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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Do I Need To Stop The Medication?

Hi,
I am epileptic since childhood. I am taking Epilive 500mg twice a day for last 2.5 years. I didnot get any seizures for last 2 years. A week back I gave birth to a baby. We both are healthy. PLease advice me if I need to stop or reduce Epilive as I am breast feeding my baby. Thank you for your help.
Wed, 8 Oct 2014
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Neurologist 's  Response
Well technically it is excreted in breast milk and the manufacturer doesn't recommend using during lactation. It is secreted in low quantities though and since your dose is low I think that you can use it paying attention whether you notice the baby being too drowsy and not feeding well.
On the other hand since you haven't had any seizure for the last 2 years you could consider interrupting treatment altogether, but it should be done by reducing the dose gradually over several weeks never abruptly. Also there is no guarantee the seizures won't return, at times even more frequent and resistant than before, so you can continue the medication if it doesn't interfere much with your quality of life. While there's no certain way of knowing what would happen if interrupted, an EEG would be advisable beforehand to see if there is epileptiform activity which would of course indicate more caution.
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Do I Need To Stop The Medication?

Well technically it is excreted in breast milk and the manufacturer doesn t recommend using during lactation. It is secreted in low quantities though and since your dose is low I think that you can use it paying attention whether you notice the baby being too drowsy and not feeding well. On the other hand since you haven t had any seizure for the last 2 years you could consider interrupting treatment altogether, but it should be done by reducing the dose gradually over several weeks never abruptly. Also there is no guarantee the seizures won t return, at times even more frequent and resistant than before, so you can continue the medication if it doesn t interfere much with your quality of life. While there s no certain way of knowing what would happen if interrupted, an EEG would be advisable beforehand to see if there is epileptiform activity which would of course indicate more caution.