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Lamictal side effects.
Mon, 02/27/2006 - 20:49Topic: Medication Issues
Hi,
I am really in trouble regarding the medicine. I took Depakote ER for my generalized seizures and been controled by it for about 5 years. In March 2004 I had a child who was born with Fetal Valproate Syndrome-syndrome caused by Depakote. I can't describe to you how painful it is to realize how much damage I did to my own son! It took me about 6 months to find out what was wrong with him because all doctors who saw him couldn't help me. Right now, thank God, he is a very active, happy boy, running and destroying everything around:)). But he underwent two surgeries and maybe one more is coming.
Now, we decided to try to have another child and I started to change medication on something safer. There is no safe medication but new generation AEDs sound more promising. At first, doctor put me on Keppra 500mg twice a day. On the fourth day after completely stop taking Depakote and being only on Keppra I had a seizure, first in 5 years. I scared my older son who is 11 years old now a lot. He helped me during my seizure because my husband was at work at that time. My youngest was OK, he didn't understand anything. Doctor increased my dosage to 2000mg a day. But my mood is very affected by it. I am very snappy, angry and tired all the time. Plus there is not enough data regarding pregnancy and Keppra. After talking to my doctor again we decided to switch to Lamictal. There is some data regarding pregnancy on this medication. It's my second week on Keppra 2000mg and Lamictal 50 gr. It's going to take overall 8 weeks to do a complete swith. The dosage of Lamictal at the end will be 400 mg. But since yesterday, I started to have funny taste when I eat-everything tastes bitter. Plus I don't want to eat at all, except bread. I started to wonder, can it be an effect of Lamictal and will it go away? I am lost completely. Did anyone experience anything like that and what did you do? Sorry for such a long blog! Thank you very much for any response!
Natalya.
Comments
Re: Lamictal side effects.
Submitted by Jar on Fri, 2006-03-03 - 13:32
Hi Natalya,
I was on Tegretol when I became pregnant with our third child. My doc slowy switched me to Lamictal and all went well. That was in 2000. I didn't go back to Tegretol because the Lamictal makes me feel "normal". Tegretol made me feel drunk. Since then, I've had another little girl 2003. All is well. I had to increase dosages during each trimester because I was having a big seizure at every transition. Presently, I take 800mg (400 and 400) daily. Basically, my vote is for Lamictal. No, I'm not totally seizure free, it may come before, during or after the monthly thingy (hmmnnn..), and not always, but other than that, I'm happy. Take care, Jar
Re: Re: Lamictal side effects.
Submitted by natalya on Sun, 2006-03-05 - 13:33
Jar,
Thanks a lot for your reply! I've heard lots of good things regarding Lamictal and pregnancy! After my experience on Depakote I became so scared and it's very hard for me to believe that I can have a healthy baby on antiseizure medication. It really helps to hear positive responses from women who already have healthy children in Lamictal!
Last monday my husband and I went to high risk OB and I did blood work test to investigate if I have a mutation in MTHFR gene, which may predispose some individuals to occurence of fetal anticonvulsant syndrome. Hopefully, I don't have this mutation but if I do, we decided to be medication free during pregnancy. If I don't have it then I will stay on Lamictal and pray for a healthy baby!
Thanks again!
Natalya.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Lamictal side effects.
Submitted by natalya on Fri, 2006-05-05 - 00:16
We are planning to move soon with my husband's job and we need to postpone the pregnancy for one year. I decided for right now to get back to Depakote since Keppra and Lamictal is not for me! My children and husband was so tired and worry for me since I was snappy and angry on Keppra all the time and honestly, I got very tired switching from med to med and feel like a zombi! For the next pregnancy I made a decision to be med-free. My youngest will be in the daycare and my husband will drive him there. My oldest is 11 already. He knows what to do if I will have a seizure. Hopefully, I will be OK. I know I will have a seizure at first(withdrawals), maybe two but then it should be OK. My first pregnancy I had without any medication. Natalya.