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Pregnant and had a seizure, not dealing with it very well.
Wed, 04/22/2015 - 17:52I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 11 years old and it was always well controlled with the lowest dosage of tegretol(200 mg twice a day) even though I went against my doctors orders for 5-6 years when I was a teenager and took 200 mg once a day at night before I went to sleep and it worked just fine with no issues. Luckily they only ever happen in my sleep and never last longer than a minute or two. Ever since I found out I was pregnant earlier this year, my doctor switched me to a really low dosage of keppra (250 mg twice a day) and I ended up having a seizure. Twice, I think. My husband is in the army and was away while I think I had the first one so I just wrote it off as stress/anxiety induced sleep paralysis. Well he's back now and last week on Thursday I had one for sure because he woke up and found me on the floor a half hour after we went to bed. Went to the ER and was there til 4am, baby turned out to be ok and the heart rate was normal so they just told me to double up on the dosage and go home and get rest. But now ever since I had the seizure I have been having a lot of trouble when night comes and my emotions get all out of wack and all I want to do is cry. I can't fall asleep without my husbands arms around me and even then I'm still afraid to go to sleep at night. I've never had this much trouble getting over having a seizure and I have had many since I was diagnosed. Last seizure I had was when I was 16 or 17 when they tried to ween me off of my medication(I'm 26 years old now). Flashing lights don't trigger it and they never could figure out why I have them but I think it's related to stress and anxiety. My hubby is very supportive and reassures me that I will be just fine and he will be watching over me and nearby no matter what but if I get upset he doesn't understand why I'm still upset. :/ I'm worried that if I have another seizure something could happen to my baby and I think that's a part of the reason why I'm having so much trouble dealing with it this time around. Has anyone else gone through this?
Hi please, allow me to give
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2015-05-06 - 16:39
Hi please, allow me to give you some comfort during your time of emotions during pregnancy. I've had 3 children and I have epilepsy. I had an average of 1-3 seizures with each of my pregnancies. It's the uncontrolled seizures that you should worry about. But, from what I've read yours seem to be pretty well controlled except this one. Which isn't odd because during pregnancy your medication level changes often differ monthly as AED's levels fluctuate due to being pregnant. Ask, your OB and the doctor treating you for seizures to monitor your AED levels closer. It's ok to be emotional, your pregnant. My best advice to you is don't succumb to the fear. Don't allow seizures or epilepsy to control your pregnancy. Try your best to enjoy this journey of motherhood. Yes, your going to have a little trouble dealing with the "what if's of a seizure this time" because your no longer thinking about yourself but you are now thinking about your precious little baby. That my friend is okay! It's the sign that your going to be an awesome MOM! Do your best to watch for your triggers if you know what they are, keep your stress under control, keep all your dr. appointments, get your levels checked! Wish you all the best.