Epilepsy is a common condition. Epilepsy is used to describe a group of common disorders that can cause seizures. Some doctors estimate that epilepsy affects up to 1% of the population, or around 2.5 million people. This makes it a pretty common condition. Claim Your 20 Free Pregnancy Tests – Click Here
Doctors have been studying the effects of epilepsy on fertility, and there are some links being made between having epilepsy and having a hard time getting pregnant. Today we are going to learn a little bit more about these connections. Read on to find out more.
While it is safe for women who suffer from epilepsy to get pregnant and have children, it might be harder for them to do so. Up to thirty percent of women with epilepsy will experience problems getting pregnant, doctors say.
One of the reasons that it is harder for women with epilepsy to get pregnant is because they are more likely to suffer from PCOS. Epilepsy also is known to cause irregular periods. Sometime Epilepsy can lead to anovulatory cycles, and hormonal imbalances. Epilepsy is known to contribute to several medical conditions that can make it harder for a woman to get pregnant.
Some epilepsy medications can decrease the effectiveness of hormonal birth control. However, other epilepsy medications have been proven to cause fertility problems. Anti seizure medications have also been known to cause birth defects in some cases. Talk with your doctor to see if your medications have been linked to fertility issues.
The greater the number of medications that you are taking for epilepsy, the greater your infertility risk will be. Some studies have shown that women taking three or more drugs for epilepsy were up to eighteen times more likely to experience fertility problems. Only around seven percent of women who were on no drugs to control their seizures experienced fertility problems.
Since women with epilepsy are at an increased risk for fertility problems, they should be counselled about those risks, and should talk at length with their doctors about those options. Not all women with epilepsy experience fertility problems, but women should be made aware of their risks before trying to conceive.
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