Trileptal, for me at least, was a terrible experience. I had terrible headaches and nausea along with major depression. that one does not get high marks in my book. but every bodies different.

thank you for responding to my message. so far so good on trileptal. doc mentioned surgical intervetion any responce to that. any responce would be helpful

I am curios to how your medicine is working for you now. I have had severe migraine type headaches for almost 8 years and did have a couple of concusions prior to starting a high stress job that involves long hours several computers, no breaks and constant demand. In 2000 I began to take Depakote then Topomax and one other AED that I can't remember but all made me sick, I started losing my hair and I still had my headaches. In the last year the Neurologist did an EEG test and determined that I do in fact have siginificant epilepic activity in my left Temporal Lobe and has started me on Keppra, I was on 1000 mg twice a day and at first felt better but then began to experience the Keppra rage, over emotional and after taking 100mg of Vit B-6 within a week I felt a little more normal but the headaches have been coming back so last week my dosage was increased to 2000 mgs in the A.M. and 1000 mgs in the P.M. needless to say I am very tired and short fused again but the headaches have lessened. Any information would be appreciated.

Hello. I am studying to be a Neuropsychologist and my fiancee happens to have left-temporal lobe epilepsy. He has been taking Dilantin which has proved to sustain his seizures almost completely. Although I am aware that every medication is different for everyone, this may be a suggestion you could make to your doctor prior to undergoing surgical procedures. His epilepsy is pretty severe-having seizures everyday before introduced to the medication-so I think that it may be able to help you.

any doctor i've seen has wanted to put me on dilantin. it's been a favorite for them so i agree...if they haven't suggested it...you should try asking. i am allergic to it and am still in the process of finding something my body can handle. to racqetac...i can really sympathize to your headache problem. i know personally i'm very susceptible to medication side effects, and i'm learning now that i need to start a medication at an extremely low level. i had been taking 1500 mg of keppra and when the docs felt i needed more...they doubled it without an adjustment or building period. my headaches got worse, and i still had seizures. their are more medications out there. don't be afraid to ask about others. doylie....your post about surgery is really old and probly made your decision, but for future readers...before surgery for me, i wasn't haven't them anywhere near as frequently as some, but for several days in a row every month i'd get between 4-6 small seizures each of those days. i had my surgery a year and a half ago and can count the number of seizure i've had on both hands. yes..waking up was the most painful thing i've ever experienced, and i have a high pain tolerance, but as long as your at a good hospital they should give you plenty of morphine once your stable. this is still just a personal experience and everyone's different but i don't regret it for a second and it's help immensely.

Thanks for the replies. So far my headaches are down to 3 or 4 a month and the seizure episodes are about equal and not as severe. hislilmarine17- what was the recovery time for you surgery. I have petit mal seizures so that part isn't too bad, it is the tired, confused, inability to mentally process things,etc. that I get with them that are the true problems for me. The Keppra rage is gone thanks to the high dose of Vitamin B complex - 200-300mg per day, I think it is a crime if your neurologist doesn't direct you to add Vit B complex while taking Keppra.

I only needed to stay in the hospital about 3 days then i was able to leave. about 2 weeks after surgery they took the staples out and i was able to fly home. a month after surgery i was able to go back to work. i wasn't able to work out for about a year, but from what i hear that's not normal. the docs wanted me to try working out about a month and half to 2 months after surgery and i didn't take well to it. I was in the Marines at the time so our lifestyle is a little different and not conducive to brain surgery recovery. i mainly had petit mals as well and afterward it took 2-3 months for me to have one, and it was NOTHING compared to what they used to be at all. i am really glad to hear your problems have gotten a little better. someday's that's all you can really pray for...those small steps forward.

Hi,my son had a left temporalobectomy when he was 3 1/2 years old.The total recovery time was about 6 weeks,but he was only in the hospitalfor2 weeks,(including5 days of inter-cranial monitoring before the resection).He did not lose any function, language, or memory that we know of from the surgery,and his recovery went really well. Good luck in your decision!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead with left temporal lobe surgery or not. My meds (right now lamotrigine and zonisamide) are working but the side effects are as bad as the seizures. I've tried others without much success. (Keppra made me punch taxi's! Really.) I'm looking for comments on people's experiences with surgery and its effectiveness. If I can't be drug-free as well as seizure-free I almost feel it's not worth the pain and trouble. Am I right to feel this way?