ITD - The doc's choice of Depakote™ (divalproex - Epival™) with Topamax™ (topiramate) was one of thoughts that I had while reading the first part of your post. In my experience, about 60% (very approximate) of people gain weight when taking Depakote. This means that 40% do not. Perhaps ask the doc to start at a low dose of Depakote and keep a food diary.

Start the food diary at least a week or two before starting the Depakote, so that you have a baseline from which you should be able to see if your hunger is increasing while taking the Depakote. If you do start gaining weight, the Topamax can still be added fairly early.

I hope that this is of some help. - Cam