Has anyone stopped a medication because it did not work AND then try the same med a few years later?

I am well controlled on Lamictal. I am tired of dealing with side effects. My body loved Dilantin, until it did not work. I know that osteo is a problem, when Dilantin is taken after menopause but I am willing to do all the other stuff proven to prevent it.

I have taken 5 other meds that caused more problems than Lamictal and have thus stuck with Lamictal. As we all know, changing meds changes day to day life for months. Deciding to go thru that, I'm thinking: if it does not work at least I will feel better while I'm taking it.

Now about that Dilantin... Has anyone done a retry for a med that did not work a few years ago? If you did, what happened? Twila

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Had surgery to improve my life. It worked!!! Seizure free since 6/05.

I'm curious about this too. I was on Dilantin (with no problems) for 10 years, then my neuro had my try Keppra, because of the osteo caused by Dilantin.

Keppra was pretty much a nightmare with side effect AND poor sz control. But I wonder if I should ever consider giving it a second chance. If a med doesn't work well the first time.....does that mean it will NEVER work for you?

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"My male roommate and I mixed up our nicotine and testosterone patches. He got cranky and hungry. I got a raise and a corner office" -- Karen Ripley
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Phenytoin and Calcium Supplements
Sometimes the old-fashioned cures DO work the best!

My son was on depakote a few years ago and had horrible side effects related to fatigue. We took him off of it and tried a few other drugs. In August we decided to give it another try. So far we have not seen any side effects and he has better control now than in a long time.

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mom to 8 year old ds with history of febrile & myoclonics currently absence. current meds depakote... & 2 year old dd so far with no issues other than a brother whom she likes to call "nasty buzzard" which he thinks is funny

I have an experience that is not exactly as you described, but quite similar.

I began to have several Tonic-Clonic seizures following a subarachnoid hemorrhage in 1975. From August 1976 through August 1979 I was seizure free. I was taking 300 mg of Dilantin in the morning and 90 mg of Phenobarbital in the eventing. Taking all the Phenobarbital in the evening made getting up the following morning difficult, with the alarm going off as much as a 30 minutes or so before I would get up. I was still in college, which made it easier to work around that problem.

I convinced by primary care physician to let me work my way off the Phenobarbital in the late summer/early fall of 1979. Within a few weeks after being off the Phenobarbital, I had a Tonic-Clonic seizure and another in early 1980. So I resumed a combination of Dilantin (at some point it changed to generic Phenytoin) and Phenobarbital. Because I was now working I needed to find a different strategy whereby the medicine was spread out more evenly throughout the day. I never again reached a situation where I was seizure free for even one-year, although over time I have moved from Tonic-Clonic to fairly mild (and slightly more often) Complex Partial seizures.

My new Neurologist now wants me to consider Lamictal and Keppra as alternatives, feeling the newer medications might be appropriate in my case. One of my concerns is "What if I have to return back to Dilantin and Phenobarbital?" Just as what occurred in the 1970's, there is no guarantee that things would return back to the "normal" of today. A variety of other factors - age, stress, etc. - impact the outcome for any individual patient and is what makes the rigid rules on generics by insurance companies so frustrating!

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Gary
Since 1975, after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Former 500 mg Phenytoin; 194 mg Phenobarbital
Present 500 mg Phenytoin; 194 mg Phenobarbital; and 100 mg Lamictal (startup phase)
Began with Tonic-Clonic, now Complex Partial

I was on dilantin for about 40 years (a long time) Since my new neurologist here in the Atlanta area took blood work, was very high and bone density test was very bad. After being on lamictla since last April I mentioned about going back on dilantin. She did not want to do that because of the osteo problem plus the gum problem I had. Along with all of that, my blood level was very high. So for, the lamictal has me under control unless I have a lot of stress and that causes me to have auras. Hope this helps you out.

guess I will move the spam of the main page by bumping up a few things....

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Brian

Epilepsy Video

Apples of Gold

Heros Page

Pushin spammers off screen is kinda fun!!!

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Brian

Epilepsy Video

Apples of Gold

Heros Page