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robin
Depakote to Lamictal for Pregnancy
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My daughter is now 26 and will be thinking of getting pregnant next year. She has been on Depakote for 9 years now and has been seizure free every since. Her OB-GYN was upset about her Neur. having her on the depakote. When she went to him for her yearly check-up they talked and he said he could change her to the Lamictal and that her OB-GYN would probably like that better. We all know of the effects on a baby if she got pregnant on the depakote and he was planning on keeping a close watch and tests during her first 3 months of pregnancy. He also cautioned her on "planning" so no surprise pregnancy came up. She has done wonderfully on her depakote and I guess what we are scared of by switching is "if something works why change it"? Her seizures are hormonal related and started at 15. She had 1 or two prior to the start of her periood. None any other time of the month. What I would like to know has anyone switched from Depakote to Lamictal and how did your body handle it?
Recent Comments on this Discussion
I'm 37 years old and 6+ months pregnant with my second boy. During my first pregancy and this one I've been on 300mg Lamictol/day, and supplementing with 3mg folic acid plus whatever is in the multi-vitamin. My first boy is now 16 months old, and very healthy and bright. His only health complication thus far has been high ammonia blood levels in his first week, which landed us in NICU for three weeks. They ruled out every cause but metabolic disorder (specifically OTC), but then (thank God) the tests came back negative for that as well, and they labeled the condition "transient neonatal hyper-ammonia," meaning it came and went without known cause. The Lamictal was never implicated, and there has been no sign of trouble since.
Also, I too was switched by my neurologist from Depakote to Lamictol for seizure control when I expressed my desire to conceive. The effect on my mental clarity and energy levels made me wish I'd made the switch a decade earlier--absolutely incredible, life-altering even. Anyone else experience this? Thanks for sharing!
Hi,
I'm 36 years old and have been on Depakote since I was diagnosed with Juvenile Myclonic Epilepsy at 15. I've probably had about 4 seizures during that timeframe- mostly related to late night drinking and lack of sleep during college. My EEGs for the past 5 years have come back negative. I had been going to the same Neuro for the past 20 years as well. I've moved to another state and switched Neuros. I recently took a sleep deprived EEG and was told there was one sharp wave over my temperal lobe and my new Neuro felt I had not outgrown the seizures. I had been 'playing' with my dosage for about 3 years and had only taken 500m of Depakote every other day. I would like to start a family and my neuro wanted me to switch from Depakote ot Lamictal. I'm currently in my second week of the transition. While I feel fine, I'm very anxious at being on a new medication and fearful that I may have a seizure. I've read some of the posts and it appears that all have had good results- but, it is the few emails i see that cause me to remain anxious. At the request of my OB, I started taking prenatal vitamins to increase my folic acid levels. I'm just wondering how people progressed on Lamictal; how many have had children and then switched back to Depakote. I'm thankful for this forum as it's been helpful to know of others going through the same and wonderful to learn of healthy pregnancies.
Hi,
I too found your situation very similar to my own. I was disgnosed after having my first grand mal in college (about the time of my first set of college finals). MRI and EEG both confirmed epilepsy. Unfotunately, I have been unable to "pass" a medical exam, so I have tried my array of meds, depakote being the first. I did not like the side effects and was eventually changed to lamictal. Eventually Topamax was added. Because of my unpredicatable sezure history (I had only had 3 grand mals at the time but the latest one had been while completely medicated and also suffered from myoclonics) my doc would not lower my dosages. While pregnant I took pre-natals, folic acid, 600 mg Lamictal a day, and 400 mg Topamax a day. I have a very healthy and smart baby boy who is now 17 months old. The doc enduced me early so the baby wouldn't be too big to reduce stress during delivery. The last month of my pregnancy I had stress tests twice a week to moniter the baby. I registered with UMass's epilepsy pregnancy registry (please rigister!!!!!) and still receive newsletters from them updating me on their research. It appears as though the drug NOT to be on is Topamax. Currently, due to seizures, I am not on Keppra and topamax. Keppra has been awesome. I responded so well, my doc said he would consider taking my off the Topamax for my next pregnancy. We are planning to start working on that next month. Take your vitamins and your meds. Having a seizure while pregnant can be far more dangerous than and minute chance of a birth defect. A seizure can cause a miscarriage, while a birth defect could be as minor or a single web toe (yet is still included in that birth defect percentage, remember that!) Good Luck!
JME - Diagnosed in 2000
Hello,
I felt compelled to reply to your post because your situation sounds VERY similiar to my own. I was diagnosed with JME at 13, and have had 3 seizures -- all resulting from a lack of sleep. I was on Depakote for over 20 years (I'm 34 now). I was taking 250 in the am and 500 in the pm. When I decided to get pregnant, my doctor switched me to Lamictal -- this made me very nervous. I was weaned off Depakote, and eventually started at 100mg of Lamictal. I had no problems whatsoever. Two months later when I found out I was pregnant, I lowered my dosage to 50mg. Fortunately, I had absolutely no problems during my pregnancy, and in October I had a beautiful, healthy baby boy.
After he was born, I decided to try and lower my meds again. I wondered if I'd been taking drugs for no reason. I too had numerous normal EEGs and MRIs (I haven't had an irregular test since I was a teenager). I lowered my dosage to 25mg, and started feeling "a little off kilter." I didn't have any major seizures, but was a little jerky. I'm thinking that maybe it had to do with the crazy change in hormones (I'm seeing my doctor next week). Currently I'm up to 75mg. I plan to stay on Lamictal -- it seems to be working and I want to have another baby down the road. Also, during my pregnancy my doctor had me on a prenatal vitamin, plus an extra 4mg of folic acid. If you read through some of the posts on this site, you'll see that many doctors recommend this dosage, and more. You may want to ask your doctor about up-ing your folic acid??
It's a bummer that I need the drugs, but I also realize how lucky I am to have a very controllable and mild condition. It sounds like you're in the same boat. I know everyone's situation is different, but I hope my positive experience can offer you some comfort. I say, trust your instincts...if you have any slight changes in how you feel, talk to your doctor. Fortunately, if you do need more drugs, it will probably be a very low dose.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Good luck....you'll do great!
I made this switch and it worked beautifully. No problems whatsoever. I was also seizure-free on Depakote, so I was a little worried, but so far, so good. The doctor assured me that Lamictal (or Keppra) would be a better choice for having a baby, so for that reason, I chose to risk "something that worked"...
Hi I am 24 years old and now have a 15 month old. My neuro also switched me from depakote to lamictal. I was diagnosed when I was 11 yrs. Mine also has to due with hormones. I never had any problems when I was on Depakote. Once they switched me over I began to get small jerks now and than nothing serious. I had to make sure I had plenty of rest and took my medicane on regular basis. Once I had my son the jerks began again. I was not getting the sleep I needed which is usally normal when you have a newborn. There were times I could not carry my son at risks of dropping him, there were several situations to where I have no idea how I caught him from hitting the floor but I did. I have been on lamictal now for over 2 years. I only had the small jerks until 2 days ago. I had a grand mal seizure, the worst one ever. I stopped breathing at one point. Luckily I was not alone. This has been a real eye opener and I'm scared to death. My nero has doubled my dosage for awhile. I am worried what the effects of doing this will be. I seemed to be fine on depakote but I know it can cause long term affects on your body. I did retain water when I was on depakote too. Worried and confused.
Tamara
I am 28 and am considering having children in the next 4 years. I did very well on depakote for 7 years. I had no episodes. I also had no side effects from the Medication. I began taking lamictal about three years ago because my boyfriend and I had started talking about marriage and children. Since that time I have had three seizures in three years. My doctor is adding Keppra to my lamictal but has mentioned weaning me off Lamictal and just leaving me on the keppra. I thought it was just an additive but I think the concern is that the more medications i am on the worse it will be for my baby. Has anyone had any expirience being on two meds at the time of pregnancy?
Hello Robin, Your daughter’s case is very similar to mine; I was diagnosed at 13 with Myoclonic Seizures, also hormone related. I had been taking Depakote since I was diagnosed and seizure free for 6 years. I am now 21 years old and currently attending New Mexico State University. Last winter I got engaged and children are always a discussion for my fiance and I. When I discussed the issue with my Neur. he switched my medication from Depakote to the Lamictal. The switch was very difficult for me. I had a seizure at least once a week the entire summer and many partial seizures. By the end of July I was solely taking the Lamictal and felt great; better than I had ever felt on the Depakote. I was seizure free and feeling great until November, at that time my general doctor changed my birth control from the Depo shot to Ortho Tri-cyclen low. From the week that I began the pill, late November, I had a grand mal seizure once a week, and again many partial seizures. To date I have had 9 grand mal seizures. When I called my Neur. he was stumped as to why I was suddenly having so many, when I discovered that a hormone decrease with Lamictal decreases the effectiveness of Lamictal by nearly 40%. This week I will be getting back on the Depo shot. I am very excited because I won’t have a period and was seizure free when on the Depo shot with the Lamictal. I hope the change for your daughter will be ok, as I said my switch was very difficult but I feel it was worth it.Please keep posting through her pregnancy, I am very interested and excited to her how she does. Sincerely, Dusti Lynne
Hi everyone, I am a twin and was diagnosed with a seizure disorder at 12 yrs old along with my twin 6 months later. We are now 32 yrs old and for the last 13 years have been on Depakote. We both had babies on Depakote and also at doses on the higher end to control our seizures. We both were closely monitored with Cardiologist, Neuro, and high risks OB's. Both of us took 5 mg a day of folic along with multivitamin. Our children are 1 year and mine is 20 months and healthy. My son was born with hypospadius which was repaired and may be related to Depakote but is still unknown. He's is doing wonderful as well as my nephew. Now our neuro would like for us to switch to Lamictal since he never advised us to have babies on Depakote in the first place. We received 3 high risk opinions from OB with patients on Depakote and they all three said to try and be closely monitored. Our neuro wants us on Lamictal and with little research known with pregnancies and already having a baby on Depakote a little skeptical to switch and take this new risk all over again. I have been on 3 med since diagnosed and Depakote has kept me seizure free since 1997. Anyone have any research other than Steven Johnson's Syndrome with Lamictal or healthy babies on Depakote?
Hello,
I am responding to your letter about your daughter switching to Lamictal from depakote. I had the same exact thing happen to me, only I switched from depakote to Topamax prior to becoming pregnant. My pregnancy was healthy and i didn't have any problems until the delivery and i had a seizure right before i went into labor. My seizures are hormonal too. I have them around the time of my periods. So after the baby was born I began to experince seizures as well due to the changes in my hormonal levels. I had to get off of the Topamax because it caused high anxiety and they have since switched me to Lamictal. I don't know anything really about Lamictal except that it might cause a rash.Has your daughter had any problems on the Lamictal? Tell your daughter that my baby is perfectly healthy. Please let me know if I can be of any help I would love to talk to your daughter. I am 25 years old and have a beautiful baby girl that i would not trade for anything.
thanks
Melissa
Hello,
I am responding to your letter about your daughter switching to Lamictal from depakote. I had the same exact thing happen to me, only I switched from depakote to Topamax prior to becoming pregnant. My pregnancy was healthy and i didn't have any problems until the delivery and i had a seizure right before i went into labor. My seizures are hormonal too. I have them around the time of my periods. So after the baby was born I began to experince seizures as well due to the changes in my hormonal levels. I had to get off of the Topamax because it caused high anxiety and they have since switched me to Lamictal. I don't know anything really about Lamictal except that it might cause a rash.Has your daughter had any problems on the Lamictal? Tell your daughter that my baby is perfectly healthy. Please let me know if I can be of any help I would love to talk to your daughter. I am 25 years old and have a beautiful baby girl that i would not trade for anything.
thanks
Melissa
I don't know about switching, but I can tell you why women are going on Lamictal: the birth defect rates are the same as the general population. So the standar of care is for Lamictal these days. Either way make sure she gets the perscription for 4mg of foliate. Not the 4mmg that is in a daily vitamin.
We just had a big thread about Lamictal and breastfeeding (it is a 50-50% question with full term babies), and all of us have perfect kids. Mine is 2y4m and quite the personality.
The monitoring is more than the first 3m. That is only to week 12, which is nothing. It's only at week 18-20 if you know if you have a child that probably isn't going to have a life of pain. They told me that more than the amnio when they did the detailed ultrasound, but the detail of the lower spine that told them if my daughter was looking good. They also did a detailed scan of her heart and valves with a pediatric cardiologist around week 21. I was seeing an expert at Stanford who wanted to know exactly what was going on. It was a long time to have my heart in my throat.