I'm afraid a little of both! I believe we get depressed when things are going on with our body that we have no control over. Then we are put on meds tht add other side affect to our body just to deal with the orignal problem. Does that make since? I woke up more depressed this morning than usual . I had my appointment with my rheu. Doctor yesterday. I've gained 4 more pounds! I've got to start seeing all my doctors on a reg. Basis again. I don't know how i'm going to pay for that! I'm not sleeping at night or during the day.I hurt all the time!! I don't eat enough to account for the extra pds. I get as much exersise as my body can handle.
Uncle..Uncle uncle......!!!

Sorry I needed to vent!

I was only diagnosed recently, but since then I have been very depressed and overly sensitive. I dont' know if I am depressed about the diagnosis and all of the things I used to do that I can't do anymore, or if it is a side effect of the keppra. I think it is a little of both. I'm sure that the meds have something to do with it, because I cried four times the other day, and over stupid things too! I normally cry alot if I am depressed, but not like that, and not over such little things. But then my docotr has allowed me to half my dosage, and I am still somewhat depressed. Maybe it's just the stress of everything that has been going on in my life lately, but I honestly think that the medication must have something to do with it too. Depression is frequently the result of a combination of factors, or at least so I am told.

Gracie, maybe you should talk to your doctor about starting you on a mild dose of anti depressants. Thats what I did . It has helped a lot!

sharon

I think it comes along with it,i'm not a Dr.To say it is,but I have had them all my life,and I have been treated for depression all my life as well,going to the dr,for depression,was a strain on me as well,ya know,plus looking at all the medicine.I just take one day at a time,and learn to breath now.I do try my hardest to not let things upsit,it makes my depression worse.I do know this,before I had my surgey though,when I was stressed out,and depressed the most,is when a seizure came on the most,that why I feel like they are together,i don't know maybe it's just me...

This message is directed specifically to "feelgood", but is also meant to help any other users of keppra.
I am a user of keppra (500mg, 2 tablets/2 a day), and have found that I have become both irritable and depressed on a daily basis. I have been told that depression is common with people who are suffering from my type of seizures, as well as from people who are using certain prescription meds such as keppra. My type of seizures (partial that generalize, also commonly known as petit mal with occasional grand mal) have been known to cause certain behavioral and emotional distress such as depression, memory loss, drop attacks, anger fits, and stress attacks. This same diagnosis has been placed upon other various types of seizures, especially grand mal affected seziure types. When I visited my local epilepsy foundation, I spoke to a wonderful woman named susan upchurch. She informed me of many of these side effects, and suggested that I start using a secondary medication that would assist in controlling these behavioral and emotional stresses. That same week I visited my neurologist and he agreed. I then started on celexa and began feeling emotionally better. Unfortunately, celexa (as well as some other meds used for depression/emotional stress) can cause gastro-intestinal problems and make using them unlikeable. I wish you and any other users of keppra the best of luck in feeling better in the future.

what depression med has the least likelihood of increasing probabiity of seizures?

The doctors told me celexa was the least likely to cause an increase in seizures. Unfotunately, like other anti-depressants, it increased the frequency of my seizures. But , just like epilepsy medication, it affects different people differently. For me, I've made the decision to not take anti-depressants because an increase in seizures makes me even more depressed. More than enough to out weigh the benifits of the meds. But in your case, maybe not. Like I said, no 2 cases or people are alike. If so, there would be 1 med and it would treat all us epileptics the same.