My neurologist took me off Dilantin years ago. He said a certain side effect would cause cancer, liver and kidney failure. I'm currently taking lamotrigine which is the generic version of Lamictal. I've been taking it for 10 years and no major issues.

I was taken off keppra bc keppra gives a rage and if you read lots of epilepsy pages they will tell you that so instead of keppra they finally put me on Breviact and I do very good on that !

Hi Kella i was toxic on Phenytoin (so pretty much the same as Dilantin).
I was on Phenytoin for many years and 3 months ago i changed to Keppra it also hasn't stopped my seizures but ive been instructed to increase the dosage.
I won't be going on Phenytoin again mostly due to the dosage difficulties of the medication and lack of testing to combat this..
Everyones different and im not sure where the similarities between Phenytoin and Dilantin end but despite there effectiveness they are very old medications.

Do what is best for you. Don't let the doctor increase your Dilantin if it causes side effects. Dilantin was bad for me..are sure to get plenty of sleep and exercise. Will be praying for you for a good outcome.

Thanks! About 8 years ago or a little more, I had a doctor who tried me on Keppra and a few other meds. None of them were able to adapt to take care of the kind of seizures I have. Dilantin and Topamax have taken care of my seizures the best along with my VNS. My doctor just made a mistake in increasing my medicine too much and too fast. On Tuesday evening, the level was down to 20 or a little above that. Then, my doctor started me back on the Dilantin too soon. I went the rest of the week without any and this morning just took a 50mg. I will probably continue just taking 50mg for the next few days and go from there.