Seeking advice on new medication

I took Zonisamide for like 10 years from fifth grade through my first year in college. It did a great job stopping the seizures for me, but it made me extremely heat sensitive - it prevented me from being able to sweat or regulate body temperature, and my seizures can be triggered by heat. When I transitioned off it, it became apparent that it had also stunted my emotional development so these last few years in college I've also been going through the emotional turmoil most people experience in high school.

I used to take lamictal but it made me very very sleepy. I couldn't function daily and it turned me into a zombie. I currently take zonisamide and have for years and it works fairly well with no side effects that I've noticed

I take all of those! hardly anything with zonisamide, although it did make me have derealization at times, but nothing at all now. clonazepam (I can’t remember if that’s onfi or klonopin) but I think it’s klonopin, that’s my rescue medication. it typically knocks me out for a few hours after seizure-like behavior, so I assume drowsiness is a symptom. I don’t notice any side effects with lamictal.

My weight loss started with lamotrigine actually, because my first neurologist forced me on a dissolvable tablet twice a day and it made me feel so disgusting and nauseous I just couldn't eat. But eventually I switched to a regular pill, and started eating more again, but then I was put on zonisamide so it makes it difficult to eat. I basically lost appetite but I don't feel nauseous

I hope so too. I wish you nothing but the best. Let's get these damn seizures under control! 🙏

I’m having the same deja vu/ partial seizures. Hopefully it won’t have the same effect for me. I’m so sorry you experienced that!

I was mainly having deja vu/ partial seizures (1-2 min). The zonisamide made me speechless and confused for close to an hour, so I replaced that med quick. I take several meds that make me sleepy already so it is hard to distinguish if it made me any more tired than my baseline.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Willb! I will definitely be on the lookout and meep a record. Did it make you very tired in addition to the seizure increase! We’re you having complex seizures with those symptoms prior?

I'm a rare case, but zonisamide caused me to have more complex seizures (loss of consciousness/ inability to speak). Meds are different for everyone I know, but definitely approach all new seizure meds with caution, and write down anything that is out of the ordinary for the first couple of weeks.

Thank you so much for replying! I’m reading that some have experienced noticeable weight loss. Was that the case for you?

I take zonisamide, I don't have any bad side effects, when I got up to 300mg it did make me lose my appetite. But nothing else that I know of