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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 amy4152 on Thu, 2008-07-03 - 15:33

Hi Amy! This is a coincidince. My name is Amy, 26 and I just had my 3rd child. But while i was pregnant with him, I developed epilepsy, and was put on 1000mg of keppra, which didn't work and still had seizures. Doctor was going to put me on a higher dose but after praying about it alot, i said no way, and i wanted to start getting of the meds. Doctor said it would be better to start the taper off the drug until after my postpartum checkup. I am still having seizures and I am off the medication completely because there are no proven studies on nursing and being on keppra at the same time. But I only have seizure 1 every 2 or 3 months so I don't really care to be on the medication when it doesn't help. They are now suggesting lamictal, and i am in the process about praying for that too.

Congrats on the pregnancy and i wish the best for you, and the only thing i can say is that you just need to pray about it. I know It seems hard about it especially if you're spiritually drained from your seizures but honestly, if you just ask god to take your seizure away and what should you do, he'll listen. Need anymore advice? Write me!!!!

Amy

Hi Amy! This is a coincidince. My name is Amy, 26 and I just had my 3rd child. But while i was pregnant with him, I developed epilepsy, and was put on 1000mg of keppra, which didn't work and still had seizures. Doctor was going to put me on a higher dose but after praying about it alot, i said no way, and i wanted to start getting of the meds. Doctor said it would be better to start the taper off the drug until after my postpartum checkup. I am still having seizures and I am off the medication completely because there are no proven studies on nursing and being on keppra at the same time. But I only have seizure 1 every 2 or 3 months so I don't really care to be on the medication when it doesn't help. They are now suggesting lamictal, and i am in the process about praying for that too.

Congrats on the pregnancy and i wish the best for you, and the only thing i can say is that you just need to pray about it. I know It seems hard about it especially if you're spiritually drained from your seizures but honestly, if you just ask god to take your seizure away and what should you do, he'll listen. Need anymore advice? Write me!!!!

Amy

Re: On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Submitted by Trishina on Sun, 2008-08-10 - 21:16
Hi Amy, I have had seizures for the last ten years now. I am now 16 weeks in my third pregnancy. I have two boys my oldest is five and my baby is eighteen months. In my first prenancy I took Depakote and phenabarbatol. It made me gain alot of weight and I had no energy. My oldest son was born with severe speech problems and mentally delayed. Last year he was diagnosed with Autism for the first time and goes to a special education school. In my second pregnancy they wanted me to try something different because my neurologist doesn't recommend Depakote during pregnancy. So, i then started taking Kepra it worked at first but the seizures still were coming and I was on 1500 mg. So they decided to add Lamictal and I stayed in the hospital for 4 months with severe weakness but the seizures dissapeared. My baby is very smart even with the complicated pregnancy he walked and 9 months and is above average in his age in everything. This pregnancy the seizures started at 3 weeks gestation actually thats how I found out I was pregnant. I started on 500 mg 2x a day. Then after being in the hospital off and on for the last two months they raised it to 1000 mg 2 x a day. This time I have been feeling very tired and I am struggling with depression. But, I know from past experiences that its the best medication during pregnancy so I am just being monitored very closely by my perintologist and my Neurologist. So I wish you well with this pregnancy. We will find out if there is any problems with our baby next week during our ultrasound so please pray that all is well. I pray that all is well with your pregnancy. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask me ok.

Re: On Keppra, Baby on the Way

Submitted by mugwump on Fri, 2008-08-22 - 00:19
I know how you feel. I gave birth to my first child in just a few months ago. At the beginning of my pregnancy i was taking 4000 mg a day of Keppra (I know a LOT). IN MY OPINION my child's safety was more important than mine. I weened myself down to 500 mg a day by my second trimester. BUT I was also taking 500 mg a day of Carbatrol. They say the birth defects are most likely to happen in the first trimester, and let me say that my child is perfect. He is four months and developmentally ahead of the game. There were no complications with him, and everything went smoothly. There may be long term effects that we don't know about but we can't worry about that now. Chances are you will have a normal, healthy, wonderful child. If something does happen, then you will still have a wonderful blessing from the Lord.

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