Community Forum Archive

The Epilepsy Community Forums are closed, and the information is archived. The content in this section may not be current or apply to all situations. In addition, forum questions and responses include information and content that has been generated by epilepsy community members. This content is not moderated. The information on these pages should not be substituted for medical advice from a healthcare provider. Experiences with epilepsy can vary greatly on an individual basis. Please contact your doctor or medical team if you have any questions about your situation. For more information, learn about epilepsy or visit our resources section.

Caring for a newborn when you have epilepsy

Tue, 10/24/2006 - 10:22
Good morning, all. My name is Laura. I'm 40 y.o., and I have had epilepsy since I was about 4. I am currently on 2 medications (Keppra and Lamictal), but my seizures are still not completely under control; in the 36 yars I've had epilepsy, they never have been, actually. Usually I have either simple seizures or auras, where I just feel a weird fluttering sensation in my tummy, but no blanking out, or the complex partial seizures, where I blank out for a bit of time (the length of which varies), and then end up in a fugue state, confused, scared, and disoriented, again for varying lengths of time (I'm having about 8 of these complex ones a month right now). Occasionally I have the larger tonic-clonic/grand mal seizures with convulsions, etc that knock you into the E.R., but I consider these to be more of an anomaly (I've had about 5 or 6 of these in the past 2 years or so). The big excitement in my life right now is that I'm 6 months pregnant, with a baby boy due in late January. This was a planned pregnancy that has so far been blissfully easy. I hesitate to boast to loudly as I just crossed over into my 3rd trimester, but so far, no nausea, minimum aches and pains, I got pregnant the second I tried, and though it's getting harder to move very fast, I still feel like I'm physically in great shape. My husband and I are thrilled. Perhaps best of all is that the number and severity of my seizures has only decreased since I got pregnant. I still have them, but as complex seizures go, they've been milder by my standards, and I'm probably having about half the number I had before I got pregnant. I am really interested in hooking up with other parents with epilepsy, to get some tips on steps they are taking to safely care for their newborns/children in the face of dealing with the knowledge that they might have a seizure. And also tips on measures they take to ensure their children's safety during the actual moments when a seizure occurs. I live near Boston, and it's much harder than I thought it would be to find a support group along these lines. I've had no luck so far, so I thought an ongoing electronic discussion group of sorts would be the next best thing. If there are others of you out there that would be interested in having some kind of dialogue around this - ideally somewhat ongoing, if possible - then please write back. Thanks in advance. Kind regards, Laura

Comments

Re: Re: Caring for a newborn when you have epilepsy

Submitted by Curlcascade on Tue, 2006-10-31 - 16:51
Thanks very much for your response - it was very helpful. Kindly, Laura

Sign Up for Emails

Stay up to date with the latest epilepsy news, stories from the community, and more.