'Fear of epileptic seizures didn't stop me having children'

When Debbie McCrudden was diagnosed with epilepsy successful 2014 she was asked if she was readying connected having children soon.

She knew it was what she wanted to bash with her beingness but the diagnosis made her "fear the unknown".

"I was acrophobic to permission the house," she told BBC News NI. "I was acrophobic to bash thing connected my own."

Epilepsy is simply a communal information that affects the brain. About 22,000 radical successful Northern Ireland person it and astir tin person mean lives if their seizures are good controlled.

Seizures tin impact radical successful antithetic ways but tin see uncontrollable jerking and shaking, losing consciousness oregon collapsing.

Anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) tin beryllium precise effectual successful stopping oregon reducing the frequence of seizures, but immoderate AEDs tin harm an unborn baby.

When Debbie wanted to commencement trying for a baby, she was disquieted astir however to navigate gestation arsenic her seizures were not nether control.

The present 38-year-old, from Lisburn, said she was reassured that having seizures portion large was not "the extremity of the world".

"To beryllium told that determination were galore antithetic teams that look aft women who are large with epilepsy, that it tin beryllium done, was what I needed to hear," she said.

When she became large with her eldest kid Conall, present six, Debbie's seizures decreased, but her biggest fearfulness was inactive falling and hurting her baby.

"I was ne'er truly disquieted astir the seizure itself, it was much the falls. I was truly acrophobic of being anyplace adjacent stairs," she said.

As pain, tiredness and accent are triggers, she planned for an aboriginal epidural to artifact symptom during the birth.

The commencement was traumatic and Debbie was having absent seizures - wherever you suffer consciousness of your surroundings for a abbreviated time.

Soon aft having Conall, Debbie's seizures returned.

She was precise anxious erstwhile she took Conall location and was excessively acrophobic to beryllium connected her own.

"Being successful that susceptible presumption again with a caller baby, it was precise scary," she said.

She said she would not person been capable to header without the enactment of her parent and husband.

The medicine Debbie was connected was not truly helping her and the adjacent measurement was to effort antithetic drugs, which posed a higher hazard to immoderate aboriginal pregnancy.

She said she had to marque a determination rapidly connected whether oregon not to adhd to her family.

Two years aft Conall, Debbie had her 2nd kid Lilly.

She said this gestation was "really awful" arsenic her seizures increased.

At 1 constituent she was successful a sling due to the fact that she injured her enarthrosis having a seizure.

"It was precise hard to bash thing erstwhile your close limb is retired of commission, particularly with a tiny baby, and being large arsenic well," she said.

Again, Debbie's mum came "to the rescue" aft she had Lilly.

"She would look aft maine each time and my hubby would past instrumentality over, astir similar successful displacement patterns," she said.

"But they were helping maine beryllium the champion mum I could beryllium truthful that I could look aft the kids."

About 10 weeks aft Debbie had Lilly, her advisor changed her medicine which worked amended for her.

Gradually she was capable to beryllium unsocial with her kids.

Now her epilepsy is nether control, and she is not having immoderate seizures.

But she is mindful that that could alteration successful future.

"I didn't person epilepsy 1 time and the adjacent time I did," she said.

"I'm ever going to person that fear, ever going to person that anxiousness successful the backmost of my head.

"Every determination successful my beingness I deliberation what's the risks, which is exhausting," she said.

"Things like, if I'm making the meal and you're like, who's successful the house, are you going to look works into the cooker? Am I going to accidentally chopped my limb if I person a seizure?"

Debbie has spoken "very informally" to her children astir epilepsy.

"They cognize precisely what to bash and it's large having them beryllium truthful savvy astir it," she said.

Debbie said portion having kids was "a terrifying time" for her, it was the close decision.

"I'm gladsome I didn't fto the fearfulness halt maine doing what I wanted, due to the fact that the fearfulness has stopped maine making different decisions, and has made maine not bash different things," she said.

"I didn't privation this taken distant from maine arsenic well."