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On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Fri, 02/01/2008 - 19:06

Hi.  I am 23 years old and have been on 2000mg of Keppra a day for over three years.  I have also been seizure free ever since I started Keppra, and with no side effects.  I recently found out that I am pregnant with my first child.  I am ecstatic, but I can't help worrying about the unknown effects of Keppra on my baby.  My neuro is keeping me on the full dose for the duration of my pregnancy.  Other than taking extra good care of myself, does anyone have any advice?  Has anyone else gone through this that has a positive outcome?  A negative one?  I guess I am just searching for some sort of positive reinforcement to put my mind at ease a bit.  Thanks for reading.

Amy

Comments

Re: On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Submitted by BeckyNYY on Fri, 2008-06-13 - 15:03

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to all of the mothers!  I am currently 10 weeks pregnant with my first baby and was so nervous about taking medications.  (This pregnancy was not planned!)  I went to a new OB/GYN and told her that I was on Keppra.  She was very encouraging about it.  I then spoke with my neurologist and he told me that because Keppra is one of the "cleanest" drugs available, it's also one of the safest for pregnancy.  I have been on folic acid supplements since October (b/c my other GYN said better to be safe than sorry). 

Unfortunately, I had a seizure last week and had my Keppra dosage increased to 4,000 mg/day.  I am praying that this will work for me throughout my pregnancy.  My neuro said he would switch me to Depakote if I have another seizure, but he wouldn't want to do that during the 1st trimester.

I am just putting my faith in God and know that He will be glorified in whatever happens.

Good luck to everyone!

Becky 

Hi everyone,

Congratulations to all of the mothers!  I am currently 10 weeks pregnant with my first baby and was so nervous about taking medications.  (This pregnancy was not planned!)  I went to a new OB/GYN and told her that I was on Keppra.  She was very encouraging about it.  I then spoke with my neurologist and he told me that because Keppra is one of the "cleanest" drugs available, it's also one of the safest for pregnancy.  I have been on folic acid supplements since October (b/c my other GYN said better to be safe than sorry). 

Unfortunately, I had a seizure last week and had my Keppra dosage increased to 4,000 mg/day.  I am praying that this will work for me throughout my pregnancy.  My neuro said he would switch me to Depakote if I have another seizure, but he wouldn't want to do that during the 1st trimester.

I am just putting my faith in God and know that He will be glorified in whatever happens.

Good luck to everyone!

Becky 

Re: On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Submitted by rose0527 on Sun, 2008-06-15 - 13:10

Congrats on your pregnancy Becky! 

Just keep working with your neuro and OB together to make sure that you and baby stay healthy, and you will be just fine!  I am already 25 weeks (it's gone so fast!) and have been faithfully taking my Keppra and folic acid and have not had a seizure yet and I've had a perfectly healthy pregnancy thus far.  Hopefully you can stay on Keppra. From almost everything I hear, I really do believe it is the best med to be on while pregnant.

Best wishes!

Amy

Congrats on your pregnancy Becky! 

Just keep working with your neuro and OB together to make sure that you and baby stay healthy, and you will be just fine!  I am already 25 weeks (it's gone so fast!) and have been faithfully taking my Keppra and folic acid and have not had a seizure yet and I've had a perfectly healthy pregnancy thus far.  Hopefully you can stay on Keppra. From almost everything I hear, I really do believe it is the best med to be on while pregnant.

Best wishes!

Amy

Re: On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Submitted by Eva16 on Sun, 2008-07-06 - 13:09
Hi Ladies, I've been reading all these Keppra & pregnancy posts for the past few months now and finally registered today so I tell my story. I'm 35 and have JME. I've been taking my miracle drug Depakote since I was 18. Thankfully it completely controlled my jerks (which previously I had on a daily basis) and seizures at a low dose (200mgs a day). I have been putting off pregnancy a lot longer than I should have as I am very nervous about giving up my good & faithful buddy Depakote. After a lot of talking with my neuro and husband, I switched to Keppra a few months ago. It's hard to know how much of it was psychological (self-confessed hard core Nervous Nelly) but I found the switch very hard. I was taking Keppra (250mg in pm) for 4 months, during that time I was very agitated, depressed and moody as hell. Kind of like permanent PMS. But on the good side, I had no myclonic jerks (including times when i was very sleep deprived), I slept very well and there were moments that I felt GREAT. Probably a little too great, it kind of exaggerated all my emotions. Anyway, after a very rough couple of days, I made the decision to give myself a vacation from worrying about Keppra, pregnancy and Epilepsy in general and went back to my Depakote. I now feel a lot more educated about the whole process, so in some ways it was a good thing. I went to see a new Neuro, who was amazing and specialized in women with Epilepsy. So I'm going to start the process again in a few months and hopefully I'll be more relaxed about the whole thing and not over think everything. My new neuro thinks I should try Lamictal as there is more research done on the effects of it and pregnancy and it doesn't have the same behavioral effects as Keppra. But after reading up about Lamitcal, I don't like the sound of that rash & I think I'm going with the philosophy of "better the devil you know". Keppra makes me a real crank but it does the job it's supposed to do and I can put up with that for 9 months, my husband isn't looking to thrilled at the prospect though. Anyway, that's my story. Amy, I wish all the best for you & your baby girl, please keep us updated with her progress. It's very encouraging to see so many positive outcomes on this site. Good luck

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