Hi, I'm new

[angeldust]

Hi am new to this whole forum thing.
I have been epileptic since I was 3.
It started to occur with absences and I had this up until I was 15 at which stage I grew out of it.
I then got pregnant when I was 17 and had a fine pregnancy but the day after I had my son I had a tonic clonic Seizure which I had never had before in my life.
Apparently the stress of having a baby and the hormones can trigger it to come back.
My son is now 9 and I am married and would like to have another child.
I have been on Epilem 1500 mg a day for the past 9 years and have noticed side effects from this however it has controlled my seizures well.
In order to get pregnant my neurologist wants me to try a new med so I am slowly building up my levels of Lamotrogine and weining off the epilem.
Has any one been pregnant whilst on Lamotrogine and were your babies healthy enough?
Also what were the main side effects from this med.
So far I have experienced back pain since I have been on it and dry mouth and vivid dreams. This is all I have noticed so far.
Does it make you gain weight like the Epilem at all?
If there is any info you have for me I would appreciate it.
I have read up on it and realise everyone is different but would be helpful to hear what other people have experienced.
x

[Rae1889]

Hello and welcome!
I am slowly starting off on lamotrigine (aka lamictal) and I have only noticed vivid dreams, and possibly *not sure yet* hair loss.
I am losing a little weight, but i dont think that is the med. Other than that just a bit of extra tiredness in my eyes.

Not to bad so far.
Also I am not pregnant

[Nakamova]

Hi angeldust, and welcome!

I can't speak to the pregnancy issues, but I am on Lamotrigine. Some people lose weight on it, some gain weight (unfortunately I'm in the latter group). I had the vivid dreams, but they went away after a few months, as did hair loss that I experienced at first. I still have dry mouth, and dry eyes too, plus blurry vision. I've been on the Lamotrigine for about a year.

My neurologist says Lamotrigine is one of the safer anti-epileptic drugs for pregnancy.

[skillefer]

Make sure that you are taking folic acid. It helps to protect infants while in utero from possible birth defects.

[Meetz1064]

angeldust. Welcome to CWE!!

Lamictal IS one of the safer anti-epileptic drug's to use while wanting to get pregnant, or being pregnant.

I'm on it for the second time now, and have been for over six months now. I was on it for well over three years previously, but it interacted with another med I was on (Depakote) and I turned into a tree (350 lbs) with sausages for fingers and toes.

As far as weight gain/loss, I haven't noticed anything, but I am not one to really ask, as I am a celiac patient on top of everything else.

I'm sure you're going to like it here, though. There's plenty of friends to make, information to find (the Library and the Kitchen are great for that especially, and the Padded Room is great for venting when you really need to).

Take care!

Meetz

[BuckeyeFan]

While obviously not expecting, I am on Lamotrigine and doing well with few side effects. I was having a lot of vivid dreams as mentioned by Nakamova, but those seem to be declining. I guess I have been on it for about 10 months.

Good Luck and welcome to CWE.




Hey Rae - Congrats to you!!!

[angeldust]

Well that sounds a little more positive I guess.
Thank you all for your replys
I'll keep you posted on how I go.

[Ruth]

My son is now 9 and I am married and would like to have another child.
In order to get pregnant my neurologist wants me to try a new med so I am slowly building up my levels of Lamotrogine and weining off the epilem.
Has any one been pregnant whilst on Lamotrogine and were your babies healthy enough?
x

Hi angeldust, welcome to CWE. It was made out of love by Bernard for his wife Stacy. That love has permeated throughout all of the forum.

You have been given good advice by 2 people: folic acid is important to take and Lamotrogine is the mildest of all medicines for pregnancy. You should ask your doctor for how long after you are off the epilem to wait before having a baby. Apparently, he does not feel that epilem is safe for pregnancy. I would also ask the doctor what other supplements will help you.

I am 66 years old. they did not have Lamotrogine back when I had children. I had 4 children while on medicines. I was 21 when I had my twins.

I ate well and relaxed so I would not have seizures during my pregnancy. I was more concerned about the seizures. I felt that they might hurt my unborn children. I hope I have been of help. Ruth