Levetiracetam (Keppra) Worked for My Hyperacusis

Memantine was unhelpful, it may have even spiked me. Now have to wait the long half life period to get it out of my system. Was worth a shot...

 

What a bummer! That’s for following up. I’m sorry that you got a spike as a result. Guess I’ll cross that one off of my list...

Hey, I think I saw in a different post that you take an Agmatine supplement. Do you think it’s benefitting you in anyway?

 

Memantine might work differently for you than for me. I take agamatine daily with curcumin. Together they *seem* to make the noise a little more diffuse and less piercing.

 

I got Keppra from my doctor after I said it should help with hyperacusis. I haven't taken it yet. I don't want to get tinnitus spikes.

 

I tried a very small dose of Keppra (250 mg x 2 per day) and it did seem to help. I really wanted to increase my dose after a week but I started getting itchy all over so I had to stop. I was taking the generic version and wonder if it might be worthwhile to try the name brand to see if I can avoid that side effect.

 

If you do decide to try it, please let us know how it goes. I am also considering using it.

 

I started it at 250mg 2x per day.

 

I've had a spike since Wednesday, probably caused by Magnesium citrate. I will wait until my tinnitus is back to baseline. I will then start with 250mg per day.
Maybe it will work.

 

I'm getting a Keppra script Friday. Will take immediately.

 

I really wish you will benefit from it. Please let us know. I am willing to try it too.

Currently I am willing to try anything to get better.

 

What symptoms were helped?

 

It hasn't spiked me but hasn't been miraculous either. The main thing it seems to do is let me listen to a little bit louder sounds without spiking, so slightly better durability. Things like computer fans still set off my tinnitus and I still have to avoid certain noises.

 

What dose are you taking?

 

500mg 2x per day.

 

Some sudden or sharp sounds that normally hurt didn’t hurt as much anymore. Pain from constant sounds like the fridge and shower didn’t seem to improve, though. I was only taking 250mg x 2 a day and would have increased to see if I could have gotten more benefit if the itching hasn’t started.

 

Do you have burning or facial pain and if so, was there any effect on that?

 

I do get burning pain in my ears, and have some level of pain 24/7. The constant pain was slightly reduced while taking Keppra.

 

After about 2 weeks I can report back. I am currently spiking due to a loud impulse noise that happened indoors, but I've noticed some effects on 500mg 2x per day. To begin with, I would get minor ear ache from loud noises before, like music - this has completely stopped while on Keppra - it was never a major issue for me but it's now gone.

The effects on tinnitus/reactivity seem modest - it seems like I can listen to music/podcasts a bit more without a corresponding ramp up of the tinnitus, however, loud noises still cause setbacks/spikes. Overall I'd say it seems like it can give you a bit of quality of life improvement, but by no means would I say it has cured any of my most pressing issues. I will likely try moving up to 1000mg twice a day just to see what happens.

 

I'm jealous. Well I pray that I too can get Keppra. I do have an ENT appointment on Monday because I got a CT scan and I guess they wanted to give me another hearing test because my ENT doctor or whoever gave me a test before has retired so they want to compare hearing test results from last year and this year but I'll probably mention Keppra to this doctor, because even if he can't prescribe it, maybe he can refer me to a neurologist.

It seems like everyone can get Keppra easily. I live in the United States so I hope I can get it.

 

I live in the US. It was extremely easy to get Keppra.

 

Well, I hope I get the same kind of luck. I'll be seeing an ENT doctor and not yet a neurologist but if I'm lucky, maybe the ENT doctor will give in and prescribe it even though people say neurologists are the ones that prescribe it. I'll probably show him a YouTube video that @vermillion shared on here so he gets an idea of what I experience but anyway, I hope you see good results with Keppra.

 

An ENT probably won't prescribe Keppra but maybe your GP can. Anyway I honestly don't expect miracles from this drug.

 

Well... Keppra helped a little bit the first few days but that magic is gone, approx 2 weeks later.

 

Thank you guys for trying this out.

 

Hey, you said you have used 7 anticonvulsants already, did you ever try Keppra?

 

No.

 

May I ask why? Would you still be interested in giving it a go once your situation has returned to normality?

 

Maybe. But then I´ll probably go for Tegretol.

 

Could you tel us maybe more about your experiences with Tegretol?

What doses did you take?

After how many days did you start noticing effect on your symptoms?

Did the pain alleviation effect persist or did you develop tolerance to it?

 

This Monday I'm having a consult with a pain specialist to discuss some papers about noxacusis I've sent him. I'm currently on Clonazepam but without much effect, so in this meeting other medication might be on the table as well.

In our first meeting he also mentioned Pregabalin and Tegretol as possible treatment options, but I'd like to discuss other drugs with him as well.

Would you please be so kind as to answer to the questions I asked above? It could help all of us.