Yeah. I'm on 500mg of Depakote ER to "offset" the mild hypomanic tendencies I'm having with lamictal. "Hey, he's in a persistent but mild hypomanic state that he seems good at controlling through self-awareness. Lets make him feel like crap."

I was at one time, on Depakote at 3,000mg a day. I got real fat, and I had been off it for about a year and instead completed the switch to Lamictal. In that time I have lost close to 40 lbs. I'm sticking to a very strict diet. It is my own creation, so I think it will be easier to follow, and it is very simple. So far, it is working.

Last night I was wiped out the minute I laid down, and I got over 9 hours of sleep, which is a lot. I don't feel refreshed, I'm still tired, even after 3 large cups of coffee. When I go to work, I become alert quicker, but that's because the work itself gets the wheels spinning within the brain. But I have been getting tired in the afternoon and lethargic. I hate it. Mild, seemingly controllable hypomania is way better than a drug that makes you unable to even be happy. Even at only 500mg of ER, I think it will screw me. I have a ton of projects going on at the same time, both in and out of work. Most of them are very complex and I need my brain to be operating at full capacity. So this is not a good time for me to be down and lethargic.

I knew that depakote has given me the tendency to get depressed, tired, and agitated from past experience. I should have pushed for trying something else for a combo. Maybe a low dose of Lithium. I hear you have to drink a lot of water. I don't have a problem with that. I drink a ton of water every day. That's one of my simple rules I use for weight control/loss. Plus, "Lithium" is an element and it just sounds cooler than "Depakote." Depakote sounds like sort of tribe...no offense. But I'm a science nerd, so the word "Lithium" resonates more with me.