Pregnancy and epilepsy

[Yve]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are thinking of having kids soon, and although we have discussed this with my neurologist and GP I still have so many unanswered questions. For example, a number of the anti-epileptic drug's don't have any strong data to say that they are safe to be taken during pregnancy. Therefore, is it safer for me to not take anything and not poison my child, but without the drugs I run the risk of possibly hurting my child through a fall?

What have your experiences been with pregnancy and epilepsy? What drugs, if any, did you/your spouse/mother take whilst being pregnant? How did the pregnancy affect your epilepsy?

cheers,
Yvette

[Bernard]

Oh boy, you've opened Pandora's Box with this one.

As far as I know, every anti-epileptic drug out there carries increased risk of birth defects for the fetus. It's a highly personal decision to conceive while taking anti-epileptic drugs. There are many, many women who give birth to healthy babies while taking anti-epileptic drugs, and there are (IMO) plenty who have babies that are challenged either mentally (autism, etc.) or physically (cleft palate/lip, etc.).

On a personal note, we conceived one child while Stacy was seizure free and med free and another while Stacy was neither (ie. taking Depakote/Epilim and still having tonic clonic seizures about once a week or so).

I'm happy to report that both of our children appear normal so far. #2 is very far sighted and will require glasses for the rest of his life. He also has eczema that we are hopeful he will outgrow. But they both appear to be bright and normal mentally.

While Stacy was carrying #2, she was taking meds and having tonic clonic seizures. I was more worried about the baby suffering brain damage from lack of oxygen during the seizures than from her falling as she was almost always laying down when they happened (but not always). It was an extremely scary and stressful time and I don't recommend pregnancy with uncontrolled seizures for anyone, but by the same token, I don't think the drugs she was taking were helping at all and might have contributed to the far sightedness.

One thing you might consider also is that your delivery doc might have issues with assisting if your seizures are not controlled.

[Bernard]

How did the pregnancy affect your epilepsy?

I forgot to address this point. Stacy's seizure activity got dramatically worse after every pregnancy/delivery.

[CQ:)]

I'm happy to report that both of our children appear normal so far. #2 is very far sighted and will require glasses for the rest of his life. He also has eczema that we are hopeful he will outgrow. But they both appear to be bright and normal mentally.

.

Hi Bernard

With your 2nd childs eczema, does his skin react to different soaps or washing powders?

When I was a child and a teen I used to get bad eczema, usualy on my arms and in my fingers. I used to scratch my arms which obviously didn't help and when the eczma was realy bad it used to bleed. I did have creams that used to help a bit.

My eczma is cleared up now but I find I have to use certain brands of soaps, dishwashing liquids and wahsing powders.

[Bernard]

No. His eczema seems mostly related to acidic foods. As long as he avoids citric acid, he doesn't have any flare ups. When he does have flare ups, a prescription cream (with steroids - ) is the only thing we have found that helps. We are using soaps/shampoos designed for kids with eczema, but I'm not sure that they are making any difference for him.

[RobinN]

Bernard

By the age of 2 years, 35% of the children had developed allergic eczema, a condition in which the skin becomes irritated, red and itchy.

But children who had received probiotics were half as likely to develop the skin condition.

This cut in eczema risk is the most spectacular, single result to come out of studies on preventing allergic disease.

Exactly why friendly gut bacteria might protect against allergies is unclear, but the effect may be an "extension of the hygiene hypothesis."

This hypothesis holds that the worldwide growth in allergic disease is in part due to our increasingly sterile surroundings. When babies are exposed to germs early on, some experts suggest, their immune systems are steered toward infection-fighting mode -- and away from the tendency to overreact to normally benign substances. Support for this idea comes from studies showing that infants who have more colds and other infections have lower asthma rates later in life.

http://www.mercola.com/2001/apr/14/probiotics.htm

I have read that mother's to be that take antibiotics can create an environment ready and ripe for bad bacteria.
Rebecca had this as a child too. Luckily only in the elbow creases and not all of the time. So recently with everything else that has been going on, It has caught my eye that here again we have a brain gut connection. I remember her taking quite a few antibiotics for ear infections.

Since Stacy was taking a med, or if there was any antibiotic use early on, perhaps it created an unhealthy environment in your son's intestines.

[RobinN]

However recent findings show that a common cause of eczema is Casein (from milk) - known as milk protein allergy. Another common cause of eczema is Gluten (from wheat, rye, barley and oats), know as Gluten intolerance.

In addition Yeast overgrowth is also known to cause chronic eczema in millions of people.

http://www.foodintol.com/food_intole...use_eczema.htm

[Bernard]

Nice finds. Thanks. Looks like it's time for a dietary experiment. My son will be happy to hear that he cannot eat mac & cheese any more.

[RobinN]

I know... there were a few items that Rebecca missed too. Now the mac & cheese (I have always made mine from scratch), you might try a variety of rice cheeses and nut or rice milk. There are rice pastas. It is fun to get creative.

[Bernard]

... you might try a variety of rice cheeses ...

If they melt, they have casein added to them.

... and nut or rice milk. There are rice pastas.

These we know about. We like some of the rice pastas better than the wheat/semolina ones.

[Yve]

Oh boy, you've opened Pandora's Box with this one.

As far as I know, every anti-epileptic drug out there carries increased risk of birth defects for the fetus. It's a highly personal decision to conceive while taking anti-epileptic drugs. There are many, many women who give birth to healthy babies while taking anti-epileptic drugs, and there are (IMO) plenty who have babies that are challenged either mentally (autism, etc.) or physically (cleft palate/lip, etc.).

On a personal note, we conceived one child while Stacy was seizure free and med free and another while Stacy was neither (ie. taking Depakote/Epilim and still having tonic clonic seizures about once a week or so).

I'm happy to report that both of our children appear normal so far. #2 is very far sighted and will require glasses for the rest of his life. He also has eczema that we are hopeful he will outgrow. But they both appear to be bright and normal mentally.

While Stacy was carrying #2, she was taking meds and having tonic clonic seizures. I was more worried about the baby suffering brain damage from lack of oxygen during the seizures than from her falling as she was almost always laying down when they happened (but not always). It was an extremely scary and stressful time and I don't recommend pregnancy with uncontrolled seizures for anyone, but by the same token, I don't think the drugs she was taking were helping at all and might have contributed to the far sightedness.

One thing you might consider also is that your delivery doc might have issues with assisting if your seizures are not controlled.

Thank-you very much for your response, Bernard. It is very heartening to hear that both your children were born healthy, even with the negative change the pregnancies had on Stacy's epilepsy. My main fear is hurting my child, but I also think I am getting caught up in the statistics and risks about the learning disabilities or deformities that can occur. I realise it is still going to be scary and stressful, but after reading your response and going back through old threads and seeing other mums with healthy kids it has put things a bit more into perspective.

Also there isn't a history of epilepsy in my family at all, and no other reason has been found as to why I have it so far, so hopefully I won't pass it on to my children. I do take antibiotics everyday and have done so for years, as I have chonic pyleonephritis. However, I have very good doctors and everything should be cool.

[RobinN]

These we know about.

I bet I need to be learning from you. I just bought some cheese to day that has casein in it. I am getting lazy about reading the labels. Actually the type is far too small and I feel like such a fool trying to figure out what is written. I know ... I should travel with glasses. Someday I will learn.