Newbie!

[mevans]

HI everyone. This is my first time on this site and I was hoping for a little support from people in the same boat as me. I was diagnosed with partial complex seizures about 2.5 years ago after having a car accident (not my fault). It was really hard because nobody could tell me what was going on. Finally I got sent to a great doctor and after doing a bunch of tests finally we figured it out. I now have a one year old son who is happy and healthy for the most part. But what I was wondering was is there any link between Lamotrigine (seizure meds in general) and ear problems. I was on Lamotrigine while I was pregnant and now my son has major ear problems. I was just wondering if anyone else has had these problems or if they have any info.
Thanks and I can't wait to get to know everyone!

[Bernard]

Hi mevans, welcome to the forum.

Please consider adding your experience to the AED Pregnancy Registry.

I haven't heard specifically about any problems with Lamictal/Lamotrigine and birth defects related to the ear. The FDA did release an advisory about an increased risk for cleft lip/palate.

[RobinN]

I find this site very helpful.
http://www.danasview.net/virfile.htm
It is geared toward autism, but don't be put off by that. It has some great info for chronic disease, as does this site:
www.stankurtz.com

Casein is the one food allergen that is recommended to be taken out of the diet first for ENT diseases. You might look in to that.

Compromised immune systems are another interesting idea and that can be read about very clearly here:
www.dogtorj.com

Curious, have you had any kind of immune reaction to Lamictal?

[mevans]

I haven't had any problems with this medication. I did have problems with Tegrotol. My doctor switched me to Lamotrigine about 5 months before we got pregnant. Like I had said my son is prefectly healthy other then his ears. I just don't know where it's due to my meds or just nature?

[brain]

Mevans!


Welcome to CWE! And glad to have you here,
and as Bernard posted, you should register in
the National Pregnancy Registry. In addition,
I had done some extensive research on Lamcital
(Lamotigrine) and not much information is
available in regarding to births - but however
they use this medication on children.

Why things happen? It just does - sometimes there
are no explanation for anything, no rhyme or
reason.

I know some individuals personally who have such
odd defects which their background of their own
parents and their lineage have nothing to show
for - it just happens.

Medication(s) isn't always to be blamed, nor is
Chromosome, DNA, Genome, Genetic, etc are to
be blamed either - sometimes there are no answers
and it remains a mystery; until Research continues
to progress and advance and comes up with more
definite clues.

The only option to find out is the extensive lab
work-up (which is very costly and not all Insurances
covers it) - which will cover all the bases, that
the Doctor would order up and it takes a long time
to get all the results back - everything from
Genetics to DNA to you name it - will be defined.

However, there are pros and cons to this and
you would need to go over with this with your
Doctor - with today's technology and advanced
medical science; the earlier everything is being
caught (even rare cases in some exceptions)
the better the chances are for the child and the
child's future!