I have been on my tegretol for 8 yrs now and now i want a baby.. I have been trying for about a year now and i can't get pregnant. I thought it was my medication but as you all have said you can still get pregnant. What can i do to get pregnant on this medication? I'm very aggrivated. I go to the doctor next month to try to get off of the medication but i'm worried it made me steril.
don't uinderstand!
- Thread starter Blondy20
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It's tough to know if the med has affected your fertility, since infertility is relatively common in women with epilepsy (fertility rates are decreased by about 1/3 in comparison to the general population). The medication might play a role, but seizure discharges may also be a factor in messing with your hormones. Also, polycycstic ovaries are common in women with epilepsy, which can also affect fertility. Your best bet is to see a fertility doctor.
Make sure
to go see a gynecologist/fertility specialist who is either well-versed in AEDs or is willing to learn about them, and work with your neuro. Nakamova is right about how E women do have these particular issues more often than the general population.
I remember being told when I was in high school that my meds would make me sterile. By that time, I had been on Dilantin and Phenobarbital for 17 years straight. My cycles were weird, but sort of cyclical.
Weird thing, though? Even though I was supposedly sterile, I turned out to be Fertile Myrtle. 3 kids in 3 years almost exactly to the day. Go figure.
So don't give up hope. Talk to your doctors, MAKE them talk to each other. It will eventually get figured out.
Take care.
Meetz
:rock:
to go see a gynecologist/fertility specialist who is either well-versed in AEDs or is willing to learn about them, and work with your neuro. Nakamova is right about how E women do have these particular issues more often than the general population.
I remember being told when I was in high school that my meds would make me sterile. By that time, I had been on Dilantin and Phenobarbital for 17 years straight. My cycles were weird, but sort of cyclical.
Weird thing, though? Even though I was supposedly sterile, I turned out to be Fertile Myrtle. 3 kids in 3 years almost exactly to the day. Go figure.
So don't give up hope. Talk to your doctors, MAKE them talk to each other. It will eventually get figured out.
Take care.
Meetz
:rock:
I never had any problems getting pregnant. Maybe give it more time, especially if you are young and have no other health problems. I have two grown healthy children, AND I took Dilantin when I was pregnant with both.
Do not automatically assume that your inability to conceive is related to the epilepsy. Now that I look back, all my doctors told me is, take your medicine!! I was never even referred to a neurologist then. I was very active, did not smoke, and ate relatively healthy. Counteract the epilepsy by all the advice that you have before you these days on wonderful sites likes this on taking care of yourself. Good luck!:bigsmile:
Do not automatically assume that your inability to conceive is related to the epilepsy. Now that I look back, all my doctors told me is, take your medicine!! I was never even referred to a neurologist then. I was very active, did not smoke, and ate relatively healthy. Counteract the epilepsy by all the advice that you have before you these days on wonderful sites likes this on taking care of yourself. Good luck!:bigsmile: