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Coming off Lamictal to concieve
Sun, 02/28/2016 - 18:59Topic: Women With Epilepsy
Hi Everyone, I am new to the site and am very impressed with all of the support and openness of everyone. I suffered from epilepsy as a child. I was embarrassed and ashamed, and stopped taking my medication in middle school and started having grand-mal seizures again. I am now 28 and have been seizure-free for over 10 years. I recently went to a new neurologist and she suggested maybe coming off of my medication now that I am older and will be trying to get pregnant in the upcoming years. This past week I had an MRI and ambulatory EEG and it has been such an emotional rollercoaster, reminding me of such an awful time in my life. I have been severely depressed and now don't even want to take the risk of having another seizure if I come off lamictal, but also don't want to possibly deal with the birth defects some babies have from mothers on lamictal. Has anyone had seizures as a child and come off their medications completely as an adult? I would love to hear anyone's input or experiences. Thank you and good luck to everyone who is effected by epilepsy.
I am also new to the site and
Submitted by Claire732 on Sun, 2016-03-06 - 18:32
I am also new to the site and am in a similar position to you. Although I am not yet ready for children, I am 26 and also 10 years seizure free, and it is something I have been thinking of. My epilepsy nurse has recommended that when the time comes, I would not be able to completely come off the medication (lamictal/Lamotrigine) as it would be more of a risk to the child if I were to have a seizure, however they would take the dosage as low as possible and start taking folic acid a few months before so that it is already building up in my system. They did advise me that it is one of the safest AEDs to be on for pregnancy. Hope this helps and Good luck!