Briviact experiences

Posted by Lisa @mamaofiii, Sep 8, 2020

I was the last car in a 4 car collision in 2001. I had to have neck fusion and had horrible, unbearable headaches. I went to pain management, learned how to do biofeedback. I tried everything. Finally my pain management doctor recommended I take Trileptal and it was amazing. The doctor said it had been around for years and was known to help with migraines. My headaches finally became bearable. I was the type that would never even take Tylenol unless it was a have-to situation. Unfortunately, I don't remember him ever telling me this was an anti-seizure medication. I had only had 1 seizure in my life and it was a febrile when I was 3 and had pneumonia.

Around 3 years later my memory became terrible. We had taken a family trip and as soon as we got home, that trip was the first memory I lost. I had read where Trielptal could cause memory loss, so I just quit taking it. I was becoming desperate. Before I could get into a doctor to find out what was going on, I woke up one night a few months later to my husband and daughter standing over the bed, looking at me with fear, my husband had blood on his t-shirt. I had a huge grand-mal seizure and bitten my tongue. Meanwhile, my memory grew worse and worse. To be truthful the next several years were a blur. About 8 years into this mess, my memory was so horrible, I would forget what we were watching when the TV show went to a commercial. I went to many doctors and all they could come up with was that the seizure may have been from the concussion from that wreck and a swimming accident when I was a child. As far as the memory, no one had any answers. This all started when I was 39.

I finally got into Mayo and spent several days. They said I was probably starting early-onset dementia. What a horrible thing to hear. They said my short-term memory was probably gone and when it gets messed up there's no coming back. They showed me where I had a thin "layer of something" between a couple of places in my brain and that's usually where Alzheimer starts with dementia first. They really didn't have anything else to tell me except that I should have never cold-turkey Trileptal. You shouldn't ever do that with an anti-seizure medication. I was never told this.

Several years past and praise the Lord, my memory finally started coming back. There's no doubt in my mind that it was God's healing, because Mayo told me once you lose it, it's gone. I would still on occasion have a nocturnal seizures if I was going thru a lot of stress. Then one day I was in our grocery store looking at meat. I felt that horrible aura and started praying that it wouldn't go any further. Then I came around on a stretcher in an ambulance. I've had a few in random seizures like that, usually when stress is about to get the best of me, but I always had the aura. Last year out of nowhere I began having strange episodes. I'm not sure what they were. I wasn't doing involuntary jerking but it was like my brain wasn't there. The worst was when we were having our dishwasher repaired. I was getting dinner ready with the repairman in the same room. I felt an aura and then remember having to go to the bathroom. Then the man was gone and I was in different clothing, our kitchen floor was wet where I was standing. I believe I had urinated on myself.

My neurologist said that probably what was happening was my body was becoming immune to Trileptal. She started me on Briviact. There's not alot of information out there about people taking it. She started me on 25 mg twice a day and wanted me to increase it to 50 mg two weeks into taking it. This pill made my nerves so bad. I developed a temper. I never increased to 50 mg. My seizures and strange episodes did go away for about 6 months. Unfortunately a horrible family situation came into the mix. I have had about 4 episodes since June. Again, they weren't like the normal grand mal seizures or any type I've had over the past 15 years. These are too hard and weird to describe. They didn't leave me a zombie like the big ones do. The last one I was fixing my husband and I's anniversary dinner. I became so confused I tried to cook the steak in a saucepan. He liked to never have gotten me to let him take over. I have really been battling depression like never before too. I've always been the type that could find something good out of anything, but I really seem to be struggling. I know 2020 has been a mess of a year for everyone and like I said family struggles have made everything so much worse.

I'm curious if anyone else out there is taking this and what their experiences are.

@mamaofiii Lisa, it is helpful to get an overview of your experience with seizures. I'm tagging fellow members @cindypekarek and @crstyday40, who have mentioned that they take or have taken BRIVIACT® (brivaracetam). @dawn_giacabazi and @jakedduck1 may also have something to add to this discussion.

Lisa, how long have you been on Briviact? What things do you do for yourself to help manage stress?


I started Briviact November or December last year. For stress management I have always received peace, strength and joy from listening to Southern Gospel Music. As soon as I can daily, I turn on Pandora and it plays nonstop :D. My faith has always been where I receive my strength. I love crocheting too. When the stress came from all my health problems, it was one thing. But now both our mothers have died and we're having to care for our dads quite a bit more. They both still live on their own, but it's pretty hard. It looks like my father-in-law is about to need to move in with either my sister-in-law or us. My mother-in-law never liked me and always made that clear. She actually said I didn't know what problems were and I just wanted attention, even after breaking my back. So I still struggle with all the stress she caused and it's very hard to imagine taking my father-in-law in. My husband has a pacemaker/defibrillator and his health has been declining with all the responsibilities we're experiencing. Add to that one of our children divorced after his 2nd child was born like 6 months later. He's made some decisions that were made too soon and that's what is probably the hardest for me. He has pretty much shut me out of his life. He is actually acting just like my mother-in-law with things he says and the way he's treating me. My kids were my world. I was a homemaker and my husband and I gave up everything so I could stay home. Like everyone life is stressful. It's just that sometimes life seems harder than other times. I guess that's where I'm at right now along with adjusting to a new seizure pill.

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