I am new to Depakote (Epival in Canada)

I was taking Lamictal and got terrible tremors from it. Doc switched me to Lithium which gave me bad diarrhea.

He is putting me on Depakote (in Canada called Epival).

What thrills, chills, spills, hills, and pills await me?
Weight gain? Nausea? Sleepiness? Fill in the blank ___________?

I've been taking Depacote for 2-3 years. I've had some weight gain. I'm bald, so my hair loss that clogs my shower screen after every shower has to be my body hair. My migraines, which were 3-4 weekly for years, are now maybe 3-4 a year. Even regular headaches are rare. In fact, I was having several times a year times when I would feel electrical shocks/pulses/sensations or whatever through my head. The last one I remember having I was driving and almost had to pull over as I thought I felt like my brain was shutting down. Perhaps a mini seizure or something. Regardless, I was placed on Depacote a couple of weeks after that for my bipolar, and thankfully I have not had another episode like that since.

So, it's been good in some ways. I'm not so sure exactly how much it has improved my bp symptoms. I'm definitely better than without it.

I'm scared to death to stop it. It through me a wild emotional ride the first week I started it. I went through a serious emotional roller coaster ride for a solid week. Reminded me of the night when I was about 21 and tried lsd for the only time in my life, except this was for a whole week instead of one night. I came close to checking in at a hospital. However, I hung on and I leveled out after a week. I'm scared to stop because I'm afraid I would go through that again. I will make them ween me off of it or place me in a hospital for a few days.

I read a lot of people say it's some serious medicine. Personally, I feel any psychiatric medicine is serious. Perhaps some are more so than others. I hope that it goes well for you.

Oh, I did get drowsy after each doseage to start, but that qickly subsided.

How long did it take the drowsiness to stop?
For that first week, were you able to go to work each day?

I was out of work. I suppose if I had been working, I would have compensated for it with caffeine. It did seem as though it lasted a few months. I must say that it was calming me, as I had been a hyped, stressed out, and raging maniac lunatic for a while. Perhaps it had a major "downer" effect on me which contributed to the drowsiness.

I have been on depakote for years and not to scare you because this might not happen to you, I have gained a lot of weight, I am not talking a little, I mean over 100 lbs and I am a small framed, petite woman, It is kind of my fault also though, I should have been watching what I was eating and working out, It came on every year more and more, I have seen people on depakote that are thin so dont just go by what happened to me, Just watch your weight with this drug and eat healthy, It also helped with my headaches, I am going into partial today to switch to some thing else because of the huge weight gain, But I am scared at the same time because I have been on it for so many years and nothing else worked, I have tried them all, Good luck to you and remember watch your weight

I experienced diarrhea and weight gain with Depakote. I stayed on it for about a year until I realized the diarrhea was directly connected to it. However, I understand that reaction is rare. Good luck with the Depakote.

I am pretty sure it was the depakote that totally destroyed my ability to be organized or remember anything and yes, weight gain. (It could've been one of the other meds, but I am pretty sure it was the depakote) Lithium was a better choice for me.