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Q: Pregnancy & Concerns re: Depakote
I just found out I was pregnant yesterday. My last period started six weeks ago. I'm discontinuing the depakote (was taking 500 mg. once a day)
immediately, but I'm really scared damage may have already occurred. Do you have a
rough idea of what the odds are of birth defects? In the cases you've seen
like this, does the baby usually turn out free of birth defects, if the
mother quits as soon as she knows she's pregnant?
Thanks, Panicking Lisa
Dear Lisa --
By the time you read this, I hope you've learned a lot more and have a strategy
for coping with the worry. For example, I hope you've learned somewhere faster
than me that the current estimate of abnormalities in kids exposed to Depakote,
at doses generally double to triple what you were taking, throughout the first
trimester, is between 2 and 5%Altshuler,
2004
What happens to these odds if you quit at 4 weeks of
pregnancy? Probably about the same, had you been taking full dose Depakote
(e.g. 1000 at least, 1500 mg is closer to the average dose). That's because the
neural tube issue is over by 4 weeks of pregnancy; it's a very early development
as the fetus starts to grow.
Since you were taking less, the risk may be lower in
your case. It may relate more to how long you were taking Depakote, because the
problem seems to be associated with reduced folate (a common vitamin) levels.
But there are no numbers to quote, that I know of, regarding how much the risk
changes by dose or by length of exposure. However, there is enough behind this
logic that Dr. Altshuler and colleages stated "using the lowest available dosage
may decrease the risk" in reference above.
So by now I hope that you've either settled on an
estimate and are working on coming to terms with that risk, or have been looking
for and have started working with a good therapist who knows how to use
"cognitive and behavioral" techniques to help you cope with a worry that
probably keeps popping into your mind. One of the simplest versions of that
approach is to switch the numbers from "two to 5 percent" to their inverse
statistic: the odds of your baby coming out fine are between 95 and 98 times
out of a hundred, or perhaps a bit higher due to the low dose thing. Same
information, different emphasis. Obvious approach, I know; people have probably
been urging you to think that way. It's just one of several techniques a good
therapist could help make sure you're using, if you're still struggling with
this issue -- which would be very understandable, of course. Most mothers
would worry. You just need a strategy if your worry seems excessive. Good
luck to you.
Dr. Phelps
Published November, 2004
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