I took Depakote last fall for about 5 weeks and generally tolerated it. The other 4 meds I tried in that 2.5 month period were terrible and didn't take any of those longer than 2 weeks - a very crappy 2 weeks.
I did not lose a single hair on Depakote nor any of the other usual side effects. I had one weird side effect that was definitely from this med. It gave me a nagging pain in my lower back. It was so strange. I thought I hurt myself but it would not go away and just got worse. It stopped as soon as I stopped Depakote. I tolerated it well but it made me miserable. I was constantly in a funk and mumbling curse words because I was annoyed with everything.

I'm weird with meds though. I've had RLS most of my life and I think that's a clue as to why react badly to some popular meds, but tolerate some that others hate. Who knows? It's kind of a crap-shoot since everyone is so different. Trial and error. You never really know until you try it yourself.