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UPDATED: Sun, 12/09/2007 - 6:50pm
meliss...
pregnancy-developmental delays with tegretol
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I am 8 months pregnant and am taking tegretol 800mg daily. I've had all the tests early on, level II ultrasound, amniocentesis, ect. and everything was fine. I have an ultrasound every week now and check baby's growth every 3-4weeks. The only thing wrong is she is measuring pretty small. I was wondering if those of you that have had children with some developmental delays also had low birth weights. My doctor says she isn't really concerned right now, my baby might just be small because I am really small and my husband isn't all that big either. I was just wondering if low birth weight and developmental delays are related.
By meliss... at Sun, 12/09/2007 - 6:50pm | 243 views | 16 comments
Topic: Women With Epilepsy
Recent Comments on this Discussion
I had my daughter just over eight years ago while taking over 1000mg of tegretol a day. She has been perfectly healthy since she was born. She is even pretty advanced in some areas in school. I think that your doctors wouldn't keep you on a medication that would risk your childs development. They usually know what they're doing. Try not to worry, and know that things will work out the way God intended them to. Good luck to you and your new baby!
I took Tegretol through 4 pregnancies and they were all very normal.
I am happy to say that my 6 year old son was born with no delays while taking 900mg of tegretol a day. The only problem I had was that I had to take progesterone for 16 weeks because my level was too low and I experienced alot of bleeding. He was born healthy at 8#5oz and is very advanced. Isay good luck to all you ladies who wish to become pregnant. Listen to your doctor, do not take chances on stopping your med, you can hurt yourself as well as the baby, and take the proper amt prescribed for you. Your lives are too precious.
I was on Tegretol and Tegretol XR with my second little girl, who was born healthy and is very advanced irregardless of my being on medication . . . Previously, I was on Trileptal with my first daughter, and she was born healthy and is very advanced as well. So, for both, I remained on my Epilepsy meds, and my children were not affected (praise God)! I have learned that it was better for me to remain on my meds than have seizures during my pregnancies, and my daughters are doing very well.
So, I would say believe and know that your children are protected and safe, AND protect yourself by staying on your Epilepsy meds- because having a seizure while pregnant is extrememly worse! I did this as well while pregnant with my second daughter, because for a brief stint I was on Keppra, which was violently wrong for me and caused me to have seizures . . . it is definitely better to keep your seizures controlled. As long as your ultrasounds are coming back fine . . . you are good to go- Also extremely important is taking your folic acid (you never can hve too much), which controls brain nerves, ect.
I speak protection over you and wish you ALL the best!
Oh, and remember, even if your baby is a little small, he/she will gain weight once here - perfectly "normal" people have premature babies that grown exponentially and become brilliant . . . why not you:-)!!
All the best!
Andrea
I'm on Tegretol XR (1400 mg / day) and have been for the past 5 years. I am on a much higher dose with the XR (extended release) than I was originally on with the regular Tegretol. It seems that I don't absorb all of the Tegretol out of the XR pills. Also, my dose has crept up over the years to maintain a thereputic level as my body has gotten better at metabolizing it.
I have a healthy 2 1/2 yo son and am 25 weeks pregnant with a daughter. All tests for this pregnancy show everything is normal (amnio, level 2 ultrasound, etc). My son was 4 days overdue and weighed a hefty 8lbs 10oz!
The only thing I did was to take 4 mg of folic acid before and during both pregnancies. I also chose not to breastfeed to avoid additional exposure to the Tegretol.
My son has reached all of his developmental milestones on time and many of them earlier than expected. The only health problem he has had is recurrent ear infections (something many children face), but he seems to have outgrown those and his hearing tests are normal.
If anyone is pregnant, register with the AED pregnancy registry...I've done it with both my pregnancies, the research benefits women in the future with Epilepsy by adding to the information on AEDs (Anti Epileptic Drugs) and their effects on pregnancy.
I'm a grateful 37yo mom to three healthly boys and took Tegretol (600mg) during each pregnancy. I never had any complications while pregnant or during labor, birth weights normal, weight gain normal. The 600mg amount that I take daily is the lowest amount to keep seizures at bay. Inform yourself as much as possible so you don't have to react to fear and cause more stress! Good luck to everyone.
I am 27, and 6 months pregnant with my 2nd child, i am on tegretol, only taking 200mg a day, i am supposed to take 600mg but i refuse. I have not had a seizure for almost a year
am very worried about the risks n complications more in the delivery than anyhting
Hey
I didn't even think about refusing to take the required dose. I'm thinking about getting pregnant but I am supposed to take 600 mg too but I'm concerned about what it might do to the baby. I have a daughter that is about to be twelve and she is healthy. But my seizures came back when I was pregnant with her, maybe because I was under a lot of stress. I didn't start taking meds until she was born. But I did have a miscarriage early 2007 while taking Tegretol. I want to have another child but I am afraid of something going wrong. But I am glad to hear that there is hope and that you don't have to take the medication fully if you don't want to. Good Luck
Dont worry yourself all too much its not healthy for you. Life has a funny way of working out when you least expect it to. I ended up pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy I am now four and a half months and the doc's say that its healthy. Taking 700 mg of tegratol a day. the advice i got was to take folic and prenatal vitamins for three months before planning on getting pregnant and if you choose you could lower the amount of med's in you'r system. Depending on the doctor you have they might tell you that stopping the med's altogether is actually dangerous but all in all the choice is for u to make you know your body better than anyone and no doctor in this world knows whats completely best for you only you know that but views are different for everyone and i know you will choose whats best for you and you'r family good luck
I am so glad to hear that your pregnancy is going well. I am on 600mg and I am thinking of having a baby but I am so frightened. How have you been?
I am doing fine but for some reason my emotions are going wonky but my doc say's that its normal it reminds me of when i first started these meds but the doc firmly tells me that its nothing to worry about did you have anything like that happen to you? its my first pregnancy and im kinda well not freaked but its hard for me to enjoy something thats so new and no one else i know is going through quite what i am with the meds and all they say they went through what all the baby books are saying and im not quite doing that my doctors said there is support things that i can go to but its hard for me to express my feeelings except to my sister in law but she doesnt have epilepsy so its not quite the same did any of you have to go through a cesarian? I was told im going to have to
lori
I had three children on tegretol. My 8 year old weighed 7 lbs 13 oz., my six year old twins weighed 7lbs and 6 1/2 lbs. The twins were born at 37 weeks, the eight year old was born at 39 weeks. The twins had some language delays, but appear to have caught up. They still have some behavior issues; they are quite active (read: hyper). The eight year old is attention deficit, but perfectly bright. They are all boys, and all strapping and healthy, but a bit jacked up on adrenalline.
Best wishes
I meant to respond to your post much earlier, but ended up having rotator cuff surgery (ouch)and completely forgot about this post. Anyway, I was on tegretol when my youngest child was conceived. At one point during the pregnancy, there wasn't enough embryonic growth and there was uncertainty if the baby was going to make it. Thankfully, everything turned out fine. She was born a few weeks early weighing in at 5 lbs. She does have a mild learning problem, but is doing well with a little support from the school system.
Being that both you and your husband are both small, you can't assume that a small baby will produce a child with learning disability. Try not to be overly concerned about it. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and I hope you have an easy delivery. There's no need to worry at this point - relax.
I took Tegretol during both of my pregnancies. For some reason I went into labor with both at 32 weeks - carried 1st one to 1st day of 37th wk but had to deliver 2nd one at 35th wk. My 2nd one was bigger than the 1st, weighing 6lbs 11 oz. She would have been about 10 lbs at term, NICU said.
As for developmental delays, my son (the 1st one) has Asperger Syndrome, a form of high functioning autism, however, we don't think this has anything to do with me taking the medicine actually. We can trace autistic traits to my dh's brother, my father, and it goes right on up the list. We think he got the gene pool all rolled up into him. Even my dh has Sensory Integration Dysfunction - just about all autistic people have that, only my dh isn't autistic for some reason, he only has SID. Academically, he is way ahead of his age group, socially and motor-wise, he is behind.
All of the dr's who work with my son find this fascinating news when I tell them that I was on a neurobiological med, but I don't think it is all that odd. Especially when they take a look into his genetic history a bit. Was Tegretol a trigger to open him up to autism? Possibly. But I don't think it was his cause at all.
One thing I have learned is that we never care what God gives us "as long as it's healthy". Well what about the ones that aren't healthy? They need just as much love and caring as the ones that are. The ones that don't think and act like "normal" children need just as much love and affection need us just as much as if they were "normal."
**Sorry, I meant to respond to all, not just the last poster!**
I have had taken tegretol since my 1st grade yr but be careful i had such a nasty reaction i had fluid drained from my arms and legs. I just hope u guys the best and be safe. god bless you.
Ouch that had to hurt I was diagnosed when i was 15 i've been on this medication for aprx. three and a half years now and at first i thought my life was over then i started getting the right friends and teaching them what they needed to know about the type of epilepsy i had cause they blew everything out of perportions and everything was fine you know its nice to know that i can talk about my "for lack of a better word at this time" problem cause no one really understood me before i was the outcast and not evin my new friends really thought anything about it they thought i would die or something so they treated me like glass i always felt so alone before but now knowing i can talk about epilepsy to people who have it and understand it makes me feel like im not so alone thank you, you guys for being here