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Newly pregnant and taking Lamictal

Mon, 11/13/2006 - 16:28
Hey There, I'm new to this site...so HELLO....Hope everyone is doing well! I just recently..actually 2 days ago found out i was pregnant..Yay! I'm currently taking lamictal for my seizures. I love it and have found that it has such a low risk of side effects when it comes to how you feel! It's a fairly new medication so if anyone is taking Lamictal I'd love to share stories and chat...also If anyone has advice on pregnancy while taking seizure meds. I would love to hear from you!

Comments

Re: Newly pregnant and taking Lamictal

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2007-01-03 - 06:13
Welcome aboard and congratulations on the pregnancy! Exciting news! We're putting more info up for women all the time - visit these links to check out some of it.

www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_116009025

www.epilepsy.com/info/women_pregnancy.html

There is more detailed information on care of women with epilepsy on the professional site of Epilepsy.com. Also look at the women's info on the Epilepsy Foundation website.

Now, don't be afraid when you read some of the newer info on lamotrigine. The North American Pregnancy Registry found a higher than expected rate of oral cleft birth defects - problems with cleft lip or cleft palate - in women taking lamictal alone as compared to a control group of women without epilepsy and not on lamictal. I just heard a talk from other pregnancy registries around the world and these registries have not found this data. Thus, we don't know if this finding is going to be true for everyone.

For breastfeeding, lamictal does pass through the breastmilk, just like most other drugs do. However, the baby will be exposed to less drug than he or she was exposed to during pregnancy. Experts in the field feel that women with epilepsy can breastfeed while taking the drug.

Hope this info helps. Browse around and join in!

Epi_help

Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist

www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_116009025

www.epilepsy.com/info/women_pregnancy.html

There is more detailed information on care of women with epilepsy on the professional site of Epilepsy.com. Also look at the women's info on the Epilepsy Foundation website.

Now, don't be afraid when you read some of the newer info on lamotrigine. The North American Pregnancy Registry found a higher than expected rate of oral cleft birth defects - problems with cleft lip or cleft palate - in women taking lamictal alone as compared to a control group of women without epilepsy and not on lamictal. I just heard a talk from other pregnancy registries around the world and these registries have not found this data. Thus, we don't know if this finding is going to be true for everyone.

For breastfeeding, lamictal does pass through the breastmilk, just like most other drugs do. However, the baby will be exposed to less drug than he or she was exposed to during pregnancy. Experts in the field feel that women with epilepsy can breastfeed while taking the drug.

Hope this info helps. Browse around and join in!

Epi_help

Epilepsy.com Resource Specialist

Re: Newly pregnant and taking Lamictal

Submitted by renaescott on Wed, 2007-01-03 - 13:35
My husband and I also want to become pregnant and are afraid of the affects of Lamictal. I suffer from Simple Partial Seizures of the Right Temporal Lobe. I am currently on Trileptal, but my doctor has advised that I change to Lamictal or go to a seizure center to determine if I can be off my drugs completely. As I recently ran out of meds and had bad episodes during the next day after not having my meds, I don't feel that I can go off my meds. However, I am afraid of taking Lamictal while pregnant. I also know from research that it is currently the safest drug out there and only has a 1% chance of defects. But from my research I have found that the defect cannot be easily corrected. Your newborn would have to have surgery almost right away and as with most epileptic mothers, the newborns are usually premature. I would love to hear from more mothers who have taken Lamictal through their pregnancy and get confirmation that their babies were o.k. without deformities. I think it would be the only proof that would make me feel more comfortable about taking the drug during pregnancy (also I only need 200 mgs a day to control my seizures).

Re: Re: Newly pregnant and taking Lamictal

Submitted by callieo on Wed, 2007-05-30 - 23:12
Hi , Congrats on the little one! I had a baby while on Dilantin ( unplanned), he's one next weekend & perfectly healthy. I am in the process of switching to lamictal in preparation of our second pregnancy. I just wanted to comment on a statement ranaescott made : Your newborn would have to have surgery almost right away and as with most epileptic mothers, the newborns are usually premature. I did loads of research while I was pregnant, and never once from a geneticist, GP, OBGYN, or Neurologist did I ever hear of the tendency for epileptic women to have premature babies. Our little man was born on his due date. I'm new here, sorry to preach, i just think it's important not to make scary claims as if they are truths. Perhaps some research claims babies of epileptic moms are born prematurely, but it is not widely accepted.

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