topamax (Topiramate)

[jgihring223]

I am not sure if anyone can help me out with this but I have a friend that is on Topamax (Topiramate) for seizures and she just found out she is 7 weeks pregnant. She had been pregnant before but had a miscarriage. She is very scared because she can’t find any information on this medication to tell her if or if not this medication will hurt the baby. She has seen the OB/GYN and they told her they are not sure and she needs to speak with her Neurologists. So, she did but the Neurologists said she needs to speak to the OB/GYN because they can’t find any information on the medication that states if or if not can hurt a fetus. She is very frustrated because the only information that she found on line was it caused harm to lab rats but it didn’t look like a reputable site. We have searched every where and we found a few people that posted to the forms that states they took this medication when they were pregnant and never said if it caused harm to the baby. I have e-mailed a few people but they posted in 2006 and not sure if they still use the site. If anyone can help that would be wonderful. Thank you for your time. Any thing will help.

[Kwarfkesh]

Topamax is known to cause cleft palate in children if taken during pregnancy.

[sweetangel7]

I agree with martikadragoon that the doc must not have any brain cells left!  Maybe she should switch docs!

[martikadragoon]

Well... honestly.. I'd say if this is the best med for her then she should stay on it. because it doesn't sound like her neuro.. has any good brain cells let.

Basically what most doctor's will say is like the directions :if the benifits outweight the risks.. keep using it.

What type of seizures did she have?  And what Doseage is she on? I was on 100mg daily (50mg 2X a day) for my migraines so a low dose.. but sometimes I"d have to take 150mg for about a week.

[sweetangel7]

Just an idea if she keeps getting the run around and having people say they can't find any info on the drug/side effects, maybe you should cut and paste what I wrote to a word document and print it out so she can carry it with her.  I got it from the FDA website.  If a layman has access to this info I'm sure an MD would and if not, she can share the print out and ask what they think then.

[jgihring223]

I forgot to note that this medication is the one that works best for her seizures that she has not had a problem with.

[jgihring223]

Thank you for all your help. I will let her all the advice you lovely people gave. She did speak to her OB/GYN and her OB/GYN said that she needed to speak to her Neurologists and her Neurologists said she needed to speak to her OB/GYN. She is just really stressed because she cant get any answers. She has been on Topamax (Topiramate) for seizures for almost 2 years with no side effects.

Thank you

[martikadragoon]

Sweetangel is Correct. I was on Topamax for Migraines, and because I didn't need it as bad as someon with seizures would... I weaned myself off it just around the time I found out I was PG (i'd suspected I was)

She should be fine, and she does need to speak with her doctor about this, just to be sure there aren't any other med's she can take (like a class B med)

but the baby should be fine.

[bioclock1]

thats what i wanted to say but was too dense to say!! well done sweetangel7

[sweetangel7]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lists Topamax in Pregnancy Category C. This indicates that caution is advised, but the benefits of the medication may outweigh the potential risks. There have not been enough well-controlled studies in women, but studies in animals have shown some harm to the fetus.

The babies of women taking seizure medicines have a greater than usual number of major birth defects like cleft lip, cleft palate, and heart malformations. Defects like these occur in 2-3% of all pregnancies but affect 4-7% of the babies of women taking AEDs. Whether this is also true for Topamax is not yet known. The risk of birth defects is higher for women who take more than one AED and for women with a family history of birth defects.  

About 20% to 35% of women have seizures more often during pregnancy because of changes in hormones or changes in how their seizure medicine is handled by the body.

Ultimately, I think the decision sits with the neurologist as to whether your friend NEEDS this medication.

[bioclock1]

i was prescribed topamax and didn't take it (for migraines) b/c of all the horrible side effects. Unfortunately, its not supposed to be taken with pregnancy but she probably won't konw what happens until the baby is due. But if it helped allieveate her seizures, maybe it is for the best while pregnant that she has been on it...

sorry i can't be of more help.