Levetiracetam causing sedation

RE: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Will McMullan — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:19:38 GMT

I have had similar experiences with dogs on multiple epilepsy meds. One collie in particular on the same combo as your dog is often very dopey and perhaps not quite ataxic but certainly not as co-ordinated as he used to be. Have you done bloods recently to check phenobarb and KBr levels? I have ended up reducing doses slowly of all three drugs to balance seizure control with sedation.

RE: Levetiracetam causing sedation

J Monz — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 09:11:26 GMT

This is normal when introducing a new drug in on top of Pbarb/KBr. The problem I have found with keppra/levetiracetam is the honeymoon period of around 6 months. You can get really good response to it initially when using with the above, but then its efficacy seems to the subside. How many months had he been on KBr? There is always possibility of trying Pexion (Imepitoin) if not responding well to the others. Large increase in Omegas concurrently also.

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Gareth C. — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 18:08:28 GMT

i have used levetiracetam in quite a few cases and not noted sedation as sidefx but have seen plenty of dosg on pheno become sedated and markedly ataxic. might be worth rechecking pheno levels

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Alex Gough — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 11:46:09 GMT

I've used it a lot, usually around 20mg/kg TID and although sedation is possible it does seem to be very rare. Great drug for clusters/sedation to give iv, because it doesnt sedate them and so you can assess their mental status more easily Expensive in iv form though.

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Glenn Hodgson — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 21:38:17 GMT

I have a 1.5kg rather weak chihuahua on it, single agent... Juse restarted it after needing it when she was young. On both occasions, when started on it, 2 weeks of hq ataxia and sedation. Doing great just now!

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Nicola Cole — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 20:32:00 GMT

I've only used it rarely but did call the referral centre that put a patient I was dealing with on it. The dog was very ataxic and vacant and they said that isn't really a recognised side effect in dogs and they would suspect the other drugs the dog was on (phenobarb and kbr) as in the above post.

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Andrew Kent — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 19:35:11 GMT

Hi Stuart,

Sedation is a recognised side effect of levetiracetam but seems to be unusual at the kind of doses you describe. I would suspect it is more likely when combined with high doses of your other agents and may improve.

What doses and blood levels of KBr and pheno?

Re: Levetiracetam causing sedation

Anthony Dennison — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:06:32 GMT

I have used levetiracetam at much higher doses in a dog with Laforas, and never had problems with sedation or ataxia.