If you have a child taking Levetiracetam (Keppra).....

[LMV]

Did they lose weight while taking it? 

[WahM]

My daughter is on a small dose along with another anti seizure med. The only side effect she's had so far was fatigue the first few days. I'm not sure if it's cause it is a small dose or what, but no other side effects. She has other GI problems so I would notice right away if she lost any extra weight.

[LMV]

Thanks for sharing your experience, WahM.

[Guest StacyJ217]

My son has been on it for two years. 5ML in the am and 4ML in the pm. He has not experienced any weight loss but he only weights 40 lbs. I have however experienced moodiness occasionally. Hope this helps.

Stacy

[Twinmom]

My daughter is taking Keppra. No noticeable weight loss, but then she is also on risperdal, which causes weight gain. I took her off the risperdal for a while but kept her on the Keppra...her weight went back down to what it was prior to risperdal. It's impossible to say for certain, but I don't think the Keppra is having much of an effect.

[LMV]

Thanks, Stacy & TwinMom!

 

I know there are some case reports and series about weight loss with Keppra but looking at those it seems like there wasn't a clear causal link established to the Keppra so I really was just looking for some more anecdotal perspectives to guide my own gut I suppose.   For the moment, I think we're going to have to let her stick with the Keppra because it seems to be working and the neurologist really thinks we need to be sure that the Keppra really is the only possible explanation for the weight loss.  This isn't unreasonable, especially since she has had status epilepticus and switching to a less effective medicine could put her back there, so we're trying to fill in the nutritional gaps in other ways and we will re-evaluate in another few months.

 

[savmom]

Ironically, my dd GAINED weight with keppra :P Our pharmacist said he has 4 children other than dd who have gained weight on it. She was a very thin toddler, almost too thin. Within 2 weeks of starting keppra she gained 10lbs. No matter what we do exercise/diet wise, her weight has always been an issue.

She's been on it for almost 10 years. We've tried all the other meds, mostly to see what happened with her weight (it did decrease when we changed temporarily) but keppra is the only one that successfully controls the seizures without the other nasty side effects.

[LMV]

Ironically, my dd GAINED weight with keppra :p Our pharmacist said he has 4 children other than dd who have gained weight on it. She was a very thin toddler, almost too thin. Within 2 weeks of starting keppra she gained 10lbs. No matter what we do exercise/diet wise, her weight has always been an issue.

 

She's been on it for almost 10 years. We've tried all the other meds, mostly to see what happened with her weight (it did decrease when we changed temporarily) but keppra is the only one that successfully controls the seizures without the other nasty side effects.

 

I guess this just emphasizes that medications can have very different effects on different individuals.  I understand the sentiment of sticking with the Keppra because it is working and well tolerated beyond the weight issue.  We're there now, just with an opposite effect and at the moment we are also sticking with the Keppra because neither we, the pediatrician, or the pediatric neurologist, feel confident with any of the alternative drugs.