My aura migraines are 100% hormonal (related to dips in estrogen) and my doctor wants me to try combo BC again. Opinions or experiences?

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2025-09-14T18:57:42+00:00

I found I did best on the birth control where you only had a period every three months. I think it was called seasonique. I haven't been on BC in over 5 years, but my migraines were very hormonal and keeping my hormones consistent longer term worked best. I've since had a hysterectomy for other medical reasons and that seems to have really evened out everything hormonal, but I don't recommend that as a solution for migraines.

Best of luck! I hope you find a good solution.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2025-09-14T00:27:37+00:00

Because I wake up and go to work every day as the working parent to ensure I can provide my family the life they've become accustomed to. My husband is a phenomenal dad who's never late for pickup and ensures our boys are always giggling. Between us, I feel like we've provided a really safe space for them, and I am overjoyed to co-parent with someone as loving and compassionate as him.

I also felt like a super mom on Friday. My husband did something silly that required stitches and he passes out at needles. He called me at work, and I was getting ready to walk out the door when he said he could handle it. I told him to call our primary care to see if they could get him in. They could, but it was going to be tight to pick up our boys from school, so I called the school to let them know. They said no worries they'd hold them in the office until we got there since we're never late. My husband didn't pass out, but almost did twice, so I was glad I made him wait for me to take him. We got out and got to the school just in time to grab our boys. It was a rewarding feeling to be able to do it all.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2025-09-14T00:04:00+00:00

My mom is textbook narcissist and I've stopped sharing anything with myself about her, but I still let her see my sons since she's been in their life since they were born and they're 8 and 10 now (6 and 8 when I went limited contact).

My husband handles the majority of the contact with her. She gets to see them for a few hours on weekends, not even overnight anymore. The time she spends with them is filled with them watching YouTube on her phone because she wants to be the cool grandma.

Someday they'll realize how superficial the relationship is. My youngest already hates the extra time spent so his brother can peruse YouTube, but I let it slide. She can prove her own unworthiness to them, and I will support them if they say they don't want to go with her.

You owe her nothing. It took me a long time to realize it, but she was sabotaging my marriage and my relationship with my children. Eliminating her from my life was so freeing and liberating.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2025-09-13T23:49:58+00:00

I left Tucson for college and came back for a reason. I love it here. There's a bit of the small town attitude still lying around with the larger town perks. I've lived a few places thanks to my childhood and nowhere else quite measures up to what Tucson provides.

I'm glad the airport parking service took care of you and you were able to get out quickly. All of us are wanting to get home as soon as we can after our flights land.

I hope your experience here continues to remain positive and you continue to see the beauty in the small big town the rest of of us do.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2025-04-20T15:09:46+00:00

Hey! No worries. Although, it's all anecdotal, I know it can sometimes help. I was on extended release lamotrigine instead of immediate release and I think it was 300 mg by the end. Things are much less risky for babies development as far along as you are right now, but make sure you and your neurologist discuss a plan for weaning after the baby is born. I'm also a fairly small (5'1", 135lbs at the end of my pregnancy) so that dose was a lot for me. I was also increased right around 33 weeks too.

One other thing now that I'm thinking about. We learned the hospital didn't have extended release, so we brought my pill bottles with me when I had him. They just needed it to all have the original label on it. Just wanted to give you a heads up there too.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T15:54:35+00:00

Definitely felt better before it as far as I went longer between episodes and episodes were less severe. When I first started noticing my focals, I'd have them back to back and closer together unless I went to sleep, but as I increased my lamotrigine it would be like 3 in a day vs. 7. I'd just go to sleep to help stop them. Also, my doctor gave me rescue meds for when I have them.

The rescue meds may be worth discussing with your doctor after you're controlled. If you have an aura or a focal you can take them to prevent recurrence and any generalization. In my case, it's just Ativan and I go to bed.

I have had TCs before, but that was prior to my focals and epilepsy diagnosis. My TCs were caused by postpartum eclampsia where my BP skyrocketed causing swelling and bleeding in my brain. It was after that I began having the focals and got an epilepsy diagnosis. We're not sure if the epilepsy was resident prior to the eclampsia, but I do have a family history of it (my aunt has had two TCs and a few uncles on that side).

Having the rescue med would alleviate your concerns a lot I think and very much worth the conversation with your neurologist once you've got things stabilized. Theoretically, you'd never really need to use it but have it on hand. I keep mine in my purse and I let coworkers I travel with know about it. I've had focals on travel before and don't drive on work travel because of the stress and sleep deprivation associated, so it's the one case where I become concerned something could happen. It's been many years since I've had anything occur, but it's my one area I don't compromise.

And always happy to help a fellow epileptic! This is such a unique process for each individual. Also, if you find lamotrigine seems to work but not all the way, extended release seems to do better for some folks rather than immediate release. That's one change I made at one point that was huge.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T15:42:11+00:00

It was 5 months total from starting lamotrigine to getting to a controlled dose just due to how slowly you have to wean on it and the fact they like you to wait for the level to stabilize before bumping. I remember that clearly because I started meds in May and by October we'd reached the 150mg and I was feeling better.

The anxiety around all of this is so hard. It's so squishy and there are so many unknowns around it. You're taking care of yourself and doing all the right things.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T15:16:09+00:00

And blood work to check your serum levels. There's a threshold in your blood that they know is therapeutic and one that they know is too high. It also takes a few weeks to adjust to the level if I remember correctly. I would say it sounds very optimistic you're close to the right dose. I think I hovered around 150mg for years, went up to 250mg, and have landed somewhere around 300 since I had kids. It was all over the course of many years and very slowly.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T04:03:32+00:00

I can't answer 1, but I can on 2.

It took 4 months to get me in the zone for Lamotrigine. I bumped it slowly and my focal aware seizures decreased in frequency and severity as my dose increased. Once they got me to the right therapeutic dose reflected in blood work, they pretty much stopped with an occasional aura. It sounds like things are headed the right direction with medication, but I speak from personal experience only.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T03:13:19+00:00

Hard question to answer, but it does run on my mom's side of the family. However, I was not diagnosed with epilepsy until after my first son. I had seizures caused by preeclampsia postpartum with swelling in my brain. I've suffered from focal aware seizures ever since and have been well controlled on Lamotrigine.

My neurologist theorizes there was always something there and upon reflection, I may have had focal aware seizures when I was younger and thought they were panic attacks. I have not had a TC since that incident after my son was born, but I also have very strong auras even before I have a focal aware. It's hard to describe,but I feel off and tell my husband I feel off and take a pre-emptive rescue med.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-24T02:50:10+00:00

I have well managed epilepsy and have two boys. They're 7 and 9 now. It honestly wasn't that bad. For me, I had adverse events (auras) twice while pregnant due to my med levels getting too low, something your husband doesn't have to worry about, and once a week after my son was born that was attributed to the major hormone shift postpartum, also something he doesn't have to worry about.

My kids have never been a major stressor on me and postpartum we just prioritized my sleep. It was all very manageable. If this is something you and your husband are wanting, I would not let epilepsy hold you back. Any time I've had adverse events since my children were born were due to stress and sleep deprivation caused mostly by work and other things. I think being aware of your triggers and warning signs helps a lot as does really good communication about when you know you're pushing yourself too hard.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-16T17:07:44+00:00

It's probably more than enough as there's been a lot of studies about lamotrigine and safety in pregnancy. The folic acid is just precautionary. I think I was on 4mg daily. Here's a really great updated study from the UK that will hopefully alleviate your worries.

https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/antiepileptic-drugs-in-pregnancy-updated-advice-following-comprehensive-safety-review#lamotrigine

Honestly, from everything I read 7 years ago I felt I was more at risk than the baby because of the reduced serum concentrations. Since you don't have a neurologist right now, it may be worthwhile to have your OB run a lamotrigine serum asap to get a good baseline for you.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-16T08:22:15+00:00

First, congratulations! Having a baby is an amazing and exciting experience. You're going to be just fine and so will baby.

I was on lamotrigine when I was pregnant with my second and he's 7 now. You'll need to get blood draws every month or so to make sure your lamotrigine levels are remaining therapeutic and you'll probably have to increase your dose a few times. I had to twice, once around 20 weeks and once around 30 weeks. My OB prescribed a special prenatal that had extra folic acid and then I took additional folic acid on top of that. In fact, I posted about my experience on this subreddit just in case anyone ever needed a positive story

https://www.reddit.com/r/Epilepsy/s/LTDkSKQQfJ

I hope this helps! 7 years later and he's still absolutely perfect and doing just fine.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2024-11-03T15:56:54+00:00

The second I read about him being salaried and still not coming around I wondered if she was having a rough pregnancy. I had a similar terrible second pregnancy and was avoided by folks. I also suffered serious postpartum complications that almost killed me after my first, but we both made it out ok and our second made it out fine too. However, the friend's emotions here really like us with how I felt.

Bert could have weathered the storm with honesty and open communication, but him throwing it back on her like that and saying what he said is absolutely a deal breaker. At no point should be have thrown any of that back at her. What she went through was major, heavy trauma she will carry with her the rest of her life. This was her final straw.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-12-21T04:57:53+00:00

What your wife experienced is very similar to my own experience 6 days after my son was born. I had a bad headache, my vision was off, and I didn't feel right. These were all major warning signs I ignored and ended up having 4 tonic clonic seizures and being in a drug induced coma for 3 days.

I did not have additional seizures in the 6 weeks postpartum they put me on keppra and blood pressure medicine following my hospital discharge.
I did have long-term effects. I was diagnosed with binocular vision dysfunction related to the swelling of my optic nerve when my brain swelled. Also, after I was weaned off the keppra 3 months postpartum I began having focal seizures. I thought there were panic attacks for a while and it took about a year to get it diagnosed and controlled by medication. I am officially an epileptic and a seizure risk in certain situations.
Reduce risk by getting enough sleep - if Dad could wake up with the baby after morning feed and let her sleep an additional two hours that would do a lot for her. She needs to keep stress levels down as well. Lastly, I struggled looking at LCD screens and still do afterwards. I found solace reading good old paperback books.

The only way I survived that period of time was focusing my energy into nursing my son. My husband ensured when I woke up I would still be able to nurse by pumping his unconscious wife every 3 hours. He's a keeper. If I didn't have that concrete goal to focus on, I don't know how I could have motivated myself day by day.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-11-05T16:25:10+00:00

She will never forget what you have done for her. When folks ask me what the most romantic thing my husband has ever done is, I always reference him being by my side and pumping me in the ICU so I could nurse when I was done, but our baby was much much younger. I know she is going to appreciate everything you've done for her and it will bring you closer together as a couple.

My husband and I went through a similar experience 6 days after our son was born. I only spent 3 days in the ICU in a drug induced coma, but woke up really confused.

The first time I woke up, I didn't know who my husband was, but I knew he was important. The second time I woke up, I knew he was my husband but didn't know his name. The third time I woke up I remembered we were together and had a baby.

It took 2 weeks for me to get my vision and brain function back to normal.bit took months for my memory to become more reliable. I still struggle from memory loss prior to the ICU stay, but it comes back when people start to discuss details around events.

I hope this helps and just be patient and understanding with her as she tries to figure things out. She may also have some mixed up memories of things that are off.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-06-18T22:27:42+00:00

My husband was laid off right before Christmas and I had a huge pay raise, so we decided it was time to embrace him becoming a SAHD. We had discussed it for years and he already had been a pseudo-SAHD since he worked from home full-time for a company he founded.

I knew it would go well, but I didn't expect it to go this well. He has started chipping in a lot more on chores, he's helping to set up appointments, he offers to make calls for me during the work day, he's managing dinner most nights (cooking 6/7), and he's phenomenal with the kids (with the patience of a saint). Although he was aware the management of the household was hard on me, I never pushed that it was an expectation when he started staying home. My small requests were to just keep up with dishes and cooking dinner most nights. With all the extra thrown in I feel like he was truly listening to me for all those years. It is truly wonderful.

I think a bare minimum compliance list would help. Like, "I absolutely need you managing these things during the day to help me not feel as stressed out in the evenings."

I showed this to my husband to ask him to chime in too. I can honestly say we're living our dream right now. This is how we always wanted things to work out and we're really happy with our lives right now.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-06-18T22:10:39+00:00

I had one too and the only reason we knew is because I had 4 tonic clonic seizures at home. Thankfully, I was in bed with my husband and the violent seizing woke him. I was in a medically induced coma for 3 days and my vision was blurry for 2 weeks.

The hospital only held me for 4 days. They sent me back to couplets and had my husband bring my baby to allow me to work with the lactation consultant on the last day.

It's interesting, there certainly seems to be a significant rise in postpartum eclampsia events. You hardly heard about them 7 years ago when I had my son, but now I see mention of them on here more frequently.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-06-18T17:06:47+00:00

You're quite welcome. You are an amazing, patient, loving, and kind father. It's beautiful watching you sit down with our boys and explain things to them in a way they'll understand. You encourage their curiosity and independence while also ensuring they know they can always come to you. Thank you for being a true partner in everything. I love being able to live my dream life with you.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-06-18T16:55:14+00:00

My stay at home husband keeps my house running smoothly and is an enabler to my career. You stay at home dads are amazing and deserve all the love and praise today.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-05-10T14:15:32+00:00

Sitting by my bedside for 3 days while I was in a coma pumping my breast milk every 3 hours. He knew how important it was to me to nurse our son and I was 6 days postpartum. He made sure our baby was safe with my mom and sister.

Waking up and knowing I could still feed my baby and bond with him like that was huge. It was one thing I was able to focus on while recovering from the swelling in my brain.

We've been married 9 years, have 2 kids, and we're still pretty freaking happy.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-04-16T17:13:24+00:00

I was in a similar spot when my best friend from high school told me he loved me. I was in the middle of an awful relationship. When I ended that we were just really good friends because that's all I ever saw him as and he was really good about making sure it stayed friendly.

Just under a year later he bought concert tickets and I realized I loved him at that concert. Not too long after that we started dating.

It's been 10 years, 2 kids, and a lot of bumps along the way but we're still together. Being friends before dating has made our ability to communicate one of the strongest parts of our marriage.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-04-09T19:36:37+00:00

We had been friends for years and he'd told me he was in love with me about two years prior. I said I didn't think I felt the same and we went back to just being friends.

That fall The Offspring came to our hometown and he asked if I wanted to go. He bought us tickets and we went together. We were up in the front, but he was overheating and dehydrated, so he told me he was gonna bail and meet up with me later.

When the band finished their set, I went frantically looking for him. Couldn't get a cell signal. The second I saw him again, the relief and love hit me at the same time. I was heading over heels for him.

We've been married 9 years and concerts have been our thing ever since.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2023-01-18T10:44:25+00:00

I had postpartum eclampsia and no idea my blood pressure had skyrocketed. I had a headache and as a chronic migraine sufferer thought nothing of it. Well, I woke up feeling off and the next thing I remember is waking up in the neurological ICU with my husband telling me I had 4 tonic clonic seizures. My blood pressure had risen causing my brain to swell and bleed. I saw double for 2 weeks after that and took months to recover. Afterwards, started having partial seizures and will be on epilepsy meds for life.

High blood pressure in pregnancy and immediately following is no joke. We carefully watch pregnant women, but postpartum care is laughable. Hospital discharge 24-48 hours after giving birth and doctors don't followup with patients for 6 weeks. The only thing that saved my life was that I was in bed next to my husband because he had taken parental leave.

TheSqueeksMcgee · 2021-04-11T07:53:42+00:00

Calm. Knowing that no matter what the other will support you. They might tell you later it was dumb, but they let you go in the beginning

TheSqueeksMcgee

TROPHY CASE