Posted by Robert Johnson on January 23, 2002, at 9:22:52
In reply to Re: Depakote Side Effects » Robert Johnson, posted by TSA West on January 22, 2002, at 21:56:24
> TSA West,
Thanks for the information.
My bipolar 1 wife is a teacher. She's been taking Depakote for the first time in her life for the past month. Since she has always had terrible insomnia problems, the sedative and mood stabilization effects of Depakote have been a real blessing for her. For the first time in decades, she has now been averaging 8+ hours of sleep at night. The problem is the daytime.
She has a rather irregular work schedule. Although she does not work continuously during the day, on some days she can start work as early as 7:30 a.m. and not be completely finished until 7:30 p.m. The trick is trying to keep her awake and mentally alert (not "foggy") on Depakote throughout the day. We'll see if your suggestion about taking all the drug at night helps her or not.
We were, however, still wondering whether the side effects of the drug (including the mental "fogginess") tended to wear off over time for long term users or, if not, whether Depakote ER might still be a better way to go for her.
We'd still deeply appreciate hearing additional feedback/suggestions from other bipolars or docs out there who have personal experience to share.
p.s. If Depakote ER is best way to go on this, we'd be more than willing to pay the $35 co-pay that my insurance policy would charge us for it.
poster:Robert Johnson
thread:91119
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020116/msgs/91227.html