Posted by med_empowered on August 6, 2005, at 10:27:18
In reply to Keppra (levetiracetam) for bipolar disorder?, posted by SLS on August 6, 2005, at 8:37:17
hey! I read a study (maybe two?) that found it was good...well, good as "mood-stabilizers" go...it beat placebo by a good margin, and played nice with the other meds the subjects were taking. The study I read found a pretty good degree of success for both Bipolar Disorder and treating people with excessive aggression. The National Institute of Mental Health is, I believe, running a much bigger, better study focusing solely on those with Bipolar Disorder...this study will have specific rules about dosage, administration of other meds, etc. From what I understand, the study is going on right now, but the NIMH hasn't released any data yet and probably won't for a while. Sigh. I'm not taking anything right now, but even I'm interested in Keppra--nice side effect profile, plays nice with other meds (and your liver), leaves cognition intact...who *wouldn't* be interested? Plus, Keppra is apparently related to some meds that have neuroprotective qualities, so it may *theoretically* stabilize mood and protect the brain from any ill-effects of mood swings/psychosis. We'll just have to see. In the meantime...from what I understand, Keppra is being RX'd in certain situations: 1) patients who've done anything else, and, for whatever reason (side effects, lack of efficacy, etc.) need something besides the old stand-bys and the neuroleptics and 2) cases where the mood swings are severe enough to warrant medication, but mild enough that the patient can "risk" a new, not-so-well studied medication...3) since it plays well with other meds, it can be used as an "add-on" instead of being used as the sole mood-stabilizer. I imagine that when this is done, a good response might lead to tapering of harsher meds, but who knows? If I find any other information, I'll make it a point to post it. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:538236
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050803/msgs/538253.html