Posted by interject79 on March 26, 2004, at 19:41:11
In reply to Re: Effexor, Risperdal Depakote for 12 yr old, posted by linkadge on March 26, 2004, at 19:15:35
Linkadge makes some extremely good points. If your son is currently in a manic state, the Risperdal was probably prescribed to curtail it quickly. Depakote is used for maintenance, and Effexor for anxiety/depression (though I think it's best that Effexor be kept as a LAST resort in bipolar cases). I think lithium is the gold standard for a reason. Side effects can appear substantial, but this drug has been around a very long time and is widely studied, where others are not (so they might be worse in the long run--who knows). Still many do just fine with Depakote.
I'd take the advice of going slowly seriously too. I believe I'd have been much more compliant in the past had the dosage increases been more modest and over a longer period of time.
Best wishes--and keep updating
interject
poster:interject79
thread:328581
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040325/msgs/328864.html