breast feeding and epilepsy any help?

[DownstairsMixUp]

I'm currently pregnant with my second DS, with my first I was on different medication and told I couldn't breast feed but this time I am on different meds (keppra) and have been told it's ok to breast feed which is great but i am not sure what to do for the best.

I've been told that breast feeding the first few weeks i will be up every hour feeding and i am just worried about my epilepsy. I'm well controlled with the tablets but i also make sure i get plenty of sleep as my seizures have always always been brought on my sleep deprivation. With my last ds obviously i was FF'd so i'd get a solid 4 hours a time as my DP would take turns and was great but obviously this would all be down to me...

I have thought about combining but then everyone says this is bad and your breasts stop producing milk. I'd love to be able to breast feed but i am just so worried that the lack of sleep will bring on the seizures again, anyone else have any advice or been in similar situations? Or any positive combined feeding stories?? thank you!

Hi downstairs,

I have epilepsy and have been breast feeding for 19 days now. I take Lamotrigine and was assured it was safe to breastfeed. I was always eager to BF but my epilepsy nurse did warn me that the logistics of it may be difficult due to sleep deprivation and how that might impact on my epilepsy.

In general I get my sleep in blocks of 2 hours and usually get 6 hours sleep within the space of 12 hours. It's hard because it's broken sleep and of short periods but like I said, things are ok so far. I definitely have moments of panic where I'm crying with exhaustion and worrying about my epilepsy but my DH has said that whenever I feel enough is enough and I'm risking my health then he will support me in changing our feeding choice.

There is also the option of expressing so that you can get some sleep whilst your DH/DP does a nighttime feed - this was encouraged to me by my Epilepsy Nurse. I am able to express good quantities of milk so I have this option available to me if I need it.

Good luck with everything!

Hi writer thanks for the advice, how long does it take you to express a decant feed to store away? I always have a ds fighting for my attention but luckily he is starting school full time in september so hoping i can use the days at school to express... i keep hearing that it's bad for the baby to bottle to and I shouldn't do that but surely it's ok to do for expressing feeds for other people to feed the baby to? I'm really keen to bf the baby just really worried about all that comes with it!

They say not to express until you have an established supply, but to be honest I have no idea what that means in terms of how long you've been breastfeeding. Due to issues I had at birth with his latch I was hand expressing colostrum on his 2nd day of life in order to give to him via a syringe.

I started hand expressing very early on, maybe 3-4 days after his birth but this was only to relieve engorgement and I just threw the milk away.

I continued to have problems with his latch and between that and my breasts making ridiculous amounts of problems I had to express more regularly as my boobs were just too sore and hard for baby to latch on to. I bought myself a hand held pump (made by Lasinoh) and it's just fantastic!! I started using this to express when baby was about 7 days old and I could easily get 3 oz from each breast, with each breast taking about 15-20 minutes to empty. I can now get 4oz off each breast with no problems, the milk just pours out of me I throw most of it away though we do have a bottle of it in the fridge in case of emergencies.

The only issue with offering a bottle so early on us the nipple-teat confusion issue, although not all babies have this. Drinking from a bottle is much easier for the baby than breast feeding so some women find their babies refuse to breast feed because it's become too much like hard work when compared to a teat. Also, the pump isn't as effective as triggering milk production as a baby's suckle is, so some women find that when doing more expressing than feeding their milk supply can lessen. Also, some women find that no matter how much they pump (manual or electric) milk just won't come out!!

Some people though have absolutely no problems and you won't know until you try it.

And don't forget, if you do choose to solely express as opposed to actual BF, you will still need to get up in the night every 2-3 hours to do it otherwise your supply will dry up. I know a lot of women who have said that expressing can be just as exhausting as actually BF. Seems we can't win

Ooh ok that's interesting, so I could set an alarm in the night and express? You are right still seems like hard work but if I ever feel "jittery" (my weird start off of having jerks!) then I can have a supply in the fridge and hand it over which seems a good idea... How long does it keep in the fridge and can you freeze it?

It can be kept in the fridge for 5 days I think and can be frozen for 6 months

I definitely think it's worth having done in the fridge should it be needed. I would hate it if I had a seizure and wasn't able to breastfeed and the only option my DH had was formula.

I don't know how it works with Keppra, but I had to have my epilepsy drug levels checked regularly and my dosage was increased as needed if my blood plasma levels started to drop. As a result my dosage was increased by 50mg and I'm still on this increased dose at the moment - they won't start reducing my dose back down my to pre-pregnancy dose until 8 weeks after the birth. I think the fact I'm on this higher dose is helping keeping my epilepsy stable as it acts as a buffer to the sleep deprivation. I may ask my Eoilepsy nurse if I can stay on this elevated dose though so as not to rock the boat [ smile]

Thanks writer! I have a ob appointment on 22nd so I think I'll start discussing it now. I'm really thinking express breast feeding will be the best option for me, sorry if tmi, but I am already leaking and I'm only 19 weeks! Thanks for the advice!

I'd start expressing now You'll have a years supply by the time baby arrives!! Good luck at your appointment and I hope you find a solution that works well for you

Thanks writer i'm defintely going to invest in some freezer bags and start store a couple from about 35 weeks, thanks for the advice!