I am taking Dilantin and Tegretol. I had a baby a year ago which I found out when I was three months pregnat. I went crazy because I was just imagining how my baby was going to look because of the medication . I even thought in having in abortion which is against my religion but I would just imagine how life would of been if he came out BAD and then me sick also, but I pray to god everyday and went to my doctor and told him I wanted this baby no matter what because he didn't asked to come in to this world. Anyway I had him normal and healthy the only thing was that I couldn't breast feed because of the medication. So just pray and stay healthy and you would have a healthy baby. Good luck!

You raised lots of concerns for women with seizures! Some seizure meds, including Dilantin, can interfere with the effecftiveness of hormonal birth control. If changes in menstrual cycles or flow occurs, definitely talking to both neuro and gyn doctors is really important. Using other forms of contraception during this time is smart too... For more info, take a look at the Women's Issues info here at www.epilepsy.com/info/women and under Dilantin in the Medications section. There's also an interesting article on contraceptives at seizure meds at www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1094843934.html. While concerns re birth defects or problems during pregnancy are real, over 90% of women who take seizure meds during pregnancy have healthy children. We don't have all the answers, but there is lots more info available now then there used to be! Take a look at www.epilepsy.com/info/women_pregnancy and visit the Epilepsy Foundation at www.epilepsyfoundation.org to look at their women's fact sheets. Hope some of this helps!

epi_help@epilepsyproject.com

Ok, I HAD to respond to this one. :) Stephanie, I have 3 beautiful, smart and very healthy children (who are now 7, 9 and 11 yrs of age). I took dilantin and phenobarbital while pregnant with all three of them. All three pregnancies were unplanned. The one thing that dilantin does is deprive your system of folic acid. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with each of my kids, I told my doctor and he immediately put me on folic acid. My point in telling you all of this, is that when I found out about each pregnancy, I had already been pregnant for at least 2-3 or more weeks. If you and your husband are concerned about becoming pregnant, here is what I would suggest. Have your doctor put you on folic acid. Hope this helps.Ladybug