Posted by g_g_g_unit on February 17, 2012, at 20:30:08
In reply to Re: Depakote questions, posted by SLS on February 17, 2012, at 7:17:22
> > So I took 250mg of Depakote last night in an attempt to ease my Parnate irritability.
> >
> > Unfortunately, I found it activating - I went from feeling bleary-eyed and exhausted to being unable to fall asleep until 3am.
>
> That's interesting. That might not be such a bad thing.How so?
>
> Questions: Was your mind more active than usual? Were your thoughts more positive, or were they more depressive? Was your level of anxiety higher or lower?Yes, my mind was more active I believe. My anxiety was lower. My thoughts may have been more depressive, though there's also some life circumstance stuff going on at the moment.
I found the combination of anxiolysis, increased energy, increased mental activity yet with paradoxical decrease in alertness and attention to be frustrating.
>
> > Is this a weird reaction?
>
> I'm sure God wouldn't think so. However, us humans don't know any better than to call it a paradoxical reaction. I have not heard of it before. But then again, I am in no position to observe hundreds of people on valproate.
>
> > Should I try raising the dose?
>
> Based upon my experience with valproate, I would probably opt to raise the dosage to between 500 - 1000 mg/day. You should dose twice a day. The half-life of valproate is somewhat short (9 - 16 hours). Your taking valproate is only an experiment of a doctor. If going higher in dosage makes things worse, then perhaps it will be time to end the experiment. However, if you do discontinue it, and you need an augmenter in your antidepressant therapy at some point in the future, valproate might be an interersting choice. It depends on whether it is energizing in a good way or a bad way.
>
> Let us know how it goes.
>I've been finding that I'm calmer and my mood is more flat/even in the mornings. This offsets the irritability of the Parnate to some extent, but it also leaves me feeling dopey and bored, which results in agitation.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:1010496
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120212/msgs/1010584.html