Lamictal and pregnancy

Lamictal pregnancy - a success story

Submitted by lily on Thu, 2005-09-29 - 10:21

Hello all This is my first time on this or any other discussion forum. I have a story to tell and I apologise in advance for the length of it but I hope that you enjoy it and find it helpful. I was diagnosed at the age of 17 with JME. I was put on Epilim and I never had another seizure. I was always careful to get plenty of sleep but otherwise I led a totally unrestricted lifestyle. When I was 25 I had a breakthrough seizure when I tried to come off Epilim but I went back on it and again once I was on it I was perfect. I am a qualified accountant, have had very high powered jobs, travelled the world and never felt vulnerable or restricted because of my epilepsy......until I wanted to have a baby. 3 years ago I got married. I had procrastinated on the pregnancy issue for a year prior to that and decided that it wasn't a good idea, I was too selfish, didn't want the inconvenience etc. But deep down I longed for a baby and was in denial simply because I knew that I was heading for dangerous waters. I researched long and hard and sought any information that would help me to make my decision. I read so many discussion boards but could never bring myself to join in. I found out many things during my research but the one overriding glaring issue was that Epilim was not the best option for pregnancy, however there were lots of women who had perfectly healthy children while taking Epilim. I knew that the first thing that I had to do if I was to get pregnant was to come off Epilim and take something else. I was utterly terrified - probably as terrified as I was when I had my first seizure when I was a teenager. With my neurologist I was weaned off Epilim on to Lamictal - slowly at first introducing 25mg of Lamictal a day then progressing to 50mg etc. etc. It took 3 months in total and no seizures. I also started taking 5mg of Folic Acid daily. I can't remember exactly what my dosage was but I think it was 100mg at night and 75mg in the morning. I got pregnant straight away so there were no fertility issues. My Obstetrician was very supportive and really didn't make anything of it. He had many patients who were on different AEDs and there were rarely any issues. I have to say though that I became a "scan-o-holic". But again, my obstetrician was very patient. My pregnancy progressed normally and I had absolutely no problems what so ever. I had chronic sickness for the first trimester but I thrived and glowed right up to delivery. I went into labour naturally about 2 weeks before due date. It was a long labour but that is not unusual on a first pregnancy. I gave in to an epidural when I was 6 cm's because of total exhaustion (I had been in labour for 14 hours at that stage). My baby was deivered vaginally but assisted with a vacum as he was presenting face up rather than down. This is the wonderful bit - my son weighed in at 6lbs 6 oz and utterly perfect. He had a high apgar score (this is a statistic for assessing the infants health) and both my obstetrician and the delivering midwives all commented on his alertness. The Paediatirican and lactation specialists all recommended breast feeding and I was also keen, my only concern being sleep deprivation and potential seizures. I had volumes of colostrum so no problems with milk supply. My son was born hungry and it wasn't coming fast enough for him. He got formula as well as colostrum and the paediatrician was amazed at the volume of milk that he could drink in one go. He didn't latch well and I pumped breast milk exclusively for 4 weeks and gave it to him via a bottle. To put it mildly, he thrived gaining a pound every 10 days. He did not have colic, fed every three hours during the day and every 4 to 5 hours at night. So again, no problems on the breast milk. He is now 2 years of age and a joy. Perfectly healthy and his devlopment is progressing very well. His speech and dexterity skills are that of a 3 year old but he only walked when he was 18 months. This is completely normal as children develop skills at their own pace. My own experience has been generally positive. It's not all a bed of roses. While I have not had any tonic clonic siezures, I have had auras when I have been particularly sleep deprived. I found pumping breast milk completely unnatural and upsetting and very time consuming - an hour pumping, an hour feeding, an hour to myself and then pumping again. I am on 300mg of Lamictal now and it works very well but I do have to be careful with extreme sleep deprivation. I have a wonderful husband who will take the reins when necessary. Last week we started trying for our second child and I am as apprehensive as any mother to be would be. But I do not carry the terror of brith defects with me as on my previous pregnancy. I am looking forward with anticipation and I am determined to breastfeed if the baby goes for it. Just on another note - I have never had my blood levels checked and nor did my son. I can only presume that it is not necessary unless there is something amiss. Hope you enjoyed my tale and that you all can take something postiive away with you from it. Lily lily