I was on 1500mg of Depakote for about a year. Side effects for me: Major zombification, weight gain (I mean tremendous from about 230 to 273), extreme drowsiness, hand tremors, but that was it really. Moving over to Lamictal now, can't stand Depakote anymore. Mind you it worked very well in controlling my mania, but it made me a complete zombie, sleeping 15 hours a day, no emotions, empty thoughts, you name it.