Saturday, February 20, 2010
02.19.2010 - Seizure Control With Side Effects
I saw my neurooncologist today after my MRI scan and the tumor was still stable and unchanged, which is great. I started another five-day round of Temodar, an oral chemotherapy agent and will be doing that monthly. The plan now is to continue with that until October, which will be three years post-diagnosis. I had to stop taking Avastin because it was causing me to have high blood pressure. He wanted me on either Temodar or Avastin until the three-year mark. On 01.25.2010, I saw a seizure specialist and she took me off Lamictal and put me on Lyrica. I now take Keppra and Lyrica. I haven't had seizures since then, but Lyrica can cause weight gain and I have been slowly gaining weight. That side effect really sucks! I talked to my neurooncologist about it and he said there are other drugs that could work without that side effect. Let's see how much weight I gain before I object to the effect.
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Hello Russell, I am very sorry to read your plight. Although I am happy to see how positive and thankful you are for the fantastic support you have around you.
I was diagnosed with a low grade astrocytoma in 2003 and have regular MRI scans as a result. Luckily, my scans have not yet shown any significant change so I will continue to have my fingers crossed each time that MRI scan results day comes around - as I'm sure you and your family and friends do!
I also suffer with seizures and after being on tegretol for some time am now also on Lamictal which significantly minimises grand mal seizures but I do have regular auras. I agree though that the lack of control can be hard.
Thank you for sharing your story and giving us faith that a positive mental attitude and fantastic support can carry us all through the bad times.
Best of luck.
P
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