ask: CAN I GET PREGNANT AFTER BRAIN SURGERY?

it grade 1 tumor he did not asked me like this he aske me yes u can do but i am on teppering of my keppra and taking lamectal of 50mg bd but ihave no bone i am so scared what i have to do?
one thing i feel my cycle is disturbed my period come 3 to 5 days before the time

Anon,

Wow!! You are awesome!! Your news will certainly mean a lot to those who are fighting brain cancer right now. Thank you so much for writing, and be sure to come tell us when you have more good news of your own!!!

Hi, Anon,

Congratulations on your successful surgery. I'm sure that was an incredibly challenging time for you.

The sodium valproate is to control seizures, correct? There are some small percentages of problems that can happen while taking this drug. Here's some detailed information from gpnotebook.com:

"Sodium valproate - associated with a 1.5% risk of neural tube defects. This may be attributed in part to its effect in reducing serum folate, itself thought to be protective against neural tube defects.
other abnormalities include:
hypospadias
heart defects
craniofacial and skeletal anomalies
"Developmental delay - there is evidence from two retrospective studies of an association between in-utero exposure to sodium valproate and developmental delay (4)
"Note that reported rates of malformations, especially neural tube defects, skeletal defects, hypospadias and heart defects, are higher in children of mothers who took sodium valproate during pregnancy, especially at high doses, than in the general population (5.7% vs. 1.5%, RR 4.1,95% CI 1.9-8.8)(1)
rates associated with sodium valproate were also higher than where mothers with epilepsy either took no antiepileptic drug (OR 4.0, p=0.039) or were on alternative drugs (e.g. compared with phenytoin, RR 3.7, 95% CI 1.2-11.8; compared with carbamazepine, sodium valproate 6.0% [95% CI 4.4-8.1%] vs. carbamazepine 2.3% [95% CI 1.5-3.6]) (1)."

I know that is somewhat dense material, but basically it's saying that there can be a 1.5% to 5.7% chance of some of those problems when a baby is exposed in utero. I included all the above info so you could print it out and take it to your doctor.

Eptoin is a name for the generic Phenytoin sodium. It also is anti-seizure medicine, yes? It is sometimes considered a Class 1b antiarrhythmic.

Class B drugs are defined as possible: "There have been no adequate, well-controlled studies in women but studies using animals have not found any risk to the fetus, or animal studies have found risk that was not confirmed by adequate studies in pregnant women. Not many adequate studies have been performed in pregnant women, so the first situation (not enough information) usually applies if a medication is assigned to this category."

That definition came from this page of FDA Pregnancy Categories on epilepsy.com:

http://www.epilepsy.com/info/women_pregnancy_fda

They also have an entire page on epilepsy and pregnancy:

http://www.epilepsy.com/info/women_pregnancy

Is this information helpful? The best thing to do is to read this information for yourself and then talk with your doctor about your desire to have another baby. She or he can give you advice on how to most enhance your chances of having a healthy pregnancy and baby. Best of luck, and if you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask us.

Hi, Anon. And welcome to EmpowHer! Thank you so much for your question.

I am so glad you had a successful surgery and have recovered so well. I know that was a frightening thing for anyone go to through, and you were just 17!!!

Anon, I am very very concerned that you are only taking half the dose of the medicine that your doctor has prescribed. Can I ask why? If it is due to side effects, then you must call your doctor's office and talk to them about this and ask what you can do. This medicine is very important for you to take.

Here's what drugs.com says about the role of this medicine:

Bromocriptine is used to treat certain conditions caused by a hormone imbalance in which there is too much prolactin in the blood (also called hyperprolactinemia). Signs of too much prolactin in the body include lack of sexual development in adolescents. Women may have missed menstrual periods, loss of interest in sex, hot flashes, infertility, or unexpected breast milk production and leakage from the nipples.
"Bromocriptine is also used to treat these disorders when they are caused by brain tumors that can produce prolactin.
"Bromocriptine is sometimes used together with surgery or radiation in treating acromegaly, a condition caused by a pituitary gland tumor that produces too much growth hormone."

Will you promise me that you'll either go back on your full dose and/or call your doctor's office to talk about this? You can't decide for yourself that you can change your dose. Is this an insurance issue? If it is, there are places that will help you get prescription drugs for lower cost, and we can help you find one.

Here is that page of drug information. It also gives you a lot of information on side effects:

http://www.drugs.com/mtm/parlodel.html

And here is what it says about pregnancy:

"Tell your doctor if you are planning to become pregnant while taking bromocriptine. Some women take bromocriptine in order to normalize menstrual periods and increase their chances of becoming pregnant. Tell your doctor as soon as you become pregnant. You will most likely need to stop taking the medication at that time.
"Bromocriptine is not expected to be harmful to an unborn baby. However, a brain tumor can expand during pregnancy. Hypertension (high blood pressure) can also occur during pregnancy and bromocriptine could be dangerous if taken by a pregnant woman with high blood pressure.
"If you are not taking this medication to help you get pregnant, use a non-hormone method of birth control (such as a condom, diaphragm, spermicide) to prevent pregnancy while taking bromocriptine. Your doctor may also want you to have a pregnancy test every 4 weeks during treatment. You may not be able to take bromocriptine just after having a baby if you have a history of severe heart disease or coronary artery disease. Talk with your doctor about your specific situation. Bromocriptine lowers the hormone needed to produce breast milk. Do not take this medication if you are breast-feeding a baby."

I know that's not the information you want to hear, but it's important information for you. The best thing for you to do is to go to your doctor, tell her or him about your side effects and that you have cut back on your dosage, and see what she or he has to say. And tell the doctor that you want to have a baby, so you can see if there's another kind of medicine that it's possible for you to take.

I hope there is!! But you are very young, and there is time to work this health problem out. Please do it the right way, by working with your doctor. Promise?