My neurologist has fortunately agreed to discontinue my treatment with levetiracetam - an  anticonvulsant medication marketed under the name Keppra for the treatment of epilepsy. Of all the medications I’ve been prescribed, I’ve hated Keppra the most. It made me anxious, photophobic, short-tempered, drowsy, nauseous, gave me mood swings, and last time I had a long stay in hospital they increased my dose so much that it made me feel suicidal, which led to a series of unpleasant conversations with some extremely sub-par psychiatrists (the recommendations of whom were completely ignored by the neurological staff anyway). Because of having been on so many different drugs it’s hard to tell whether levetiracetam was even having the desired effect, since it could have been other drugs causing the reduction in frequency and severity of seizures, but it apparently also helps with neuropathic pain, and I’m dreading the thought that I might experience more pain after the treatment stops.  Instead I’ll be taking sodium valproate (Epilim) from now on, although unfortunately I’ll have to continue to take Keppra while my Epilim dose is gradually built up. Apparently it reduces anxiety and also acts as a mood stabiliser, but also causes tiredness, muscle tremors, sedation, and in some people also hair loss. Ugh. I’m living a life filled with pain and side-effects and I’m fucking sick of it. Just yesterday I had to endure an incredibly unpleasant procedure, swallowing a camera and having tissue samples cut out and sent away for diagnosis because some of the painkillers I used to take damaged my stomach and made me start throwing up blood. I was going to end this post with a list of all the side effects and unpleasant stuff I’ve been experiencing but I’m feeling shitty enough after an evening of confusion and throwing up so instead I’m just going to get comfy and wait for all these sedatives to kick in.
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My neurologist has fortunately agreed to discontinue my treatment with levetiracetam - an  anticonvulsant medication marketed under the name Keppra for the treatment of epilepsy. Of all the medications I’ve been prescribed, I’ve hated Keppra the most. It made me anxious, photophobic, short-tempered, drowsy, nauseous, gave me mood swings, and last time I had a long stay in hospital they increased my dose so much that it made me feel suicidal, which led to a series of unpleasant conversations with some extremely sub-par psychiatrists (the recommendations of whom were completely ignored by the neurological staff anyway). Because of having been on so many different drugs it’s hard to tell whether levetiracetam was even having the desired effect, since it could have been other drugs causing the reduction in frequency and severity of seizures, but it apparently also helps with neuropathic pain, and I’m dreading the thought that I might experience more pain after the treatment stops. 

Instead I’ll be taking sodium valproate (Epilim) from now on, although unfortunately I’ll have to continue to take Keppra while my Epilim dose is gradually built up. Apparently it reduces anxiety and also acts as a mood stabiliser, but also causes tiredness, muscle tremors, sedation, and in some people also hair loss. Ugh.

I’m living a life filled with pain and side-effects and I’m fucking sick of it.

Just yesterday I had to endure an incredibly unpleasant procedure, swallowing a camera and having tissue samples cut out and sent away for diagnosis because some of the painkillers I used to take damaged my stomach and made me start throwing up blood.

I was going to end this post with a list of all the side effects and unpleasant stuff I’ve been experiencing but I’m feeling shitty enough after an evening of confusion and throwing up so instead I’m just going to get comfy and wait for all these sedatives to kick in.