Round Two: Blood Work

I finally received my blood work sheet in the mail today. Thankfully, Quest is open tomorrow and had an appointment around 7:30 a.m. that I could take. I hate getting up this early for blood work, but I also need to finish an article for my freelance work. It's on how to prevent seasonal allergies. Our area is totally notorious for having horrendous seasonal allergies.

I'll update tomorrow on how the blood work went and again once I get the results. The Reglan has been working fantastic. I only felt nauseous when I first woke up this morning. Hopefully, that's a sign of what's to come. I'm hoping that the nausea is a temporary thing and that I just need to take the Reglan to get myself out of the woods and eventually my body'll even out and I won't even need it anymore. 

We will see...

UPDATE: February 1, 2013

I got the blood work done this morning. The doctor's office told me to call on Tuesday for the results.

Q & A - January 29, 2013

Many people who read my blog have been sending in questions. I figured this was the perfect outlet to begin answering any questions you may have. If you would like a topic covered, you can either message me on the Facebook group, "Epilepsy and Pregnancy" (it's a closed group, so you'll have to join) or by leaving comments on one of my posts. I promise to get to them as they come in.

Disclaimer: I am NOT a doctor and have no medical background. This is just my findings on each subject. Before making any decisions regarding your health or your child's, please consult with your neurologist and physician.

Question: There is lots of stuff and people out there that have had a baby on seizure medications, but what about women who have had a baby with seizure meds and a anti-depressant? I would love to know the outcome of someone on both!

It's no secret that both anti-seizure and anti-depressant medications are high-risk pregnancy medications. Like with any medication, you need to weigh the risks, benefits, pros and cons during pregnancy. It's a discuss that should be had with both your physician and OB/GYN before (I can't stress that enough) trying to conceive.

In one of my first posts, I posted the current AED and pregnancy registry findings. You can view that here.

In the case of anti-depressants, it all has to do with dosage and the specific-type of anti-depressant that a person is taking. Just like with AEDs, some are more dangerous than others, but all of them come with certain risks. The Mayo Clinic posted an article online in August 2012 about anti-depressants during pregnancy. You can view that here:

Are Anti-Depressants Safe During Pregnancy?

This basically says that there are risks, but they are low, and suggests the safer medications that a person could take as options during pregnancy.

The website BabyCenter posts findings from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) on the subject as well:

Anti-depressants and Pregnancy

This article specifically tells women to not take Paxil (generic: Paroxetine) during pregnancy and outlines that many children that are born to women on anti-depressants inherit a serious lung development problem and about one-third (1/3) of newborns that are born to women that took SSRIs during pregnancy experience severe withdrawal symptoms once they are outside of the womb.

The combination of anti-epileptics and anti-depressants can increase the chances of malformations in a newborn or create complications after birth. The decision must be made with the individual and their doctor to find the safest course of action for both mom and baby.

Enough is enough!

I called Dr. L today to tell her about my nausea. It has gotten out of control. I have trying to eat before I take my meds to see if that curbed it - it temporarily does, but I get even the slightest bit hungry again, it comes rushing back.

She wants me to get a Lamictal trough level and sent me a prescription for Reglan, which is an anti-nausea medication (it is commonly used to treat GERD symptoms as well). The medication is helping, but it makes me feel a little dizzy and drowsy.

I rather feel tired than sick though.

Dr. L said that it is very uncommon for a patient to get this sick from Lamictal and there is a possibility I may be on too much medication, which is why I'm getting the trough level. I can't help but wonder if this is heavy withdrawal from the Tegretol, though. I guess the only way to find out is to get the tests done and she what she has to say.

I am really hoping that it is something that can be adjusted (or that I can wait out the withdrawal) because I really want to stay on the Lamictal. It is safer for a baby when I am pregnant and I see a huge difference in my speech and reflexes, which is awesome! Unfortunately, I can't always say the same about my moods, though. I am noticing that I'm going through a lot of mood swings lately and can't seem to control my emotions. I've always been an emotional person, but this seems more so than usual lately. I would say this started about a week ago.

I'll update later this week with results.

Inspirational Quote #267 - Challenge

"Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional." - Robert Crawford

You learn something new every day...

DISCLAIMER: Gentlemen may want to skip this article unless that are truly interested in how their partner's "time of the month" is affected by the antiepileptics they take.

In October of 2011, an article was published in Epilepsia (a medical magazine dedicated to epilepsy and new research and medication findings), titled, "Variation of seizure frequency with ovulatory status of menstrual cycles." Doctors were interested in finding out if where a woman was in her menstrual cycle, specifically whether or not she was ovulating, affected how frequent seizures occurred.

You can check out the findings here:

US National Library of Medicine

...and if that gibberish doesn't make any sense, you can read a synopsis on the findings here:

Seizure Frequency May Be Tied To Menstrual Cycle

Key to Abbreviations in Articles:

• ADSF - Average Daily Seizure Frequency
• CPS - Complex Partial Seizure
• EP - Estradiol/ Progesterone
• GTCS - Generalized Ton -Clonic Seizures
• SPS - Simple Parial Seizures

I am aware that in the NLM article it does explain the abbreviations but it isn't until the middle of the first paragraph in the findings section. I felt I would save you all some time and just outright post them.

How do I know I'm ovulating?

Since it's something that happens internally, some testing must be done. There a few options to figure out that a women is ovulating, assuming that the woman is not taking a hormonal contraceptive (most women do not ovulate on birth control, at all. However, it is possible).

The most effective way to figure it out is by taking one's basal body temperature (BBT). You use a special thermometer that you can buy at your local grocery store and you must take your temperature every day, at the same exact time in the morning. In order for the reading to be accurate, you need at least three hours of uninterrupted sleep. The thermometer measures a person's temperature to the .1 degree. When ovulating, many women will notice a slight dip in their temperature. Using a charting website, such as Fertility Friend, makes viewing these patterns much easier. It also predicts what it thinks will happen next cycle based off of previously entered data. For more information on using a BBT and charting, check out the tutorial videos on Fertility Friend's website.

A woman can also use an ovulation prediction kit (OPK). These measure luteinizing hormones (LH) in urine. When there is a surge of LH, ovulation should be occurring within the next 36 hours.

Once a woman knows the ins-and-outs of her cycle, this information can be used to figure out how deeply it affects the frequency of seizures, if at all. I hope this helped! Good luck!

Before I go, I would like to thank my good friend, Katrin, for sending me these articles. It is great, useful information that may help doctors and women understand a possible trigger for seizures.

Seizing the Moment

I was goofing off online (searching topics for here) and came across this poster. It's old, from 2010, the "Seize the Moment 5k" took place in the San Antonio, TX and from what I could find, it looks like there are several places in TX that hold the same 5k.

"Seize the Moment" donates money back into the Epilepsy Foundation, which is great. However, when I searched for one in my area (Allentown, PA), there didn't seem to be a coinciding annual 5k. To be honest, it really upset me. I love being involved in the EFEPA and would love to start to support them as much as they've supported me throughout the years.

I emailed the director of the Lehigh Valley chapter of the Epilepsy Foundation. I asked her if there has ever been a "Seize the Moment" 5k in our area. If there has been, then I'll definitely be participating next year. I recently (okay...today) re-started the Couch to 5k program. It helps people who aren't used to running long-term train for a future 5k. My goal is to complete a 5k before the end of 2013. This would be the perfect introduction for me to the 5k world.

If I were to discuss this with the director of the Lehigh Valley chapter, and successfully bring it to fruition, would people come? Is this a crazy idea? Comment below.

Vacation #1

Dave and I had been on vacation since Wednesday. He has his yearly company sales meeting this week. They always choose a destination to have the meeting instead of at corporate. For us, it provides a chance to getaway. This year, they are holding the meeting in Tucson, AZ at a resort called Dove Mountain.

We went out early though and started in Las Vegas. We stayed at a hotel called The Cosmopolitan. It was absolutely stunning! It honestly looked like a swanky night club and not a hotel. When I got to our room, I almost passed out. It was bigger than our apartment in Connecticut!! It had 2 full baths, two TVs, a full kitchen and a balcony that overlooked the Bellagio fountain. Oh, and we could control all of our lights in the room FROM THE TV!

We saw two Vegas shows while out there: Rock of Ages and Carrot Top. Rock of Ages blew me away! It was so much fun! All of my favorite 80s songs were played and the actors were fantastic. Carrot Top was better than I thought he would be. He has a reputation for being a jerk (which he probably was for many years), but through his quick wits and self-deprecation, he came off funny and relatable. Even those who don't like him can't say that he doesn't work hard. His show was 90 minutes and his jokes are about 4 seconds long each. That's a lot of material to cram into that amount of time.

I've been feeling especially sick this trip. Almost every day, I wake up feeling nauseated (and no, I'm not hungover). If I take my meds, I better be cramming food in my face or else it's coming up. It's so gross. Also, after one beer, I noticed I feel sick. I don't feel the effects of the beer, but feel instantly sick to my stomach. Feeling this way is getting old really fast. I'm only on the Lamictal now and I figured I would start feeling better. While my mind and reflexes have vastly improved, I feel worse just on the Lamictal. I'm going to man through it until my next appointment with Dr. L. in March and then we will reassess.

Right now, Dave and I are at Dove Mountain in AZ. It is okay, but not spectacular like the Cosmo. Dave is staying til Friday and I go home tomorrow. Spouses aren't allowed to be here during the actual meeting. We have absolutely nothing planned for today. We needed a day to compress from Vegas.

Speaking of that, I'm going back to sleep.

So sick...

Ugh.


Today is miserable. This morning, I woke up, took my meds and within seconds - threw up.


This is definitely a new development. I am actually hoping that I am sick (I went to my nephew's 2nd birthday party on Saturday with a bunch of little kids with snotty noses) and that it wasn't the medication.


I'm currently sitting on my couch, still in my PJs. I work 3 to 11pm tonight and hcg no aspiration to shower and get dressed. I feel so miserable.


I'm currently burping up acid every two minutes.


This is disgusting.

Surprises and Changes

Yesterday, my mom called me at 9 am to tell me that she was coming up to PA early. My nephew's birthday party is on Saturday and she lives in Florida.

She was here by 4:30 pm.

She knows that I weaned off the Tegretol and she is a huge scaredy-cat when it comes to my epilepsy. She won't say it, but she's here ahead of time to basically make sure I'm not having seizures with the new meds. While this is a new experience for me (...and to be honest, it originally scared me because it's new), I know I'll be alright.

Nurse Gary called me at 8:47 this morning (could it be any earlier?) to tell me that e called in my 3mg of folic acid. He also said that along with the 3mgs I should be taking my prenatal still (which includes 800mcg of folic acid. I officially will be on 3.8mgs.

So far, without the Tegretol, I feel totally fine. The only thing I have noticed is that my mouth is really, really dry.

Hope that subsides.

I'm leaving to pick up my meds now.

Tomorrow's officially my fresh start....

Forgive the typos tonight. I'm writing this from my Blogger app on my iPhone and the application can be slightly temperamental. At 11 p.m. last night, I took my last ever Tegretol pill and when I wake up the morning, I will officially be taking only Lamictal.

It's an exciting and totally petrifying thought. After 20 years, I'm taking a new medication.

I am calling Dr. L tomorrow to discuss next steps. She has a specific plan in place for us and directions I have to follow. She wants me to begin taking 3mgs of folic acid daily. However, I'm a little confused since I'm also taking a prenatal that contains 800mcgs of folic acid. Does that mean I'm supposed be taking 3.8mgs or am I supposed to stop taking my prenatal and take a multivitamin instead (which most still contain at least 400mcg)? Who knows. I'm looking for more clear instruction on that tomorrow.

Dave is currently on a business trip until Thursday night or Friday morning. It sucks he has to miss this major moment for me for work but I know that he is working so incredibly hard to support our family. I'm so proud of him!

Happy New Year and the Last Week

Happy New Year, everybody! Dave and I celebrated exactly how we wanted: in our pajamas and watching a movie. Going out wasn't an option. I was just too exhausted from the weekend. Our friend had his 30th birthday party and we were up until about 4 a.m. I needed to recoup.

Current Dosage:
Lamictal: 175 mg 2x/daily
Carbamazepine: 100 mg 2x/daily (started with 400 mg 2x/daily)


So...I made it. I'm officially in my last week of transitioning off the Tegretol. I can't believe I'm here already. After this week, it becomes a waiting game until I can go off my birth control and we can officially start trying to have kids.

Thankfully, the past three months have gone by quickly. What's another 2 months?

I'm ready for this to be over and to see really what the process of having kids is going to look like for us. We've been doing a lot of speculation over the past five and a half years, and now, the time has finally come to put this in to effect.

I'm going back to work today and need to start getting ready. More to come.