Depakote + Lamictal and pregnancy

[Vandana]

Hi ,
I have been prescribed by my doctor to tak e depakote 250 mg in addition to lamictal 600 mg that I take daily for seizures...In addition , we want to start a family asap...I have been reading your experiences and frankly I am scared..Has anybody faced this kind of a situation...will it harm the fetus ?

[john]

Unfortunately you should be scared. Do your own research but look up fetal valproate syndrome and the recently released May 2007 study regarding depakote causing brain damage. I believe the study found that 24% of all children born with mothers taking depakote were mentally retarded. If you want my vote, just say no to depakote and pregnancy.

[john]

here's a little research help for your question

http://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/news/20070503/e...

http://ahrp.blogspot.com/2007/05/24-of-childr...

[john]

one last comment for anyone interested - it may occur with your pregnancy that with increasing fluids and weight gain your depakote dosage may be increased to keep your depakote level up - so, even if you start at a low depakote dosage, a higher dosage may be suggested by your doctor - according to my research, that's a very bad idea

[Katy]

I've been taking depakote for a few years and I stopped taking it 2 weeks prior to trying to conceive, do you thing this is enough time to reduce or eliminate my chances of having birth defects? I also began taking folic acid and prenatal prior to trying to get pregnant. Is there a time frame that I should wait to get pregnant?

[PLEASE READ THIS]

VALPROIC ACID (DEPAKOTE) SYNDROME this is what our son has, and there is no way of stopping it.
THIS DRUG WILL KILL A FETUS, AND CAUSE FACIAL ANOMILIES AND SEVERE RETARDATION.
NEUROTUBE PROTIEN TESTS DO NOT DETECT THIS SYNDROME.
STOPPING DOSAGE IF ALREADY PREGNANT IS TO LATE, CAUSE IN THIRD WEEK OF FIRST TRI.
THIS IS A WARNING!

[nancy]

please read this, is 100% correct. THIS DRUG WILL CAUSE BIRTH DEFECT.