Tired all the time

[onlychildmom]

A little about me- 32 year old, female. Except for the occasional cold, I'm healthy. 3 months ago I had my first seizure which resulted in a over night hospital stay...for observation. While there I had 2 more seizures. Spent 5 days there total.  After the second and third seizure they gave me a loading dose of Dilantin, Ativan to calm my seizures. Vancomycin for possible infection. Gave my to much Vancomycin and I had red man syndrome. Which then they had to give my Benadryl. Completely wiped me out and I was asleep for 3 days.  I had the usual run of tests all with normal results. Ruled out infection and illness as the cause of my seizures. Neurologist says I have Grand-Mal seizure, take my medicine (Keppra 1000mg), get plenty of sleep and no stress. Also says she can not rule out Epilepsy as the cause.

Since then, I have done all of the above and have been seizure free. My biggest complaint is I would be very tired all the time. I could sleep about 12 hours a day. At first I was told this is normal and your body needs time to adjust to the medicine. So about a 6 weeks ago I started feeling back to normal. Sleeping a little less then 8 hours a night.Then I noticed I will get tired all of a sudden. Really for no reason. Even after sleeping for long periods at a time. Does anyone suffer from this? Is it normal?

[Heni]

I have had epilepsy since I am 24 years old and it was devastating the first time for me. I am 32 now and been taking Keppra for two years. I do have similar side effects and it is bad as well because it affects my daily activities especially work. I am on a maximum dose now which is 3000 mg a day. Tiredness is common with this medication but it is the best med. so far to control seizures unfortunately. In the beginning is the worst but after your body gets used to it, you will feel better. also try to work out more often to be stronger and take a nap after.

[juju447]

Hi, I have had epilepsy all my life. I am 48 now. In the past 20 years my fits have been more problematical and I have suffered more side effect, including 5 - 10 days most months where I am almost totally zoned out, and just need to sleep, sleep sleep, for the best part of the day, and then again at night, where you might think i couldn't possiblt still be tired, but I am.
I think it's due to the drugs causing a dramatic drop in sodium and blood sugar in the body.
I know I have both of these problems because I've been tested, although they don't help you deal with it. Seems like they don't know how to deal with it, apart from lob half your brain out, which i refuse, because of the huge risks involved. In any case, even when that is a success, I've heard that the epilepsy often comes back after a couple of years. Great!