Epilepsy during pregnancy - causes, symptoms and treatments

Epilepsy during pregnancy - causes, symptoms and treatments -

Image: Shutterstock

Do you suffer from epilepsy? Are you concerned about how pregnancy can affect seizures or effectiveness of the drugs? do not worry. Here we talk about epilepsy, and what you can do to ensure that does not cause problems during pregnancy.

What is epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a condition that first occurs during childhood, even though it is possible that you can start at any age. One of the most common symptoms of epilepsy is repeated seizures.

When the brain experiences an abnormal pattern of electrical activity can cause seizures. When a seizure occurs, the body often starts to move unintentionally and it is out of your control. In more severe cases, epilepsy can also lead to fainting and temporary loss of consciousness.

It epilepsy become more frequent or severe during pregnancy?

There is not a lot of medical data to support any secure information about the relationship between pregnancy and the condition epileptic. In some cases, epilepsy can remain unchanged when you get pregnant, while, in some other, can also result in a reduction of the symptoms of epilepsy.

Sponsored

In many cases, the crises that are related to epilepsy may worsen when you are pregnant. During pregnancy, there is a lot of physical as well as emotional stress. All this can worsen the symptoms of epilepsy and cause seizures that may become more severe and frequent [1].

epilepsy can affect pregnancy?

If you know that you are suffering from epilepsy and want to get pregnant, you should first get in touch with your doctor and understand the risks that may be associated with the same. The doctor will be able to assess its condition and recommend a change of medication that you are already taking it so that it does not have an effect on your pregnancy.

If you are already pregnant and are also epileptic, it is important to know that suffering seizures during these months can hurt you and your baby's health. Here are some ways epileptic seizures can have a negative effect on pregnancy:

• Seizures can cause a deceleration of the heartbeat of the unborn child

• a seizure can also cause damage to your unborn

• can sometimes be strong enough to make your placenta away from the uterus before it is supposed to, resulting in a premature note separation as placental abruption

• a seizure during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage because of the trauma can exercise both on you and your unborn baby

• Seizures during pregnancy can lead to premature labor that will lead to premature birth

• Experiencing a seizure during pregnancy can also result in a still birth.

• If the baby was born normal, even if you have epilepsy during pregnancy, there are chances that the child will also develop seizure disorders in later years

• If you are epileptic during pregnancy, it can cause various delays of development and growth in children

• in some cases, the child may experience bleeding problems after birth

• If you stop taking the epilepsy or anti-seizure medications during pregnancy, may represent a higher risk to your child that if you do take those drugs. Some of these health risks that your child might be affected by delays in the development are, personal injury and fetal death.

When should you call the doctor?

when you know that you are at risk of epilepsy or have suffered the same in your past, it is important to keep your doctor informed of the same. In addition, you should always have an emergency number in standby where you can reach your doctor, especially if you suffer from an attack of epilepsy during pregnancy. Watch out for these signs and keep following your partner or family informed, that as soon as one of the following circumstances, you should talk to a doctor or run to the nearest medical center immediately:

• If you experience a crisis that has gone on for more than five minutes

• If the seizure has stopped, but they are unable to breathe or are still unconscious (this is the reason why your partner or immediate family should be aware that they need to get to a doctor immediately)

• If after suffering a seizure occurs again a second immediately or within an interval of a few minutes

• If you are also running a high temperature when you got the seizure

• If you feel exhaustion or fatigue that makes you feel warm around and sweat

• If you are also suffering from diabetes

• If you have suffered an injury when he had a seizure, as if you fell and hurting yourself. Although you can not see visible signs of injury, it is possible that you did suffer a bit 'of damage when you fell. Go to a doctor as soon as possible to make sure your child is doing well.

There are some epilepsy drugs that are safe to be taken during pregnancy?

Unfortunately, there is not yet a clear indication of any medications that you can take for epilepsy, which are also safe to take during pregnancy. There are anti-seizure medications that are completely safe and will not cause any effect on your unborn child or during pregnancy. However, there are some anti-seizure medications that can have a greater amount of negative impact on your unborn child or. It 'important for you to talk with your doctor when you know you're pregnant, to find out what changes you can make in your anti-seizure medications.

Here are some anti-seizure epilepsy drugs that you should have a detailed conversation with your doctor about:

1. Depakote and Depakene:

The two anti-seizure drugs , known as Depakote and Depakene, they have some of the highest risks of damage to the unborn child. The two drugs are particularly at high risk of causing neural tube defects in the unborn child, such as spina bifida.

2. Phenobartbitol:

The doctor will most likely ask you to change the medication and instead try phenobarbitol for your months of pregnancy. The particular drug appears to have a lower risk of causing any harm to the unborn child, or, with respect to the two high-risk medications listed above.

3. Tegretol, Lamictal, and Carbatrol:

Some more drugs that are thought to bring the least amount of risk to the child is not yet born the drug Tegretol, Lamictal and Carbatrol. The three drugs apparently entail an even lower risk to your unborn baby or than Depakote or phenobarbital.

is extremely difficult to recommend that the anti-seizure medications have a lower risk during pregnancy and which have a higher risk, such as research and results are constantly evolving in this area. It 'very important for you to discuss this in detail with your doctor before taking any medication, that are intended to treat seizures or epilepsy-related symptoms [2].

make some major changes related to epilepsy drugs during pregnancy

Here are some tips you can follow that will help you combine the treatment of epilepsy with pregnancy :?

1. The first step is to talk to your doctor about your condition epilepsy and pregnancy. The doctor will most likely ask for your epilepsy and any related seizures.

2. If you are still planning to conceive, talk to your doctor about whether you need to change some medications and replace them with some other anti-seizure medications.

3. alternatively, the doctor may feel that it is good to remain with the medication you are taking and that there is no need to change for now.

4. If you are on a prescription of more than one anti-seizure medications, your doctor may decide to review both and you ask to take one, that your doctor suggests. Taking anti-seizure or epilepsy drugs in a combination will make it the highest risks for side effects to her unborn child and, because of which your doctor may want to bring it down to any medication.

5. Ideally, the best time to make the change in your anti-seizure drugs or epilepsy is at least one year before you want to get pregnant. Make a change in your medication may also pose a risk to your overall health. In some cases, the body may find it difficult to adapt to sudden change and may react in a negative way. You may find it difficult to respond to the new or modified treatment and may suffer attacks that are more frequent and more severe in nature. Such crises sudden change could pose a high risk to your pregnancy and may cause irreparable harm to the unborn child.

6. When you are thinking to change or terminate some anti-seizure or epilepsy medication, tell your doctor before introducing the new drug, and then stop the other. It will help you be on medication and avoid any unexpected situation when you are not drugs and may suffer from a serious episode of convulsions. Being pregnant at this time could be a high-risk situation, as the child will be exposed not only to a high-risk drug, but two.

7. If your doctor asks you to change your anti-seizure or epilepsy medications, it is important for you to definitely add folic acid medication during pregnancy. In fact, it is always best to start taking your daily dose of folic acid as soon as you plan to conceive. Folic acid can significantly reduce the chances of a birth defect of almost 60 to 70 percent [3]

situations to avoid if you suffer from epilepsy during pregnancy :.

Here are some situations that you should avoid when suffering from epilepsy during pregnancy:

1. avoid being in places where you have the chance of falling and getting hurt

2. Stay away from bodies of water to avoid accidentally falling and drowning

3. avoid driving

4. Try to reduce stress and talk to your doctor if you experience stress or anxiety.

The causes of epilepsy:

because there is no well-defined leading to epilepsy. While nearly half of epilepsy cases have no clear cause behind them, the other half may have one or more of the following elements as a cause:

1. Genetics:

certain types of epileptic conditions are caused due to genetic reasons, where someone in the family is known to have been affected by the same. The conditions are based on the kind of crises that may occur and which part of the brain that affects. However, it is also important to remember that genes do not lead to epilepsy, but they are only a partial cause of the same. In some cases, a particular type of genetic disease can make it more susceptible to certain environmental conditions, which can then trigger seizures.

2. Trauma to the head:

suffer head injuries such as those suffered by a car accident or other such effects, can lead to epilepsy

3 .. Related Conditions brain:

Various conditions related to the brain can cause a seizure. Some conditions of the brain that can lead to stroke or epilepsy are tumor in the brain. In those who are over the age of 35, who suffers a stroke it can be one of the most common causes of epilepsy.

4. Infectious diseases:

Some infectious diseases can also put you at risk of suffering from an epileptic episode. Infectious diseases such as AIDS, meningitis or encephalitis can greatly increase the chances of epilepsy.

5. Injuries A prenatal level:

, while the child is still developing in the womb, the brain is particularly sensitive, and any changes or trauma can lead to brain damage. There are various factors that could lead to prenatal injuries, such as poor diet, alcohol and tobacco consumption during pregnancy. You can also occur when suffering from an infectious disease during pregnancy or even a lack of oxygen which can cause permanent damage. Prenatal brain damage can cause epilepsy after the baby is born.

6. Disorders related to development:

certain developmental disorders such as autism, as well as neurofibromatosis, can highly increase the chances of being struck by epilepsy

the symptoms of epilepsy.

as epilepsy occurs due to the abnormal pattern of electrical activity in the brain, it can affect any action that controls the brain. Here are some of the most common symptoms of epilepsy that may occur:

1. confusion is temporary or short-term, but it can also influence for a longer duration
2. A brief in which you can continue to set a particular object, without registering you are doing so
3. sudden jerking movements especially in the arms and legs that you can not have any control over
4. Lose your consciousness, brief periods of fainting or loss of memory
5. psychological symptoms [4]

in most cases, the symptoms may vary depending on the severity of seizures. If you have epilepsy, it is possible that all the crisis will be of the same intensity and frequency, and therefore also the symptoms tend to remain the same most of the time. The physician classifying the crisis as either focal or generalized as. Depends on how the abnormal brain activity begins before

Here is a brief look at the two types of crisis that the doctor can diagnose using :.

1. Focal Seizures:

A focal seizure is one where your seizure will occur as a result of an abnormal activity that takes place in one part of the brain. Focal seizures are also known as partial seizures and are of two types:

A) simple partial seizures:

simple partial seizures are also known as focal seizures in which you do not lose your conscience. When you suffer from a simple partial seizure, you may feel a change in your emotions and your senses. There may be a distinct bias in the way you smell, taste, hear, feel or even see things. You may also experience sudden jerking movements in your body, most likely in the arms and legs, and will have no control over it. You can also spontaneously experience various sensory symptoms in your body, such as a sudden feeling of tingling, see flashing lights or dizziness

B) Complex partial seizures :.

complex partial seizures are also known as focal seizures dyscognitive where you can lose consciousness or may not be fully aware of what is happening. When there is a complex partial seizure, it could be staring into the darkness without really looking at anything. You may not even be able to adequately respond to the environment around you or circumstances that may need your attention. You can also continue to repeat certain movements, such as swallowing, chewing, rubbing his hands together or even walking in circles.

In many cases, the symptoms associated with focal seizures are confused with the symptoms of some other health conditions. Some conditions that have very similar symptoms to those of focal seizures are migraines, narcolepsy (in which a person tends to fall asleep all the time) and other forms of mental illness.

2. Generalized Crisis:

a generalized seizure is one where your seizure will occur as a result of an abnormal activity that takes place in all areas of the brain. Generalized seizures are the following six types:

A) absence seizures:

Absence seizures were previously known as petit mal seizures. This form of attachment is most common in children but can also occur in adults. When there is an absence seizure, you tend to stare into space or can have very subtle movements and almost unnoticed in the body, such as lip smacking or eye blinking. absence seizures can often occur as part of a cluster of seizures and can lead to not be aware of

B) tonic seizures :.

When you suffer a tonic crisis, which causes a kind of stiffness in the muscles. tonic crisis mainly affecting the operation of the back muscles, arms and even legs. . In most cases, it tends to fall to the ground if the seizure affects the muscles of the legs and is particularly dangerous if you are pregnant

C) atonic seizures:

atonic seizures are also known as drop seizures. . When you suffer from an atonic, you lose no muscle control, which can make you fall to the ground and is particularly dangerous during pregnancy

D) clonic seizures:

When you suffer from a clonic, you will enjoy various jerking movements in the muscles that will fall into a rhythm or pattern. In most cases, a clonic seizures affect the muscles in the face, arms and neck

E) myoclonic seizures :.

When suffering from myoclonic seizures, you will experience contractions or sudden and brief shots in the muscles of the legs and arms

F) tonic-clonic seizures :.

tonic-clonic seizures were previously known as grand mal seizures. Such forms of crises are also the most dramatic form of seizures occurring during epilepsy. A tonic-clonic seizure type will almost always make you lose your consciousness. And 'even your body go rigid, and you can also experience a movement shaking the whole body. In some cases, you can also lose any control over your bladder and may end up biting his tongue too.

While epilepsy is a serious condition, the right treatment at the right time can make a difference for your child and you. You suffer from seizures during pregnancy? How did you cope? Please let us know here.

Click

Share this story on Facebook

The after two tabs change content below.

• Last Posts
• Bio

Latest the Debolina Raja posts (see all)

• 103 Baby Names that mean Warrior, Protector, Survivor, or Fighter - June 17, 2016
• 20 citations that have words of encouragement for children - June 8, 2016
• Unbelievable germs, bacteria and viruses facts for kids - June 8, 2016

Debolina Raja

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on Google+

Share on LinkedIn

Subscribe to receive free email updates: