Depakote anyone?

My doctor prescribed me the anticonvulsant Depekote. I am afraid to take it. I understand that this type of med can have nasty side effects. My last experience with one, called Tegretal, had me not able to walk in a straight line. I had to walk in semicircles to get to where I was going. It was the weirdest experience that I have had. I understand Depekote can also have nasty side effects like the hair falling out.

Has anyone been successful in using this medication? I do not want it to damage my brain.

Tucson

awhile back I tried it, was on to high of dose, so I went off it. I am back on it now for almost a year along with lithium and it has been good to me. I stayed stable for almost 8 months.
In the beginning I did have some hair loss but it stopped, it was not long at all. I also had blood tests for levels and once it was to high we lowered it.
I take a low dose in morning and higher dose at bed, it can make you sleepy.
It can also cause tremors or shakes. I had them at first but the went away.

I don't mind sharing my personal experiences, but if I share negative ones, I want people to know that there are wonderful ones for every medication that has scathing ones, including for Depakote and Tegretol, and other frequently bashed medications. For example, I have taken Tegretol XR for over 8 years now, and never want to go off of it. And I take a rather high dose at 1400 mg per day. It gives me almost zero side effects. I say "almost" only because I think, but am not certain, that maybe it makes me slightly clumsier than I was before medications. But then again, maybe I'm just clumsier now than in my early 30s over 15 years ago. I do recall a couple initial side effects over 8 years ago, but they disappeared. Sometimes good things come to those who wait. Besides this, it ended what was almost 9 months of musical and voice hallucinations that were disturbing. I'm also a HUGE fan of Seroquel XR, a med commonly bashed.

So, about 10 years ago I was put on the combo of Depakote and Invega. I know Invega gave me at least one super nasty side effect, but I am 98% sure that Depakote did, too. I was put on that combo after about 4 years of almost constant mania and mania with mixed features, some with traumatizing psychosis. Those led to about 7 of my 10 hospitalizations. The Depakote and Invega combo finally wiped out my mania for a long time. Pretty impressive, huh? However, they left me severely depressed. That lasted over one year, and yet I was kept on that combo. It got so bad that I was not leaving my bed almost at all, and I gained 30 lbs. After previous urging, I finally accepted ECT. They stopped my Depakote during the ECT because you generally don't take an antiseizure med when you want to be having seizures. I had 7 treatments, only remembering maybe 4 of them. It helped. I was released, put back on Depakote with the Invega. I refused maintenance ECT because of some scary memory issues, but more because I had no one to take me to them outpatient.

I became depressed again on that med combo, plus the Invega side effects scared me (which I won't mention). I ended up in the hospital with my first pure severe depression. They overhauled my medications (goodbye Depakote and Invega). After some tinkering, my depression ended and I was either stable or delightfully managebly hypomanic. I lost 40 lbs in 6 months on a low carb diet that I would never have been able to do when depressed. I felt like hot ****!

As a side note, in addition to the weight gain and depression I had on Depakote and Invega, I had become pre-diabetic, had high cholesterol and triglycerides. After the diet on the new combo (Lithium, Geodon, Lamictal, Navane), all of these were normalized. Also, when on Depakote and Invega, I noticed the growth of dark chin hairs, more arm and leg hair, and hair elsewhere that I didn't want it. Talk about horrible! I read that that is a possible risk for women on Depakote that isn't really an issue for men. Luckily, after years off Depakote, this issue eased quite a bit, but for some women it doesn't. It can turn into full blown polycystic ovarian syndrome (see
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) | PsychEducation), which is an occasional side effect of Depakote in some women.

I hope this didn't scare you too much. And I didn't even go into the Invega side effect.

I was Depakote a couple of years ago. It took care of the mania but didn't help with depression. I didn't have any side effects though. I did have my blood checked every six months because it can be toxic at too high of a level. My IP doc at the time took me off of it because I had elevated liver values.

I was taken off lithium due to the "two strike" rule...and started on Depakote...now at 1250mg/day and increasing to 1500mg. It definitely helps with rapid cycling/mixed episodes but not so effective for me for depressive episodes. It's not lithium, but it's okay.
The upside is NO side effects at all!
I'd recommend you give it a try...

Depakote made my hair fall out luckily most of it grew back. It made me gain like 30lbs. I found it impossible to lose weight on it no matter what I did. It kept me stable though. But ill never take it again.

I was successful taking Depakote. In fact, I liked it better than what I am taking now (lithium). Depakote had no side effects for me - take it with food, always. Lithium makes me goofy and forgetful. However, Depakote has a bunch of long term side effects like liver damage......but I think that's a 15 year window.

Depakote (Epilim) was added to my meds last Nov when I was hospitalised with suicidal ideation. I was actively suicidal.
As soon as the med kicked in, my mood was normal. I have been free of suicidal ideation since.
Mixed mood is my baseline and Depakote is known for working well with mixed mood.

Side effect for me is weight gain. But that’s an individual thing. I know someone who’s been on it for 26yrs and experienced no side effects.

Depakote has knocked out full blown mania for me but does not help depression. I am only on 1000mg because my hair falls out at higher doses, plus I gain weight and my blood levels are acceptable at this dose anyway. I have not had liver problems. Usually that happens within the first six months. If you get past six months you’re usually good. Do keep up with the blood work though.

I’d recommend you give it a shot. Most of these medications have the possibility for horrible side effects but then most people may not experience them.

I hope if my hair starts falling out, it will eventually will stop, letting me to grow the hair back. I guess I will try it. But I understand that antiepilectic drugs can have very nasty side effects compared to other drugs like ADs, or even APs. When I was on Tegretol, I could not walk in straight lines. I was finding myself wondering to the left or right. I would then correct my course when I could, and then found myself wandering the opposite direction. In other words, I walked in semicircles. I do not think there are any more mood stabilizers for me to try. I am only aware of Tegretol, and Depakote. I hope this Depakote works for me, and at the same time, without any nasty side effects.

I took Depakote last fall for about 5 weeks and generally tolerated it. The other 4 meds I tried in that 2.5 month period were terrible and didn't take any of those longer than 2 weeks - a very crappy 2 weeks.
I did not lose a single hair on Depakote nor any of the other usual side effects. I had one weird side effect that was definitely from this med. It gave me a nagging pain in my lower back. It was so strange. I thought I hurt myself but it would not go away and just got worse. It stopped as soon as I stopped Depakote. I tolerated it well but it made me miserable. I was constantly in a funk and mumbling curse words because I was annoyed with everything.

I'm weird with meds though. I've had RLS most of my life and I think that's a clue as to why react badly to some popular meds, but tolerate some that others hate. Who knows? It's kind of a crap-shoot since everyone is so different. Trial and error. You never really know until you try it yourself.

I was prescribed Depakote many years ago for severe migraines, and as a mood stabilizer, too. It did help decrease the migraines and it seemed to stabilize my mood somewhat. I gained about 20lbs. on it. No other side effects, at all. I was on it for about a year.

Depakote caused me major stomach upset. Even tried using the granules (low dose) over apple sauce. Still had stomach issues.

As for weight gain, I think you'll see that with most psych meds.

There's also Lamictal and lithium.
I've been on Depakote high dose and had no side effects at all...in fact, my hair that I was losing on lithium has completely grown back in. Maybe initially you might have a little nausea and headaches but there aren't many long term effects. You do have to have blood work done every few months.
The main drawback to Depakote is that it acts more on mania than depression.