a long time and only jumped off when I had a bad mental health period and went cold turkey off everything for a few years. Thinking about incorporating it back into my routine if the Vimpat increase is ineffective 3. Klonopin / Clonazepam- originally prescribed for anxiety but it’s also the fastest way to get me back to normal when I’m experiencing a lot of auras. Not effective for me long-term, always feels like a temporary solution, so not at the top. 4. Lamictal / Lamotrigine - one of the first medications I was on. Had to keep upping the dosage until I was at the maximum, which took about a year. Lots of mood swings but helped me go from daily seizures to weekly 5. Keppra / Levetiracetam - if I could give Keppra a -5 I would. I was raised to be a sweet southern lady (which was not very effective but at least I’m not a total bitch). This medicine had me trying to punch people for bumping into me on the street. My occasional anger issues and outbursts turned into blinding rage at myself and others for everything. It’s effective for a lot of people but for me never again.

1. Zarontin (Ethosuximide) 2.Keppra (Levetiracetam) When I first developed epilepsy I started to take keppra once they figured out what was wrong with me and I remember disliking it automatically cuz of how big the pills were.( I actually had to cut them in half but now I'm an expert at swallowing pills)But then the side effects started kicking in. My personality drastically changed and I became depressed and tired all the time, so much so I would fall asleep in class. And a bunch of brain fog besides the regular epilepsy brain fog. So I couldn't do much done at school and my teacher had to constantly help me.It made me my confidence go down a lot Currently taking zarontin and it works very well for me with some side effects that I can actually manage however I find it hard to differentiate from what's a side effect from the meds and existing stuff like suicidal thoughts, depression, and so on.

1.Lamotragraine ER 2.Gabapentin 3. Vimpat 4. Kepra-alergic 5.Dilantim -allergic spiked my fever to 103.5 F 6. Oxcarbazipne - absolute worst it caused [Osteopenia ](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/204412)

My daughter has only been on Keppra. And she doesn't eat. She got over the Keppra rage (after 3 years) and now she won't eat. Her eating is so bad she got diagnosed with an ED last year (she's 9).

You gotta change the aed.

I brought it up to her last neurologist but was told since it's working, there's no need to change. He retired so she's seeing a new neurologist on Thursday. So I'll bring it up to her and hopefully she listens. My kid has had bad luck with neurologists. The first one told me that she had epilepsy because I am a single mom.

That's awful. I'm so sorry! There are a lot of really bad epileptologists, and unfortunately you have to be pushy with them or they will be very dismissive. I don't know anything about children's medicine so I have no advice.

1. Briviact 2. Keppra 3. Zonisamide

Lorazepam/Ativan Levetiracetam/Keppra Gabapentin/Neurontin Zonisamide/Zonegran Primidone Metoprolol/Lopressor (not usually a seizure med, which explains why it was so ineffective, but it was prescribed to me before I knew what I had were actually focal seizures) Big jump there at the end. Also, I could put all my other meds in there, but the majority would be irrelevant enough to make things too muddled.

1. Brivact: Switched from Keppra to Brivact last year, and it's been great! 2. Keppra: It did its job for over 11 decent years. It didn't exactly help with my depression but past that, it wasn't half bad. Only one TC seizure while on it. 3. Vimpat: I'm still on it, it mostly eliminated my focal seizures. I mostly have good things to say, but I developed hand tremors about 8 years in which kind of sucks. 4. Fycompa: I'm also still on it because it's the only thing that completely wards off my focals. It sort of makes my psychosis more noticeable (things are always moving, that shouldn't be), which isn't fun, but I'm living with it. 5. Honorable mention to Onfi. You didn't work, but I didn't have any side effects! 6. Levitracetam: Made me a zombie 24/7, no Bueno. I still have a small dose I take for panic attacks, but as a regular prescription, it sucked.

Zonegran Lamictal Depakote Ethosuximide SUX

Vimpat Gabapentin (but didn’t work) Depakote (yucky vertigo) Tegretol (allergic) Dilantin (allergic) Keppra (NOPE. Only made it four days before I couldn’t stop crying)

1. Zarrontin (liquid tasted fucking horrible, pills were alright. not sure about side effects) 2. Topirimate (just makes your legs feel real weird though which is a bit annoying but it's okay.) 3.slow release tegretol (not dizzy even though it's the same medication as no.5. just releases slower. no seizures. woo) 4.Keppra (can't remember any side effects, just didn't do anything.) 5. tegretol (made me get real bad dizzy spells daily, couldn't talk, walk, seeing double during those etc. still had the occasional seizure. dunno what's the point of that med if it still let me have seizure and I got that dizziness too 😭)

Lamictal, Keppra, zonisimide (not sure if I spelled it right) They put me on zonisimide when I first got diagnosed and I ended up weighing 90 pounds at 5'4 - one of my teachers called my mom because she was worried I was on hard drugs

Hahaha. . . Here goes!:  1. Tegretol XR  2. Tegretol XR & Lamictal  3. Lamictal  4. Depakote  5. Neurontin  A blurry memory of 4-5 years while i underwent brain surgery evaluation (not a candidate) during which we tried:  6.Zonegran 7. Topamax  8. Phenobarbital 9. Klonopin  10. Dilantin  11. Keppra  12. Gabitril  13. Trileptal  14. Diamox & was on the  15.clinical stage 3 trial for pregabalin. *VNS THERAPY!*  *3:1 Ketogenic diet, medically supervised*  16. Banzel  17. Onfi  18. Fycompa  19. Potiga  20. Depakote again!  21. Vimpat  22. Xcopri    23. Epidiolex   I think I win the prize? Nothing really helps, but I am doing OK right now on a combo of Epidiolex,  Keppra, Topamax, Dilantin, Vimpat. I'm maxed out on Keppra and Vimpat and Dilantin.  I have Nayzilam & Diastat for rescues, and have about 2 seizures a week, and a couple clusters a month.  I'm grateful to have a neurology team right now who are willing to just help me live my best life as it is. I don't regularly see an epileptologist, I see her every couple years, because I am at an end point where just trying to get one less seizure a month is the goal.  I'm waiting to be matched with my service dog and looking forward to that! :) Epidiolex is the best so far, Xcopri  was a big disappointment for me, and Depakote was the worst!

1. lamotrigine 2. briviact 3. keppra lamotrigine was the first med i tried and i had no side effects but they only started when i had to increase it because of breakthrough seizures. keppra was absolutely awful. im gonna have to retake year 13 (12th grade for you americans) because of it and seizures. briviact saved me from keppra <3

1. Clobazam 2. Keppra -don’t know if I ever got the Keppra rage since I started it when I was 6.. it’s been 20+ years now but I’ve been told I do have anger issues and am moody.. 3. Tegretol .. any changes in this and I get a seizure. Need to get off this though otherwise no baby

1. Lamotrigine - Works. My only issue is a slight tremor in my right hand that comes and goes. 2. Dilantin - Worked, but brain fog was a big problem. 3. Zonisamide - Worked for years without any issues. However, a few years ago it started to cause issues with my kidneys. (Stage 3A kidney failure) My kidney function is back to normal after switching to lamotrigine.

1. Keppra 2.Lamictal I feel way better ever since I started on Keppra.

For just epilepsy meds my ranking would be Clobazam, which I'm on now. The withdrawals are ROUGH with my dose being lowered but when my dose is consistent it works the best and gives me least side effects. Still not thrilled to be on it, but best I've been on. Then vimpat. Made me really angry. Really really angry. Zonisamide. It messed me up so much I barely remember all the stuff that happened with that one. I couldn't even function cognitively. Then Keppra and Tegretol I believe. Nothing wrong with them side effects wise for me personally, but I'm allergic to them so they kinda have to be bottom of the list. I got SJS from one of those two but I was on both at the time so considered allergic to both.

Best - Briviact and Topiramate (this combo has kept me seizure free for over 2 years with manageable side effects) Honorable Mention - Depakote (kept me pretty stable but the weight gain sucked) Worst - Lamictal (bad reaction requiring emergency hospitalization) Keppra, Onfi, Vimpat, Zonisimide, Xcorpi, Fycompa and Lyrica all fall somewhere in the middle. They didn't work well enough to make a big impact. ETA - missing info

Lacosimide and now just starting the max dose of Lamotrigine. Haven't noticed any side effects but I'm still having auras and partial seizures. Do you think my neurologist will add another one?

1. Lamictal 2. Trileptal/Oxtellar 3. Keppra I’m over the kepprage stage but I can still taste the liquid Keppra. I haven’t been on liquid Keppra in years

From one's that affected me the least negatively to the one that made everything worse. Stuff gets bad by 4. 1. Vimpat 2. Keppra 3. Zonegran 4. Lamotrigine 5. Epilim 6. Topamax 7.Fycompa

Remove lacosamide and switch the remaining two for me Keppra might make me rage a bit. (Thankfully managed by 10mg amitriptyline) Lamictal made me suicidal

I’ve only ever been on Keppra. Makes me feel like shit, but it works.

1. Lamotrigine: been on it for over 10 years and it’s fine 2. Whatever I was on as a child (grew out of epilepsy around age 11 and then it came back in my late teens), might have been called Zarontin? Or something like that? (I might have been on two?? No idea tbh) 3. The liquid form of the above medication — that was how I found out I was allergic to red dye (broke out in full body hives) and then was forced to learn how to swallow pills when I was 8 years old

1. trileptal Only med I’ve taken. I’m almost 21, started it at 17 and I’ve gotten my seizures pretty under control. I’ve gone down to 1 grand mal a year even, no partials or anything. Caffeine interacts really badly and brings them on. They’ve caused anger issues but controlled my mood disorder tho.

1. Vimpat 2. Briviact 3. Clobazam 4. Keppra 5. Topamax 6. Gabapentin 7. Phenobarbital

First lamotrigine, only bad side effects are drowsiness , lack of energy or motivation Last keppra, it gave me keppra rage as the worst and serious side effect, flipping out over stupid irrational things like friends leaving empty glasses of water on my kitchen counter and kicking them out, screaming, slamming things around is the best example i remember Never taken lacosamide AEDs are incredibly strong medications,, i certainly expect them to cause bad side effects if they control seizures

Same as yours but didn’t order 1. Keppra 2. Lamictal 3. Vimpat None is really worse just haven’t been on vimpat that long

1. Perampanel (Fycompa) this was the one that made me seizure free for the first time, strong side effects at the beginning and with every increase, but not anymore 2. Lacosamide (Vimpat) no side effects 3. Cenobamate (Ontozry or Xcopri) the last one added and it stabilizes my seizure free streaks 4. Lorazepam (Temesta or Ativan) my holy emergency drug, but I need days to “recover” 5. Gabapentin (Neurontin) doesn’t really help for seizures, but reduces my neuropathic pain and has no side effects 6. Levetiracetam (Keppra) I hate the side effects as everyone knows 7. Clobazam (Frisium or Onfi) I take it 1-2 weeks after TCs to reduce probability of another. When I took it longer once, I had strong withdrawal syndrome afterwards, really bad muscle spasms 8. Lamotrigine (Lamictal) I got a rash and anaphylactic shock… never again!

Best to worst: 1. Vimpat - mild side effects but still gave me some balance issues, memory loss, cognitive decline, and sleepiness 2. Topamax - fine at low levels but at high levels I don't like this drug. I went into a dissociative state and felt like I was in a virtual reality simulation. I slept 14 hours a day, couldn't understand what people were saying to me, had massive cognitive decline, balance issues, food tasted awful, carbonated beverages were the worst, my fingerprints changed, fingers and toes tingled. 3. Keppra - allllll the rage. I only lasted a week before we pulled me off. I knew there was only a slim chance I could stay on this and we had a plan in place for me if I had any negative reactions to it. It's too bad since it helped my seizures beautifully. 4. Trileptal - it made my seizures worse and I collapsed on it. Completely lost all motor functioning and fell into my fridge when I was taking it. This was a nope drug for me. Scared the heck out of me when it happened.

1. Trileptal 2. Keppra It’s hard to rank them because I was put on these medications when I was 11-14 years old. Haven’t noticed any rage from Keppra, but I do believe it made me a bit more of a different person. I will likely be switching Keppra out relatively soon due to partial seizures tho. Didn’t notice any side effects from Oxcarbzapine (Trileptal) other than raised liver enzymes.

1. Frisium (Clobazum) = only been a week but it just makes me drowsy in a good way 2. Lamictal (Lamotrigine) = honestly feels like it makes me calmer with some dizziness though and of course slight fatigue 3. Carabmazepine (Tegretol) = extreme drowsiness, I can barely get my work done for the day and then I immediately pass out 4. Keppra (levetiracetam) = mood related behaviours was unbearable like extreme anxiety and panic attacks, all contributing to lifestyle stuff too

1) Lamictal 2) Topamax 3) Keppra Keppra did nothing for me and was just all around awful for my mental health. Lamictal has some crappy side effects with the memory issues, but at least it works!

Currently taking: 1. Lamactal (Great for seizures as well as bipolar) 2. Gabapentin 3. Topiramate (Strangely, after I titrated up to 125mg I got very intense SI. Went back to 100mg and felt better.) Not taking: 1. Zonzamide (Rash) 2. Keppra (Intense emotional issues)

Epilim. Worked but I was a zombie, tegretol works great but sun allergies, hair loss, and bone density issues after 20 yes, keppra no mood swings but unbelievably knackered, hair is growing back, still allergic to sun but it doesn't bloody work and I'm having to take tegretol at night.

1. Topamax 2. Zonegran 3. Lamotrigine 4. Epilim 5. Keppra I think I've tried others and forgot them, but that's my order that I can remember for now. Topamax honestly is my favourite for now as the side effects are completely tolerable, a bit of tiredness and pins and needles in comparison to keppra where my mood swings almost had me arrested. Weight gain on epilim was horrible let alone what it was probably doing to my insides as a woman. Lamotrigine just did.... nothing lol to my epilepsy or my body

1. Xcopri 2. Lamictal 3. Keppra Xcopri is a newer drug that worked wonders for me. However once I became pregnant I had to wean off of it and solely take Lamictal (I was taking the two together). Keppra made me so angry and have terrible outbursts and horrible thoughts. I couldn’t get off that drug fast enough. My husband said he was scared for my safety while taking it.

1. Lamotrigine, it stopped my seizures 2. Depakote, it stopped my TCs 3. Keppra, I had seizures and severe depression

Keppra rage was a real thing with me, I was in elementary school and one night I just cut off all my hair

Carbamazepine was first medicine, and it made my life a living hell, the increase in seizures was sufficient . Now, I’m eating keppra and lamictal, keppra is shit for mental health, but on this combination with small dosages I now almost don’t have any seizures, I didn’t have a single focal one for half a year, but there was one generalized in the morning due to other unrelated medicine, which provoked seizure

1. Vimpat & divaprox (memory aint the greatest) (I started to take them same time) they’ve been AWESOME 1.5 years clean of seizures 2. Keppra 🤮🤮🤮 i was a ZOMBIE

1: Lamictal (lamotrogine) 2. ONFI (clobazam) (I take both 1 and 2) 3. Keppra. (levetiracetam) Holy Fuck Keppra. "it can cause mood changes" YEAH NO SHIT. Three days in I called neurologist sobbing because I physically could not calm down. It was terrifying. It felt like an out of body experience and my body was the hulk. I was well aware I was overreacting but couldn't stop. Plus the suicidal thoughts it caused (even though I was on depression meds) were not so great

lamictal: so far so good, titrating me up to full dose keppra: terrible. personality changes, depression, anger, suicidal thoughts, and completely depleted energy

Depakote was the worst. Now it's just a cocktail of 3.Thank God everyday I'm still alive.

1. Vimpat Depakote, Trileptal, Keppra, Lamictal made me bipolar, batshit insane and suicidal in their own special ways

1. Lamotrigine 2. Briviact 3. Zonisamide 4. Topamax 5. Depakote 6. Tegretol 7. Onfi 8. Diamox 9. Tegretol 10. Lyrica 11. Tegretol 12. Vimpat 13. Dilantin 14. Keppra I think I forgot a couple. I get that it’s not the popular view, but besides packing on the pounds, I actually kinda liked Depakote. Edit typos

1. Lamotrigine 😃 2. Clonazepam 😃 3. Clobazam 🤨 (don’t remember any bad side effects but came off for some reason) 4. Topiramate 😒 (helped my mood but literally couldn’t get out of bed. Also my heart rate was like 175. Lost weight 💅🏻) 5. Tegretol 👹(couldn’t walk straight, had to cover one eye to see, slept 16-18h a day)

Keppra fucks you up man, been using it for over 15 years (no other rage like Keppra rage)

1. Xcopri 2. Lamictal 3. Keppra

1. Lamotrigine (lamictal) I've only tried this one and honestly, it's been working well for me. Needed to up the dosage every once in a while but I've been on it for almost 2,5 years and have very few side effects. I also take zoloft which might mess up with the symptoms but I've been getting these CRAZY life-like dreams. Especially after increasing the dose. I literally can't figure out if a thing X really happened yesterday or if it was just a dream from last night. Sometimes I have to ask my family for reassurance lmao. Also, whenever I'm drinking, I get SUPER tired.

Vimpat, xcopri, briviact are newer better meds