What Causes Memory Loss, Drowsiness And Low Appetite?

Posted on Mon, 13 Oct 2014

Question: My 16 yrs old son is on Epilex chrono 500 mg at bed time and 300 mg in the morning for last 1 1/3 years...... he is getting lazier day by day. His memory is fading, always drowsy. His hunger is decreased. Gets angry very quickly on fishy things. Always forgets very important things even, if he is asked to do even several times. Is this all because of this medication. He is not having any problem regarding seizures from the day he has started this medicine. If these are the side effects of this medicine, now can we stop it?? If we can stop, should we tapper the medicine before leaving its use or at once can we stop?? And if tapering is required what are the tapering instructions?

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Most anti-epileptic drugs have such side effects

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for posting on HealthCareMagic. I have gone carefully through the details provided by you. You have not mentioned the nature and onset of seizures he had been having and the basis of diagnosis based on which the medicines had been started. Assuming that the treating doctor has given the medicines in right consideration, they have to be continued for a pretty long time and medicines can be tapered off only after several seizure free years.

The complications that you are mentioning are indeed the side-effects of these anticonvulsants. Most of the anti-epileptic drugs have side-effects and a balance needs to be sought. Without knowing the details of the case, it is hard to comment on whether the medicines can be replaced with some other alternative. You would have to talk to your treating doctor about this. Remaining under his monitoring is also very important. You should not stop medication suddenly. Yes , we should taper medication gradually after clinical examination by your treating doctor. Doctor would decrease the dosage the medication if required and observe for 15-30 days for withdrawal symptoms. If he will not develop any symptoms and doctor would taper the medication gradually and stops it. But all this should be done by your treating doctor.
Thank you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju

Follow up: Dr. Diptanshu Das (44 minutes later)

Thank u Doctor. But I would like to know what do u mean by "Several" seizure free years?? Several means how many at least. Actually, he is taking his ICSE 10th Board Exams in 2015 and he acts pretty slow. In almost all his daily routine works also, he is gradually becoming very slow. Takes his bath in 1 hour or so. Brushes his teeth in 25 mins or so...... drinks water quite slowly. Whenever we are in a great hurry, we all shout at him to finish his works fast and the moment he realises the real need of his acting fast, his hands start working slow. Sometimes, I really get irritated by this behaviour of his. Very often, knowing that he should really, really work fast otherwise, he'll miss the bus or we all will be in a big problem because of his delay, he delays. God knows what will happen to him and his board exams.Otherwise he is a brilliant student, good to look at, very smart in almost all other things. But extreme lazy or God knows he does not get the signal from his brain to work fast or to be prompt and finish his work or course of study timely. He is very active on Facebook, downloading his stuffs from internet(songs etc.). But for daily routine works and studies. What to do with his casual approach? Is this something related to some mental disorder?? Is this a kind of mental problem??

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (6 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
epilepsy free 1-2 yrs in children is reqd

Detailed Answer:
The antiepileptic drugs can be considered for discontinuation after 1-2 years in children and 2-5 years in adults. You may like to read more at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC0000/
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/29/1/18/21
http://www.australianprescriber.com/magazine/27/5/114/7/

The fact that he is slow in things that perhaps do not attract him but he is ok with others, is nothing unusual for adolescents. Still, visiting a psychologist might help as he might be able to give him some simple tips to help him cope better with the situation. So stay relaxed and visit a psychologist not with an impression that he has some mental problem but with a view that he needs assistance.

Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Bhagyalaxmi Nalaparaju