Hi Thelema,

When i was in the hospital about two years ago following an OD (yuck- did you ever have to drink charcoal?) the Dr there put me on Depakote. i had dx of PTSD and DID and Depression (we're better now
Anyways i had a bad reaction to seruquel and the Dr tried me on Depakote.

The weird thing was that it did nothing that i could think of at all. i didn't mind taking it, it didn't do anything bad- the only thing that i noticed that was negative was that it caused me to lose balance- sometimes i hike on ledges and it could be dangerous. It made rock- scrambling a lot harder and i used a walking stick sometimes. Also i think it made it easier to dehydrate and took away some of my energy- which mattered to me a lot on a ten mile hike.

When my prescription ran out i didn't bother to replace it . i stopped taking it after three months. it was ok to just get off of i guess because nothing bad happened.

i remember about the liver function tests that i had to have- so that is a precaution as others have said- you should have your liver tested first and often as your Dr says. i'm really sensitive to medicines too- i can't take any of the antidepressants or antipsychotics. For some reason Depakote didn't do anything that i can tell except the aggravating thing with my balance and interfere with stamina. That caused me to stop it.

It's good to meet you Thelema.
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Take care,
kerria