I have been on tegretol for years now and it has minimal side effects considering what some of the drugs do. As for keppra ughhh I tried this early last year and I felt like a weight had landed on my shoulders and was more tired than usual,keppra also affected my learning ability but didnt affect memory of things already known.
My nueroligist is trying to get me to go in for evaluation for an operation but I am very very scared of side affects from op.

I was on topamax for almost a year. It can cause problems with thinking clearly (cognitive problems). Problems with word recall too. I got off of it very recently and seem to be doing better. Hard to tell, though, since it is a subjective call.