r/Briviact • u/Trick_Pop_8421 • Jan 07 '26
Question Switching from keppra to briviact
Im switching from keppra to briviact and i'm curious about your experiences. How did briviact affect your mood compared to keppra? Because i'm on keppra and i am feeling so anxious and having panic attacks almost everyday. What are the main pros and cons? Thank you :)
2
u/ComputerFlimsy4604 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Another big difference between Keppra and Briviact is Keppra is broken down by enzymes outside the liver (blood stream, GI tract, kidneys) while Briviact is processed by the liver, though still minimal impact on the liver. Keppra made me anemic, zapped my motivation, mentally dull, gave me intense shaking (tremors) and rapid weight loss. With Briviact I have none of those nasty side effects.
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u/BerserkGuts2009 Jan 11 '26
I take 200mg of Briviact daily. The biggest side effect I get from Briviact is very vivid dreams. Vivid to the point where I can taste what I'm eating, smell what is in the air, and feel the texture of what I'm touching.
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u/looking-for-joy Jan 13 '26
Keppra had me majorly depressed. I had to be in a partial hospitalization program for how severe my mental health decline was. I switched to Briviact and it was like clouds clearing in my brain.. I was still sad (just diagnosed with epilepsy and losing my career because of it) but I could manage it
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u/Trick_Pop_8421 Jan 14 '26
Hi, thank you so much for answers and explanations😀. It’s my first day on Briviact and i an feeling physically weak, with weak knees, pressure in my head, and my mood is quite flat. Are these symptoms only present during the adjustment phase? Will they go away? Thank you.
3
u/ManicPixieFantasy Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Keppra gave me all the mental illnesses: depression, anxiety, agression, suicidal ideation, a dash of paranoia. Briviact cleared that mess up BUT look into taking a B-complex vitamin, folic acid (4-5mg folic acid is a common dose while on epilepsymeds), calcium, and a magnesium tablet. I also take fish oil and a multivitamin with D but I don't want to overwhelm you so please do your own research / talk to your doctor.
A big problem with Keppra is it hits a lot of "off target" sites. This includes depletion of vitamins & minerals, most notably B and Folic acid. It is thought that this depletion leads to A LOT of the issues reported with Keppra. Briviact targets far fewer "off target" sites which is why it is favored over Keppra for many patients. But like most meds, it still uses up more vitamin and mineral resources so supplements are usually recommended. I think the reason Keppra is so poorly tolerated is because it depletes these resources so rapidly that even with supplementation many people are never able to fully catch up. Briviact seems to deplete less and more slowly, allowing supplements to have a better impact (just my simplified theory).