Switch dilantin to something else?

Hello everyone my name is Jon. I am new to the community. I was diagnosed about a year and a half ago with epilepsy. I had several pretty bad drop attacks, one behind the wheel of an expedition that drove off the road and hit an embankment flipping it back over front. It wasn't until I had a seizure in front of 100 people at a Target that I was diagnosed though. I have been taking Dilantin since I was driven to the hospital that day with no problems. Recently...I would say in the past 2 weeks...I have started having partial seizures again and did not understand why. It is time for me to get my blood levels checked so I will be doing that this week but in the meantime I increased my daily dose by 100mg and have also been taking some during the day if I start to feel too weird. My question is if this is normal for dilantin and also if I might have better luck on a different drug like Topomax or something along those lines? My neuro works at New York Presbyterian university hospital of columbia and cornell. His name is Dr. Bazil and I have every confidence in his decisions so I was going to take this issue to him next week when I get my levels checked so we can try to figure out the right course of action.

I know I can jumble ideas so here is a recap....
-On dilantin year and a half
-Past week started having what I feel are partial seizures. The "Aura" or "De Ja Vu."
-Took my nightly dosage to 500mg instead of 400mg and today took 200mg to try to bring things under control.
-Wondering if this is normal with Dilantin...
-Wondering if I should look into another medication....

Thanks for any info and I look forward to being involved with this forum.
Sincerely,
Jon

hi jon. i would really consider looking at other medications. i took dilantin for about two weeks and my neuro switched me to keppra quickly because he told me that dilantin has some bad sideffects like damaging the liver and many others. sorry i dont remember the rest but i am pretty sure you can find some more if you so some research.

 Hi ,

   I have been on dilantin now for 45 years, along with various other medications at different times trying to find that perfect mix of tablets for control of epilepsy. I had surgery earlier this year and will start reducing medications early next year,( i'm hoping dilantin will be the first one I reduce).

Having said that, Dilantin can cause you to feel dizzy, off balance or unsteady  if your blood levels are to far out of the theraputic range, generally to much dilantin  will cause these side affects. As for coming off the dilantin , you have to go slowly ,then whilst you are reducing your dilantin you should be slowly introducing the new medication (if you are going to have medication to replace the dilantin).

I would advise you to speak to your specialist regarding quick increases in dilantin also, like  decreasing dilantin , a quick increase will very likely make you feel dizzy,unsteady.

Good luck in finding the right medication to suit you.

                                            Aussie

Yaa, Dilantin does make me feel drowzy alot, and well, i am on other meds)gabapentin, and clobazam. If you feel the pill isnt working, you better talk with your doctor.
But all of us are differnet, and not all pills are right for them. And some pills give different side affects, like me, i get drowzy\sleepy...i may be dizzy at times.. I dont get too many side affects, which is good.
Hope you feel alright.:)

Dana