Epilim side effects in 2.5 yr old and aggressive behaviour...help

[zippytiptoes]

I feel really dreadful. We have a 2.5 yr old who is recovering from congenital hip dysplacia and who has recently been diagnosed with Epilepsy. She is on Epilim (6mg twice a day) and her behaviour has just become so erratic. She has just started nursery and the staff have pointed out that she is biting, nipping and pulling children's hair. I feel so, so sad about this and worried for the other kids. I'm concerned that people will just view her as naughty and aggressive.

I've just phoned nursery to talk to them and the deputy manager was really lovely, but said that this was happening on a regular basis. I have looked up the side effects and it clearly states that Epilim can cause an "increased amount of irritability", "occasionally aggression, hyperactivity and behavioural deterioration have been reported." etc.

We are seeing the consultant a week today and intend to discuss this with him, but in the meantime, I just feel dreadful. She has become more aggressive since we started the medication and really lashes out at us and our 5 yr old daughter. It's causing such a lot of stress and making us all feel really sad. We know it's not her fault, but it's really hard to tolerate such erratic outbursts, especially when you see other children getting hurt and it's your child causing the pain.

Does anyone else have any experiences of Epilim or erratic behavioural outbursts? Please can you suggest how we can approach this?

Thank you for listening.

I think you will get different answers from parents here - Ds has been on epilim for several years and has had no side effects at all.
I think the best action is to talk it over with the consultant. It might be helpful if you kept some sort of diary (i know the appointment is only a week away but its a start). log down time of her medication, times of the outbursts and what she was doing before it happened etc.

Thankyou. ZZZZZZ, reading your response is so supportive. It sounds just like our daughter. Honestly, I've felt so stressed and sad today that I went to the garage to fill our our 4X4 and put in £100 of unleaded instead of diesel. I paid £350 in total to have it pumped out and to refuel before leaving the forecourt and all because my head is just scrambled at the minute! I will print out your response and take it with us to nursery tomorrow. Thank you for your kindness and support. Mumsnet is like having the best shoulder to cry on! Thankyou.

You sound lovely. Thanks for your support. I'm going to talk to nursery tomorrow. I'll let you know how I get on.

My DS Down Syndrome had no problems with Epilim 800mgs & 600mgs a day, however he needed a 4th drug to control his seizures and he was given Keppra. My lovely kind helpful son turned into a raging bull. I think with epilepsy you have to suck it and see. Two weeks after stopping Keppra we got our gentle son back. We know his epilepsy will never stop but we feel we have got it managable. It can take quite a while to find the best solution. Good luck xx

So, we went to see the consultant today and he was very supportive. He has changed her medication to Levetiracetam (Kepra). He understood about the behaviour and said it could be a mixture of the seizures and the medication. We have to decrease the Epilim slowly and introduce the Kepra. He said often people who experience seizures express the feelings they have as a feeling of 'bloody mindedness' which is exactly how she comes across. We'll give this a try and see how we get on! Thanks people for your support though.