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Menopause and Epilepsy

Menopause can be challenging for a healthy woman, but for those with epilepsy the situation can be even worse because of to the change in her hormone levels.

  1. Paucity of Research

    • Most studies have been done on epileptics that are in their child-bearing years but more focus is being put on menopausal women who are epileptic or who experience their first seizure during menopause, according to Epilepsy.com.

    The Role of Hormones

    • Hormones, including estrogen and progesterone, have a bearing on seizures. Progesterone, which is produced when a woman ovulates, can reduce the incidence of seizures while estrogen, the other female sex hormone, can increase seizure activity. Since hormones fluctuate greatly during peri-menopause and menopause it is no surprise that the incidence of seizures may increase at this time. Progesterone stops being produced when a woman stops ovulating and is therefore no longer present in adequate amounts in a woman's body to safeguard against seizures.

    Frequency of Siezures

    • There is also evidence, according to Epilepsy.com, that some women have fewer seizures when they become menopausal so it appears that this is a very complicated situation and the outcome is different for every woman. There is also evidence that women who have epilepsy may go into menopause a decade earlier than women who aren't afflicted. Most epileptic women go through menopause about the same time as other women but there are those exceptions. This is particularly true of women who have catamenial seizures, which means that their seizures get worse near the time of their menstrual period. Women who do experience catamenial seizures have reported having fewer seizures after menopause but experiencing more seizures than normal during peri-menopause, which is the time leading up to menopause.

    Type of HRT

    • Some epileptics find relief by undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to the Epilepsyfoundation.org, although there are known risks to doing this, including an increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease. The type of HRT that you take is very important. Progestin (progesterone) and estrogen HRT seems to produce a better outcome than taking estrogen-only HRT. The estrogen-only type can increase seizure frequency.

    Bone Protection

    • An epileptic may fall during a seizure, which can result in fractures and broken bones. HRT does seem to prevent the development of porous bone disease (osteoporosis) so taking HRT may safeguard an epileptic woman's bones, generally speaking, and certainly in the event if she falls during a seizure.

    Medications

    • Furthermore, some of the medications given to epileptics can exacerbate bone loss. Those drugs include Tegretol or Carbatrol, Dilantin or Phenytek and phenobarbital. If you are taking these drugs, it is vitally important that you get enough vitamin D and calcium into your system to keep your bones strong. Exercise will also help maintain bone strength.

    Aging and Medicine

    • As you get older, your seizure medication dosage may need to be readjusted. Our bodies change and we tend to absorb drugs differently as well as distribute them throughout bodies in a different fashion when we get older. Discuss this with your physician.

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