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.