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pregnancy and keppra
Tue, 12/27/2005 - 13:01Topic: Women With Epilepsy
Hello everyone
I am 28 years old, female, with JME. My doctor has switched me from Depakote to Lamictal and now Keppra. I take Keppra 1000mg a day. Is there anyone, who is on Keppra, who is pregnant or who has had a baby. There is a ton of information of Lamictal and pregnancy but not much of Keppra and pregnancy. My husband and I want to start planning for a family, but we are VERY nervous. My ob/gyn put me on a prenatal vitamin and extra folic acid. I would appreciate any information from anyone.
-aspepath
Comments
Re: pregnancy and keppra
Submitted by natalya on Thu, 2006-02-09 - 20:50
Hi! I was on Depakote ER for about 8 years. In 2004 I had my son who has Fetal Valproate Syndrome-condition caused by my medication. My neurologist at the time told me: "Natalya, don't worry, the only birth defects it can cause is spina bifida and cleft palate and on ultrasound II your doctors will be able to detect if there is any problems". My son doesn't have spina bifida and cleft palate but he got lot's of other problems. He already underwent 2 surgeries, developmental delays, speech delay and others. It's all caused by this medication and it's all part of this syndrome! My husband and I decided to have the third child and last month I switched depakote to keppra 500 mg twice a day. Now, after my extensive research I know that Depakote is the worst medication the pregnant woman could be on but at the same time there is no information on Keppra yet. I have called to Keppra pregnancy registry and woman told me that they don't have even preliminary data yet! I decided to be off any medication during this pregnancy. During my first pregnancy I wasn't on any medication and my son is absolutely healthy. I am very nervous so.
Natalya.
Re: Re: pregnancy and keppra
Submitted by aspepath on Sun, 2006-02-12 - 10:41
Hi natalya
Thank you for all the information. What type of seizures do you have? That is great that you are able to be off your medication and not be at high risk for seizures. I have to be on my medication or else I will have seizures. Because Keppra is so new, it is really difficult to get information.
I am a speech/language pathologist, if you need any information about speech delays or speech development feel free to contact me. You can e-mail at [email protected]
Good luck!
Aspepath
Re: Re: pregnancy and keppra
Submitted by kim mulligan on Mon, 2007-02-12 - 13:16
Hello... i am on Keppra as well and pondering the pregnancy thing eventually. All my doc's have been able to tell me is that they weigh the cons. and the pros. And that it possibly secretes through the breast milk. But that as long as i take folic acid i should be able to have a normal pregnancy. All i know is that there is no way i could go 9 months without it. I wish you the best of luck! Kim