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TAKE CONTROL TODAYI have three boys, 4 1/2 twins, and a seven year old. I was on tegretol during both pregnancies, 400 mg/day with the 7 year old, and 400 mg/day with the twins until the last trimester where I was upped to 600 mg/day. My seven year old is having major attention deficit issues and my twins are very hyper and having language and fine motor delays. I'm wondering how other peoples' kids turned out who took this medicine while pregnant? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Lori

Recent Comments on this Discussion
My doctor moved me up to 1400mg a day in the middle of my pregancy & my son has shown no signs of any type of disability. I'm still on 1400mg a day & pregnat with my second baby.
Lori
I had four children with tegretal many years ago. I did not take folic acid. One has ADHD and a learning disability. ANd the other one also has a learning disability. The other two are fine.
I was on high dose of tegretal and phenobarbital which that is really bad.
take care
lisa
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/epilepsyapproach/
Lisa,
Which of your children had the learning problems? Were they boys or girls? And how high was your tegretal dosage? I'm so new to all this. What ends up happening in high school and beyond to kids that have adhd and learning disorders?
Lori
I had two children both while taking tegretol 600mg a day. I also was on the extra folic acid a year before I got pregnant and than also while I was pregnant. I breast fed them both for a year. One is 6 years old and one is 3 and I have seen no problems. I remeber my Neurologist wanted to change me to depokode before I decided to get pregnant. My OBGYN was totally against in that I was seizure free for 11 years on the tegretol and he argued that tegretol has the least side effects to the baby and pregnancy compared to others.
Take care, Sharon
Sharon,
Are your children boys or girls? It seems boys are more susseptible. I am so happy you did not switch to depakote. There have been greater problems with that drug.
Lori
I am on carbamezapine also and I have a 20 month old boy. He seems fine right now and no visible birth defects. I was wondering if you took folic acid before/while you were pregnant? Please let me know.
Heidi
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was on folic acid. My older son's school year is going much better. My four year old twins still have language delays and behavioral problems. It turns out I was on 800mg/day with my twins for the second and third trimester, and 600/day for the first trimester. Just so you know, some studies are showing that behavior and intelligence are affected in the last half of pregnancy. My older son was only exposed to 400mg/day during the last trimester. I had not remembered the info correctly in my earlier post.