I'm a newbie here and a new mom with seizures

[firefighterwife]

Hi there,

I am so happy that I came across this site. It is such a comfort to have so many of you out there who can relate to how awful it is to deal with seizures. I am 31, married and just had my first baby almost 6 months ago. I have a complicated history with my siezures. I had one at age 8, than not another untill I was 21. I was on dilantin for 5 years with no seizures. At age 26 I was switched to Lamictal because it was better for bone density. Within that year I had 3 seizures ( tonic-clonic). I cut out alcohol, and some stress and did great on the lamictal for the next 4 years. I did great throughout my pregnancy (no seizures). My dosage did increase as I progressed through the pregnancy. After 12 hrs of labor and an emergency c-section, my beautiful healthy son was born....fast forward two weeks..................I woke up one morning with my seizure auras ( I hadn't had any for 4 years). Fortunately my husband was home because at 5:00 that night I went into a seizure, and three others followed (tonic-clonics). I had NEVER had seizures back to back before. Come to find out I had toxic levels of lamictal in my body. I lost weight so fast there was no time to reduce the dosage. After that, two weeks later, I again had another tonic clonic. My neurologist started me on Keppra in additon to Lamictal. Ever since those 5 seizures, I have some type of aura every day, but haven't had a seizure in 4 months. I also have dealt with anxiety over this, especially with my new baby around. I have never been an anxious person before all this happened. I am currently weaning off Keppra (under direction of neurologist) in hopes I will feel better. The constant fog I'm in and fatigue and anxiety are so hard to deal with. But my son is such a blessing. I was hoping someone out there may have thoughts or experiences similar to mine they can share with me (postpartum seizures, med toxicity, constant auras, weaning off Keppra, or info on Keppra and Lamictal)? I am so sorry this post is so long! Oh, and I live in Oregon and see a great neurologist at OHSU

[RobinN]

WELCOME to CWE
I can't say I have been in the same situation as yourself other than the fact that I have three children. All grown up though. My youngest, my daughter, is the one that has seizures. She was on Lamictal as the third med we tried, but it was causing some unusual side effects Not tolerated, so we eliminated it.

So glad that you like your neurologist. That is one hurdle that is positive.

[Nakamova]

Hi and welcome!

Estrogen can flush Lamictal from the body, so it's likely that while you were pregnant, the Lamictal dose was increased to compensate for the escalating levels of estrogen. But as you noted, once you delivered, both your metabolism and your hormone levels changed rapidly enough that the higher Lamictal dose was toxic. Unfortunatly, too much Lamictal, too little Lamictal, and rapid cycling on or off of Lamictal can all be seizure triggers. It may take awhile for your system to stabilize, especially with the other stresses you may have relating to being the mother of an infant!

While Keppra works well for some, it does have a reputation for causing depression and "Kepprage". Don't know if this has been your experience, but some have found that a B6 supplement can help.

[skillefer]

Hi OHSU! Welcome to CWE. Like you, I'm a new mom. I have a beautiful 7 month old. Have you asked your neurologist/pcp to have your hormone levels checked? It might be that your hormone levels are goofed up and that's what started triggering your seizures.

[aaroberson7]

It is probably the Keppra; once you get it out of your system, you will most likely see a world of difference! Hang in there!