Alcohol and Keppra

What Is Keppra?

Keppra is a drug in a class of medications known as anticonvulsants. It can be used short term to prevent seizures resulting from certain types of stroke or traumatic brain injury. Keppra can be prescribed for long-term, daily use for people with chronic seizure disorders.

Keppra May Treat the Following Types of Seizures:

• Partial-onset – Seizures affecting only one part of the brain, commonly with minimal muscle involvement and rare changes in level of awareness.
• Generalized tonic-clonic (grand mal) – Seizures involving spontaneous electrical activity in multiple portions of the brain, characterized by muscle contractions and loss of consciousness.
• Juvenile myoclonic – A form of epilepsy characterized by rapid and uncontrolled muscle jerks beginning in childhood or early adolescence.

It is common for people with partial-onset or juvenile myoclonic seizure disorders to progress to a more severe tonic-clonic form of epilepsy later in life. Keppra may be used as a primary medication to treat the condition or added to another medication regimen to control seizure activity better.

The way Keppra works to prevent seizures remains unknown. However, some research suggests it regulates certain brain chemicals to prevent uncontrollable electrical activity. It is typically taken multiple times a day, with effects on seizure activity beginning after the first dose.

Common Side Effects of Keppra Include:

• Dizziness.
• Weakness.
• Fatigue.
• Trouble maintaining balance or walking.
• Confusion.
• Irritability or aggression.
• Headache.
• Changes to appetite.
• Nausea, vomiting, constipation, or diarrhea.
• Neck or joint pain.
• Vision changes.

Alcohol interacts with most prescription and over-the-counter medications to some extent. Not only does it alter how your body breaks down and utilizes medications, but those drugs also impact how well your system can metabolize alcohol.

Interactions between alcohol and medications are a two-way street. Many drugs are metabolized in the liver using a specific set of enzymes. Because alcohol is also broken down in the liver, the combination of drinking and prescription medication use results in higher-than-usual blood levels of both alcohol and the drug. As a result, the medication side effects may be more pronounced. Likewise, the sedative, mind-altering properties of alcohol are also enhanced. How quickly your body can metabolize either of these compounds is based on your age, body mass, and the dose or quantity of substance ingested.

Both alcohol and Keppra impact the brain’s central nervous system (CNS), meaning their sedative properties are often amplified when used simultaneously. Unlike other anticonvulsants, Keppra is only minimally processed in the liver, making it an excellent choice to treat seizure disorders for people who use alcohol in moderation. However, it will lose some benefits if you drink more than one to two alcoholic beverages daily.

Keppra for Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms & Detox

Keppra can prevent withdrawal seizures in people detoxing from moderate-to-severe, chronic alcohol use.

The effects of drinking on the brain are well-established. The CNS, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is altered in numerous ways by intoxication. Alcohol acts as a CNS depressant, reducing brain activity that leads to loss of muscle coordination, slow breathing, decreased blood pressure and heart rate, sleepiness, delayed reaction time, and feelings of happiness and relaxation. However, these effects are short-lived unless you consume additional alcohol.

Not only does alcohol withdrawal reverse physical relaxation, but it also produces symptoms that can be physically distressing and uncomfortable. Once your body has fully broken down the alcohol in your system, the depressant effects wear off and give way to the excitatory brain activity responsible for muscle spasms, twitching, and seizures. If your alcohol use is chronic, these effects are more common and intense.

During withdrawal, hyperexcitability of the nervous system can provoke seizure activity. These neurological disturbances can cause involuntary muscle movement, behavioral changes, and variations in consciousness. They cannot be stopped by flexing muscles or forcibly holding the extremities.

Symptoms of Seizure Include:

• Involuntary shaking.
• Confusion.
• Visual disturbances (aura).
• Visual, auditory, and olfactory (smelling) hallucinations.
• Sensation of deja vu.
• Sweating.
• Drooling.
• Pale skin.
• Emotional or behavioral changes (e.g., intense fear).

Withdrawal seizures usually begin 12 to 48 hours after the last drink. Typically seen in patients in their 40s and 50s, alcohol withdrawal seizures tend to be short-lived and limited in number, as opposed to epilepsy. They can be treated with benzodiazepines (e.g., Ativan or Valium) to activate GABA receptors and prevent intense excitatory CNS activity during the detox phase.

While limited data on the topic exists, some research suggests anticonvulsants, such as Keppra, may be used to treat mild-to-moderate alcohol withdrawal seizures alone or in combination with benzodiazepines. Left untreated, alcohol-related seizures can advance to delirium tremens, a dangerous condition with cardiovascular and neurological instability. Anticonvulsants may prevent these adverse events.