Posted by MidnightBlue on April 25, 2006, at 10:33:30
In reply to Why are so many people down on Depakote?, posted by greywolf on April 24, 2006, at 22:40:30
I took depakote for many many years. It was given to me at first to help prevent horrible almost daily migraine headaches. I gained 100 pounds. I had more frequent, heavy, very painful periods. I had problems with nausea, dizziness, stomach pain, foggy brain. At first I got ulcers in my mouth/throat. Those eventually went away.
The plus side? It did help me sleep at night if I took the whole dose at once. (My doc said I could do that.) It reduced the migraines by about 50% and I had to go to the emergency room less. This was years ago before all the new migraine meds.
It did absolutely nothing to help my depression and I think might have made it worse. I am not bipolar (though several doctors wanted to hang that label on me when I didn't respond to SSRIs) and it seemed to damp down any positive or creative thoughts. My pdoc STILL didn't understand why I didn't get better when he pushed the dose from 1000 to 1250. Only the side effects got worse! Maybe the drug wasn't working for me? DUH!
I have a friend who DID have liver damage from depakote. And oh yeah, I did have problems with my hair falling out! My gyn has said it can cause polycystic ovary disease.
My feeling is if you REALLY REALLY need the drug to stabilize mood or for epilepsy then take it. Otherwise if there is ANYTHING else you could take, try that first.
It is not the worst drug out there. But it is serious medication.
MB
poster:MidnightBlue
thread:636783
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060423/msgs/636897.html