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  • 12 - Epilepsy and the menstrual cycle

  • from Part III - Hormones and the brain
    • By Patrica O. Shafer, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Comprehensive Epilepsy, Center, 300 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA, Andrew G. Herzog, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Neuroendocrine Unit, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
  • Edited by Martha J. Morrell, Columbia University, New York, Kerry L. Flynn, Columbia-Presbyterian Cancer Center, New York
  • Book:
    Women with Epilepsy
    Published online:
    02 November 2009
    Print publication:
    20 March 2003, pp 119-130

  • Summary

    This chapter provides an overview of the normal menstrual cycle and what changes may be seen in women with epilepsy. Catamenial epilepsy, as well as the effects of seizures and medications on menstruation and of hormonal changes on seizures, are explained. Typically, catamenial seizures were thought to occur only immediately before or during menstruation. Both estrogen and progesterone affect the excitability of brain cells, especially in the temporal and frontal lobes of the brain. Hormones from the hypothalamus and pituitary gland regulate the amount of estrogen and progesterone circulating in a woman's body. Estrogen and progesterone levels change throughout the menstrual cycle. The easiest way to determine if seizures are related to the menstrual cycle is to record the occurrence and type of seizures and the day menstruation starts on a calendar. Progesterone therapy may be helpful for some women with catamenial seizures.