Tag Archives: medications

New Epilepsy Drug – Vimpat

Finally, after 6 months of waiting, we were able to see a new neurologist and she suggested that we try Tasya on a new drug called Vimpat®. We were desperately trying to get our daughter off of Topamax® as it was hurting her cognitively and she was beginning to have breakthrough seizures again.

So one day on it shouldn’t make much of a difference but something happened that hasn’t occurred ever before. Tasya was about to have a seizure upon waking (her most common type) but it didn’t happen. I rushed to the room hearing the cry that she has right before a seizure and there she was, clear eyed and talkative. She told both my wife and I how different she felt and that she felt clearer and sharper than before.

Vimpat’s® mode of action supposedly is to stop a seizure by changing the sodium channel slowly as opposed to older drugs which did it very quickly. Side-effects seem to be less than other drugs which try to dampen the entire brain like Topamax®.

While we are in the early stages of trying this med out on Tasya and the fact that it is only approved for people over the age of 17, we remain hopeful but not fully convinced of Vimpat’s® efficacy. Still, the fact that Tasya showed such a quick positive reaction makes us feel that maybe, just maybe, we have the answer to help stop her seizure activity completely.