does anyone know of any medication to treat symptoms of trigeminal and occipital neuralgia that is safe to use in pregnancy and breast feeding??? I know its a long shot but surely there must be something??? I would appreciate ANY advice, thank you :)
Tegretol and other anti-seizure drugs have non-zero risks of birth defects when used in pregnancy, but several of these drugs are on the FDA Category D list. For medications on that list, benefits to the patient may outweigh the risk for some women. Ultimately, this is an issue for you to discuss in depth with your neurologist. Another useful reference would be Cindy Ezell, the patient representative at the TN Association. She's a nurse and she took anti-seizure drugs during a pregnancy after thoroughly researching the issue.
For a further discussion of this issue as applied to Tegretol, see http://www.epilepsy.com/medications/b_tegretol_pregnancy. The narrative is highly similar with Neurontin, though risks of birth defects appear not to have been studied in as much depth with this drug. Trileptal risk is somewhat elevated -- to Category C.
I'm quite sure that risks to the fetus will be judged significantly higher by medical professionals for the opioid and NSAID drugs.
Regards and best,
R.A. "Red" Lawhern, Ph.D.
Resident Research Analyst, LwTN