[bipolarmedstudent]

So, I take my depakote (divalproex) in the early evening and I'm in bed by 9 pm....and I wake up at 2 am, I think when it's coming out of my system.

This keeps happening.

UGH.

anyone else have this experience??

[hamster-bamster]

I have not. It is generally a sedating drug. Until I got more or less used to it, I could not get up in the morning, and when I did, my limbs were all weak. Tell your doc, your symptoms are unusual.

[bluematador]

I have the opposite experience with depakote. It knocks me out in the evening and makes me lethargic all day. My neurologist says everyone reacts differently to the medications. I lose weight on all the medications while most others gain weight. I always look like a skeleton.

[bluematador]

I forgot to mention that sometimes switching generic brands can help with side effects. I switched to a different brand and all of my annoying side effects disappeared completely. I was having severe cognitive side effects and problems with extreme lethargy. I switched to a gel cap of valproic acid and now I am completely fine. My pdoc says many of the side effects are not caused by the drug. They are caused by the additives. You may want to ask your doc about this if depakote is essential to your treatment.

[bipolarmedstudent]

Originally Posted by bluematador

I have the opposite experience with depakote. It knocks me out in the evening and makes me lethargic all day. My neurologist says everyone reacts differently to the medications. I lose weight on all the medications while most others gain weight. I always look like a skeleton.

It does make me lethargic, but I wake up in the middle of the night, I think when the drug is leaving my system.

[Confusedinomicon]

The half life is 9-16 hours. It wouldn't be leaving your system after sleeping a few hours.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by bluematador

I forgot to mention that sometimes switching generic brands can help with side effects. I switched to a different brand and all of my annoying side effects disappeared completely. I was having severe cognitive side effects and problems with extreme lethargy. I switched to a gel cap of valproic acid and now I am completely fine. My pdoc says many of the side effects are not caused by the drug. They are caused by the additives. You may want to ask your doc about this if depakote is essential to your treatment.

Wow! Thanks for the tip. Could you write the name of the brand that produces the gel caps? I have tremor from depakote, which is essential for my treatment, both as an anti-manic agent and for migraine prevention.