Hi! I have epilepsy, and have one child,
which I carried and breast fed while being
treated with lamictal. Now my doctor is
planning to switch me to keprra and i'm
really nervous as to what this drug could
do to a baby. My husband and I have been
trying, although because of this pending
drug change we have to put it on hold.
Any advise or stories to share?
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kfl325
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 2 Location: wv
High Risk Pregnancy With Lamictal? Posted: 07-01-04 20:39pm
Did you have any problems with taking
lamictal during your pregnancy? Here is
my reason for asking. Dec 2001, I was
taken off of depakote from my days of
having jme (juv myoclonic) and doing fine,
as I wanted to start a family. Was
pregnant, did fine throughout the whole
time, had my son and 2 days later, I had 2
more seizures. I'm thinking they was
stress related as well as my Dr. My
father-in-law went into the hospital the
night my son was born and my son had me up
almost every other hour due to the fact he
was hungry. With no sleep and the stress
of my father in law in the hospital, I
honestly think that is what caused them to
hit. Well, now I am back on a new one,
hence, the lamictal question. I have
been trying to read up on the risks of
lamictal and pregnancy - any help would be
much appreciated. Thanks for reading my
post.
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Kathyalison
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 64
Lamictal &pregnancy Posted: 07-03-04 07:11am
Hi,
when my daughter was born I really worried
about seizuring during labour because of
it being so demanding but I was fine!
About 4 weeks after my daughter was born I
had my first seizure in 17months due to
exhaustion i'm sure but also I was getting
quite sick with masteitis and was
post-partum but didn't know it at the
time. But overall, the lamictal was
great for me and my daughter. She turned
2 in may and is a very healthy little
girl! When she was born she was 7
pounds, 10 ounces and has been in the 95th
percentile at all of her check ups. She
met most of her milestones early, and now
sings the alphabet, knows her shapes,
colors and how to count to 10! She's
amazing and it's clear that the lamictal
did not cause her any problems!
Last october my doctor wanted to switch me
to keppra, but I insisted that we wait on
that so that I could have another baby
while on lamictal, figuring it went so
well the first time. My doctor agreed,
but had said that if any problems
developed before I became pregnant that we
would do the switch. Well, unfortunately
I had a seizure in march which meant we
had to put baby on hold and do the switch.
So now i'm on 2000mg/day of keppra &
400mg of lamictal. Like you i'm really
nervous about the risks, but I think I
feel okay about trying. If I were only
on lamictal there wouldn't be a doubt in
my mind! One thing all of my doctors
insisted on was taking folic acid
everyday. It is recommended that any
woman of child bearing age take 0.4mg/day.
Because i'm high risk i've been told to
take 2mg/day and during my first trimester
my family doctor told me to take 4mg!
So now we're trying again anf keeping our
fingers crossed that we will have a
healthy baby within the next year!
Again, lamictal was great for me and I
think it should be a possiblilty you
discuss with your husband and doctor.
Good luck,...Keep me posted!
Kathy
