Posted by geekUK on August 12, 2001, at 6:42:12
In reply to Re: Depakote for Bipolar II » Ted, posted by MM on August 12, 2001, at 3:10:58
I am about 1+3/4 months into taking depakote, All ssri's up to this point I thought did not work, if any thing they made me worse (feeling crazyer). After reading through this site I realised that I was close to BPII, and the 'crazyness' of the AD was rapid cyling. so I suggested depakote. I first started taking it in the mornings (I thought that I was so able to take it), bad Idea- very sedating. Everything seems to slow and its hard to speak or read or anything slightly taxing. but I take it at night now and its A LOT better. It took about 2-3 weeks for the highs to bow out and the lows took about a month to even out. Liver test are essential to put your mind at rest, can cause a white blood cell drop (known as agranulocytosis,) its rare but I insisted on a blood test after I got a sore throat. I take 500 mg and it works fine
> -Ted
> my pdoc never mentioned liver tests, and I started Depakote a week ago (last friday). Would it still be useful to get even though I didn't have a test done before starting Depakote?
>
> - sillygrrl
> I'm not too sure what I think of Depakote so far. I am kinda sleepy most of the time, a little foggy brained, and I get somewhat nauseous throughout the day, but none of that is very bad and should go away in a week or two. As far as my mood, I feel kinda flat, and somewhat dazed, but it's not that bad. I also feel somewhat calmer though. I think it's most useful for hypo/mania and I bet it would stop that dead in it's tracks, but when there's no hypo/mania, you have just the depression to take care of. I would say try it, and if you don't like it you can always try something else.
poster:geekUK
thread:74646
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010809/msgs/74746.html