Epilepsy

What should I know about epilepsy and pregnancy?

Epilepsy is chronic disorder of the nervous system that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. Pregnant women that suffer from epilepsy are at an increased risk of developing pregnancy-related complications such as vaginal bleeding, increased seizure activity (for some), preeclampsia, miscarriage, anemia and separation of the placenta from the uterus. However, not all women with epilepsy will experience these complications during pregnancy. Some women may notice a decrease in their seizure activity.

Babies that are born to epileptic mothers may have an increased risk of complications. These complications include stillbirth, low birthweight, increased risk of seizure disorder, developmental delays and birth defects as a result of necessary medications. The most common birth defects that occur in children born to an epileptic mother are heart abnormalities, neural tube defects and cleft lip or palate.

During your prenatal visits, your healthcare provider will question past seizure activity. Current or recent seizure activity will need to be monitored closely and medications are crucial to protect you and your developing baby. Sometimes doctors will slowly stop epilepsy medications if a woman has not had a seizure in the past two years. Never stop or start any medication without consulting your healthcare provider first. The risks associated with medication discontinuation in a woman with recent seizure activity outweighs the benefits. The amount of medication may be changed during pregnancy as well. Epileptic mothers can expect frequent ultrasounds, blood tests and additional testing as suggested by doctors and obstetrical specialists. It is very important that epileptic women take a folic acid supplement (generally found in the prenatal vitamin) to lower the risk of neural tube defects in the developing fetus.

Comments: Epilepsy

Comments 1 to 24 of about 25.
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leamerre - 76 days ago.
I'm now 17 weeks and found out we are having a little boy. So far, everything looks good for our little one. I however, did develop hypothyroidism and am now on Synthroid for my thyroid but OB says the medicine is good for me and baby. My neurologist after a medicine level blood test said the baby was zapping most of my lamictal so he did increase it. Fortunately, the lamictal is still working good for me except the increased dose makes me a little nauseous for an hour or 2 after I take it. Michele, I hope you don't have anymore seizures but am glad the baby is doing well. Sandistar, hopefully after your move your stress will ease up and your seizures will stop. Good luck to everyone!

sandistar03 - 90 days ago.
michelle i am sorry to hear about ur siezure that is not good but i am glad to here that the baby is doing good i wish my siezures would go away and the stress of our move is not going well for my siezures but baby is doing well

michelle.w - 104 days ago.
Hi all, I had my 20 week scan and all was fine, no apparant effects from my med, lamictal. I did have quite a bad seizure however last week, i was in agony afterwards and bit most of my tongue away but that was the only one i have had so far and it was also in my sleep so not too bad, onbstretics doc said they were going to refer me to my specialist however i don't want them to increase my med. I'm so happy all is going as it should be so far and if i can go another 20 weeks without having a fit i will be fine!

sandistar03 - 111 days ago.
i took topamax before and it was in pill form but i did not do well on it so far so good with the kepra and lamiktal but u all know with seizures that can change in one day or less

leamerre - 128 days ago.
Sandistar & Michelle, sorry I didn't see your responses sooner. You have made me feel much better taking my lamictal now. So far, I'm 10 weeks and things seem to be going well. My Dr. talked about putting me on Keppra about a yr. ago and I decided against it after reading all of the possible side effects. Lamictal seems to be doing well so far. I hope I'm lucky like you and your healthy little ones!

daydays mom - 130 days ago.
daisy is on kepra. it didnt work even with triliptal. so shes not on topamax and kepra. topmax is a sprinkle you put on food. she takes that one good but hates kepra. shes having brain surgery on august 19th cause there is a spot on her brain that is causing the seizures.

sandistar03 - 140 days ago.
it is just an epileptic med i think it is pretty new they are calling it a new age med

michelle.w - 141 days ago.
whats kepra?

michelle.w - 141 days ago.
yeah this will be my first, 16 weeks 2day :)

sandistar03 - 144 days ago.
they actually just added kepra and like i said both of my boys are healthy and no signs of epilepsy in either one yet i was diagnosed when i was 5 and my youngest will be 4 tomorrow so i hope that he does not get it we still have a while with the youngest before we would not n e thing but as far as meds i took lamictal both times and they are great happy arnory kids. machelle is this ur first

Michelle.W - 144 days ago.
I'm 23 and was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 11. I suffer from tonic-clonic seizures and probably have 1 every 1 -2 months. I take Lamictal daily. I am now 15 weeks and 4 days pregnant and have only had 1 fit throughout the pregnancy so far. I try not to think about the complications and effects that it could have on my baby but it is so worrying. Everything has been fine so far but I will have my 20 week scan on 6th aug and even though i'm really excited i'm also dreading it in a way, scared that he/she is going to have some kind of defect or abnormaility. Sandistar...u r on the same med i am...i hope i'm as lucky as u :)

sandistar03 - 150 days ago.
i have had 2 very healthly lil boys on lamictal i have been on it for years and it works great i also am right at 4.5 weeks pregnant with our third still on lamictal u should do fine being preg on it i did i have had epilepsy since i was 5 good luck to you and on the pregnancy

leamerre - 169 days ago.
I'm 26 and epileptic with grand mal seizures since I was in 8th grade. I am on lamictal (300 mg in the morning and 200 mg at night) This med. seems to control the seizures well, I've only had around 10 seizures my whole life and lead a pretty normal life :) I'm now almost 5 weeks preggo. My dr. wants to keep me on my meds. My ob/gyn has me on prenatal vitamins and 4 mg of folic acid and expecta lipil. She thinks with my epilepsy all the extra folic acid and expecta lipil it will help with the epilepsy and meds. risks. Anyone out there had a baby while on lamictal? How did it go? Any suggestions?

boystruckx2 - 172 days ago.
Mason's have never stopped........I still have hope that they will . . . .

daydays mom - 174 days ago.
Will seizures ever completely stop with meds?

rich-girl - 175 days ago.
I'm 29 & I've had epilepsy for most of my life. I believe I was diagnosed w/ epilepsy when I was 3. I remember asking my Mom when I was bout 5 why I had to take pills. 'Cuz you shake,' was her answer. I really had no clue what she was talking bout... til one day.... It was Oct 31st/96 & all of a sudden, I woke up, very sleepy... I was in math class & my gr 7 teacher (I was in gr 9 @ the time) looked down on me. He asked me if I knew what was going on...etc. I told him no. I didn't even wanna talk I was so tired. All of a sudden these paramedics came in & pushed me on a stretcher. I was kinda scared. My teacher asked me if I wanted my sis to come w/ me. I said no, even when he asked if I was sure. I've been taking pills ever since. I got preg & took phenobarbitol throughtout my whole pregnancy. My son's 20 mos old & very healthy. I've gone unconscious 2x that I'm aware of. The 2nd time was @ home & my sis & cuz thought that I was faking it. Even in hs my friend thought that I was faking it !!! :@ (N) I do get seizures (more than once a mo) I could control them better if I took better care of myself. Since I'm gonna be 30 in Oct I guess it's too late to hope that I won't need to take them on a daily basis for the rest of my life :( I take 2 in the morning & 4 @ night. (30 mg each -low dose) Anywayz, I just thought that I'd share a lil bit bout my epilepsy.

daydays mom - 176 days ago.
Well my daughter doesnt have Epi... but shes got parshall seizures. been dealing with them since Jan of 09 and they got worse in may. but shes on meds now so hopefully they will get better.

karenbg - 255 days ago.
just thought I would share that I think this website is really informative: www.epilepsy.com there is an entire section devoted to pregnancy, and another devoted to diagnosis and treatment.

karenbg - 255 days ago.
http://aedpregnancyregistry.org/ The AED Pregnancy Registry is dedicated to determine the safety of anticonvulsant medications that can be taken by women during pregnancy to treat disorders such as epilepsy, mood disorder, and chronic pain. The primary goal is to determine the frequency of major malformations, such as heart defects, spina bifida and cleft lip, in the infants exposed during pregnancy to anticonvulsant drugs. Who is eligible? Any woman who is currently pregnant and is taking AEDs (antiepileptic drugs) for any reason can enroll in the Registry. A woman enrolls herself by calling us toll-free at 1-888-233-2334. Participation involves only 3 brief telephone interviews. The first interview is at the time of enrollment, the second takes place in the 7th month of pregnancy, and the third is conducted a few months after delivery.

kelly129 - 317 days ago.
i was diagnosed with epilepsy when i was 15 years old and i am now 23. fortunately, the type of seizures i have, grand mal or generalized seizures, are the easiest to treat...so my neurologist told me. i am 25 weeks pregnant (an unplanned pregnancy) and even though i am excited, i was very scared when i found out. i have only had 3 seizures, only one since i was diagnosed and prescribed meds. the only reason i had the third seizure is because i was non-compliant with my meds at the time. needless to say, when i was told i was pregnant, i became very compliant with my meds. two obstetricians told me that my biggest concern with the type of med i am on, valproic acid (epival), is spina bifida and heart abnormalities...fortunately, those defects have been pretty much ruled out due to ultrasound and mss (blood test). we're so happy now and we're expecting our little girl on or around april 27!

boystruckx2 - 327 days ago.
My 5 year old son has had seizures since he was a baby. Every test that has been done gives us no rhyme or reason. They were so severe he had stroke when he was 8 months old. They told me he would never walk or talk. Actually told me he was deaf. He has been on so many medications only for his seizures to change. Right after he turned 3 he had surgery and a VNS implant was placed. I have yet to find another mom with a child this small that has one of these implants. I think positive and only hope my son can become person they said he never would.

erin83 - 328 days ago.
KarenBG - Hi there, I have photosensitive epilepsy but have had it controlled for 8 years now. I only ever had 2 seizures however I have to take my medication for life now. I saw my doctor before my partner and I started to try. I have a prescription for double dosage of folic acid and he told me that it would not be worth me coming off of my medication as the chance of having a seizure and causing complications outweighed the baby having complications due to the medication. Apparently deformities occur in less than 6% of babies born to women with epilepsy and it's about half that for women without it. He reassured me that he had a patient with epilepsy and on her medication going through pregnancy with no problems. I am on lamotrigine though which I think is a better med to be on during pregnancy and I believe that it's quite a low dosage. Hope this helps but the best thing to do is speak to your doctor for reassurance. It put my mind at rest. Oh, after reading the little piece on this page about side effects of taking the meds I had never heard that miscarriage is a possibility and I had one in November. My doctor did not once mention that it could be related to my medication so I would really only go on the advice of your doctor. :)

baby-n-me - 336 days ago.
Hi, this is the closest forum I could leave this message. My baby had a seizure on Dec 18 out of the blue while standing in her crib and another one in the emergency room bed in front of everyone. Nothing provoked her...no fever, all the tests were done, EEG, urinalysis, blood, spinal tap...nothing was found and she is acting just as normal as ever to this day. Doctors said this is actually not uncommon, but I've never heard of such a thing. Can this happen possibly by just her brain growing? Maybe because it's still immature? Sounds strange, but I can't think of anything else. Epilepsy does run in my family, but no signs of it were present on the EEG. Has anyone else's child had this happen? Has it come back? I'm terrified she's going to have another attack. It was the most horrible sight...I thought I was going to lose her.......

KarenBG - 364 days ago.
ms, that is great news!!!

KarenBG - 364 days ago.
I am so thrilled that this forum has been added. If anyone else has a seizure disorder, please contact me, I would like to talk more about this.