[newtothis31]

After a lot of thought and consideration, I decided that the side effects from Depakote were outweighing the benefits. I've been on Depakote for a year in a half (went from 2000 mg to 250 mg), and the fatigue has been terrible. Another side effect that I didn't care for was that it felt like my thought process had slowed down considerably. I was able to adjust over time, and accepted it as the price for not having to worry about mania.

When I went to my p-doc yesterday, we talked about it and looked at alternatives. He switched me over to Trileptal.

So now it's 75 mg of Effexor, 150 mg of Trileptal 2x per day, and 40 mg of Latuda. Hoping to take out Latuda at my next appointment- it really didn't help me when I got a major case of depression during December and January (had to start Effexor).

So far, I've only taken one dosage of the Trileptal. It's too early to tell how it works- but so far so good. I feel more alert, and I don't have the "cloudiness" of thought from the depakote. That being said, my p-doc gave me a heads-up that it'll take a few weeks for the new medicine to take effect.

[scatterbrained04]

I like Trileptal. Haven't really had many issues with it. I also take 20mg Latuda. I haven't been on that real long, so I'm still forming an opinion.