My pdoc put me on 250 mg of Depakote starting today. I've stringently avoided this med for 20 years b/c a lot of bipolar people call it "Depobloat." I've heard stories of people who've put on 40 pounds in 2 months. The doc has a plan (he didn't tell me this -- but he told the pharmacist and prescribed it this way) to raise the dose to 250 TWICE A DAY == 500 mg a day.

Does anyone have experience with Depakote? How did you control your weight?

I've been good about controlling my weight. (I was too thin until I was about 21 or 22, when I started gaining.) The first time I lost over 20 lbs I was only 21 or 22 years old. Then two or three other times, the most recent (fifty years after the first time....) being 5 years ago when I lost 22 lbs. I keep my weight stable, within 5 pounds up or down. Preferably within 3 lbs up or down. Lately I have been craving sweets. In the past, I could simply stop sweets until my weight went down to where I like it to be. Now, I can't seem to manage that. Tomorrow my partner and I are going out to a restaurant, where dessert is included in the price of the meal. Ice cream, yumm. I'm going to skip it. Monday my guy is having a small party, and I'm bringing brownies. I'm going to make a pan of them this weekend. Such a sweet life!!!

PS When I was 11 the doctor took me off chocolate,nuts,fish and spinach because of acne. For 11 years, I did not have these things -- not even ONCE. In fact, the week this all started (i.e. stopped!) I was at a church retreat at a camp. A plate of home made brownies was passed around the table. I took one. Then, then plate came back around, I put it back. I was 11 years old so you can see that I've been really disciplined. Lots of practice. Of course, I'm not the only person in the world who has lots of practice with eating discipline. I know a lot of people with diabetes who follow doctor's orders; and one young man who has grown up with so many allergies and reactions that he has a highly limited number of foods his body can tolerate. He's in his 20s, and now has been missing days of work b/c of illnesses. So sad. He is considering applying for Social Security Disability -- but he loves his job, loves to work, has a strong work ethic.

[Moose72]

Depakote. I switched to lithium and zyprexa. Switching to Rexulti in January as my cholesterol is astronomical on zyprexa

[bizi]

I am on lamictal and geodon which are weight neutral meds.

don't know anything about depakote. sorry
bizi

[Moose72]

Depakote worked great for symptoms but I gained 50+ pounds on it. That's why I switched to lithium and zyprexa (which isn't so great on weight either).

[Rjaye]

Can you see a nutritionist who can develop a plan of eating for you? You have the discipline. Maybe he or she can give you some good ideas on how to limit calories without sacrificing nutrition.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

I refuse to take zyprexa or depokote for this reason. But I am on a high dose of seroquel and kept my weight fine by not giving into the cravings and just eating right. I watch everything I eat because of seroquel. CVS (a drug store, if you don't have one) has these protein drinks that are high in vitamins and good on calories and are sooo good. They're the same as ensure, just generic and cheaper. I have one every day and keep my meals small. Being that way helped me not gain anything after 12 years on seroquel so maybe it would work for you as well?