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terrified to get pregnant

Sat, 09/19/2009 - 11:59

Hello,

My name is Linzy and I am 26 years old. I was diagnosed with Absence seizures when I was 23. I have been on a boat load of medications to control them and now I am on Lamictal which has done the best so far. I have been increased recently because of some breakthrough seizures. My husband and I have decided to have a baby and I am terrified for the health of the baby. My doctor told me that Lamictal can cause cleft lip, palate etc., to the fetus and that I cannot breast feed. I take 125mg of lamictal in the morning and at night. I have always dreamed of having children - healthy children. I would love my child no matter what but doesn't everyone want healthy children, free of defects? I have also always dreamed of breast feeding. I was pretty devastated when my doc told me that I wouldn't be able to breast feed my child. I want to be able to have that connection with my baby. I guess I am just hoping for some similar stories and to know that there are people out there who understand where I am coming from and how much of an impact seizures can put on your life even if they are just absence.

 UPDATE (May 5, 2011): I thought that I would update this thread :) I am happy to tell you all that I am the very proud mother of a happy, healthy and totally normal 9 month old son =) I got pregnant shortly after posting this thread and my whole pregnancy and delivery was completely normal, problem free and most important of all, seizure free!! Towards the end of my pregnancy I did accumulate too much amniotic fluid but it wasn't a worry at all and my water ended up just breaking on its own 2 days after my due date which kicked off 21 hours of labor and 2 hours of pushing, to which I welcomed a very healthy 7lb 14oz baby boy (with the help of the vacuum because he was coming down at an angle and was a bit stuck!). He was pretty jaundice for a while because he ended up getting some of my blood during delivery but that went away within 2 weeks. He does have an undescended teste which is fairly normal in boys anyway and has nothing to do with the lamictal. He already had the first surgery to fix that and is doing awesome. I haven't had any seizures since before I got pregnant which is really awesome since I was having them fairly often. And which is even more amazing seeing as my soon to be ex-husband wanted a divorce right before we found out I was pregnant and wanted one even faster once we found out I was pregnant a week later. I ended up having to move 9 hours away back to my hometown while I was terribly sick with morning sickness. To go through all of that stress and not have a seizure is pretty awesome I think! I was really scared about birth defects and such when I was ttc but now I know how small of a chance those things are especially with lamictal and in the future if I find someone else to spend the rest of my life with I will have no fears about having more children. Thank you all for your support and for sharing your stories! I wish you all the best of luck!

Comments

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by Karla Hoxha Brown on Fri, 2010-10-22 - 22:43
I can totally relate and appreciate everyone sharing their story. It makes me not feel so alone. I will be 32 y/o next week and currently I am trying to get pregnant. I was diagnosed with JME at the age of 14 and have had seizures on and off since then. The longest stretch I've gone without a seizure was 5 years. I switched from depakote to lamictal a few years ago and since I switched I've had 5 seizures. Currently I've been seizure-free for a little over 1 year. I am taking 250mg of lamictal twice a day and 4mg of folic acid As much as I want to get pregnant, I've struggled with the decision because of course like everyone else, I want to have a healthy baby. My husband and I have given it a lot (years!) of thought and ultimately decided we wanted to try. We are hoping for the best and going into it with the understanding that there is a risk. Trying not to scare myself and stay positive. It's so great to hear stories from women that have been pregnant while on seizure medications and their babies/kids are doing well. I wish you all the best of luck.

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by dhodle on Tue, 2010-10-26 - 16:23
I am 27 years old and I completely understand your worries.  I have had epilepsy my entire life.  I was on at least 5 or 6 different medications in my life time. Currently, I am on Lamictal and have many concerns when it comes to starting a family.  I believe (although this has not been proven) my seizures are brought on by my hormones. I had one when I first started my menstration cycle and also after I have taken some sort of birth control.  I have seizures every 6 yrs faithfully (it doesn't matter which medication I am on). I am scared I will have a seizure during the pregnancy and more afraid of having one while I am giving birth.  My doctor also told me Lamictal is the safest AED to be on while trying to conceive.  I still have a difficult time with this though, because if god forbid, something is wrong either mentally or physically with my child I will blame myself for the rest of my life.  I know having epilepsy is not my fault directly(or even indirectly), but I do kind of blame my father and his side of the family.  I know there is nothing they could have done to prevent it. I battle myself all of the time about starting a family but I really want to have a baby. Alternatively, I could always adopt a child but I would want one of my own flesh and blood. Ultimately I am just going to put it into the hands of God.  He has the final say in everything no matter what medication I am on.

Re: terrified to get pregnant

Submitted by linzysmith323 on Sun, 2010-10-31 - 22:56
Hello dhodle :) I know exactly how you feel, I was just there myself. I was so worried about getting pregnant and about having seizures while pregnant and during childbirth. I also knew that if my child were to have disabilities I would have a very hard time with it because I too would blame myself. I just want to tell you that my beautiful son was born on the 25th of July, 2010. He is very healthy and growing everyday. No cleft palate or lip (which is what I was worried about). I didn't have any seizures at all my entire pregnancy. I haven't had any since having him either. And to boot, my husband decided he wanted a divorce right before we found out I was pregnant and wanted one even faster once we found out! I had to move 9 hours back home and leave my two stepsons whom I had helped raise since they were 14 months old.(they are 7 yrs old now) Talk about stress!!! So, to go through all that and be seizure free was especially lucky. I can tell you I was scared to death that I would have a seizure or that something terrible would happen to my baby or that I would have a miscarriage from all the drama..but none of it happened. I thought as positively as I could have, was as happy as I could have been, took prenatal vitamin with extra folic acid, and put it into Gods hands. And now I have a beautiful baby boy :) The only issue I had was that I had too much amniotic fluid accumulating towards the end. but it wasn't a big enough problem for the doc to do anything about and in the end my water broke on its own kicking off labor :) So,  you are right. Just do what you feel is right for you and put it in Gods hands. I hope everything goes well and you are as blessed as I am :) Motherhood is an incredible thing and I am so glad to have made the decision to have a baby. He is my life now and I can't imagine a day without him! Good luck :)

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