# IVF and Epilepsy (Cycogest and Gestone)



## Tallis (Aug 1, 2008)

I am at the end of my 2nd cycle now and I would like to pass on some information to others that may be in the same position as me.  There is not that much information on the internet concerning IVF and Epilepsy and it is only through quite a lot of reseach that I have found out the information below.

MY FIRST CYCLE
I down regged OK, Stimmed well and ended up with 14 eggs on EC Day - 9 of these fertilised and we had a blastocyst transferred on day 6.  I was taking Cycogest as advised every 12 hours but unfortunately on Day 10 I started spotting and by the next day I had my period even though I was still taking the pessaries.

RESEARCH
At my meeting with my IVF Doctor it was decided that we should make a change and try Gestone injections instead.  In between this meeting and the start of my 2nd cycle I did quite a bit of research and found out that Tegretol (carbamazepine ) which I have taken for my Epilepsy since aged 9 (I'm 34 now) can effect certain types of medicines and how they interact in your body the list was quite lengthy and included was Cycogest and Gestone.  In a chance meeting with my GP she explained all.  The tegretol stimulates the Liver and makes it overactive.  It functions so efficiently that sometimes it makes medicines less potent or can even take out some of the active ingredients and alter the compounds.  Unfortunately, this is what occurs in the case of both Cycogest and Gestone - a percentage of the doseage is lost, it simply gets "gobbled up" by the Liver.  The suggestion is that the dosages are increased to combat this.  

MY 2nd CYCLE
We were again lucky enough to down regg and Stimm well and at EC again had 14 eggs 11 of which fertilised.  I took gestone injections from the day after EC until day 5 when I was unlucky enough to develop a migraine type headache - this was also the day of my ET we had been lucky and had a blastocyst ready to transfer.  The IVF doctor and nurse on call were great.  They understood all the information that I had sent in concerning the interaction of Cycogest, Gestone and Tegretol but it was necessary to make some changes so that the headaches didn't persist.  After my ET I went home and started a course of Cycogest taking Gestone twice weekly which is the advised dosage for maintaining pregnancy.  I am now on the last day of the cycle and test tomorrow.  I am pleased to report that I have had no breakthrough bleeding this time around and that the top-up every two / three days from the gestone has been enough to support the embie.

GESTONE
In case you are also thinking of trying Gestone I would advise that you book appointments at your local GP practice to see the nurse to get these done.  If done properly into the muscle which is at the top of the buttock it really isn't that painful - just a little scratch and sometimes slight bruising afterwards which you only really feel when you lie down in bed.  But, if done in the wrong place (as one of the less experienced nurses did when she injected too low down) it is very painful.

I hope that the information above will be helpful to others - best of luck  Tallis


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