Hi Rebecca1! I'm wishing you all the best with Depakote (sodium valproate). It is a proven medication that has helped many people with bipolar disorder for a long time. I think experiences with that medication differ greatly, as we all experience some medications differently. Also, the courses of our bipolar disorder differ.

I have to say that your topic, as a whole, is an incredibly massive one. I wouldn't even know where to start, and could likely fill pages and pages with my experiences, alone. I have had some great experiences and some very horrible ones, for sure. In the end (or at least at this moment), I am happy that I took the journey. I am happy with my current cocktail, but it took a long time getting to where I am. Being on bipolar medication is surely much better, for me, than not. Where my journey heads in the future is TBD.