Does anyone take Depakote for depresssion

I am being treated for Bipolar II & Borderline personality disorder, where the depakote surpreses the manic episodes & I will be starting Wellbutrin soon to eleviate some of the depression I've experienced.

I am currently on 1000mg of Depakote & I am doing fine. I was up to 2000mg at one point & never experienced any side effects that wer not bearable.

Depekote is an anticonvulsant, used to treat people who r epileptic or as an mood stabilizer for those who experience manic episodes in a number of different disorders, primaryly Bipoler & Borderline Personality Disorder. While Depakote manages the mood swings, it is not theraputically proven to reduce depression. Typically, a mood stabilizer is used as an adjunct treatment, where after u reach a theraputic level, u can attach a complimenting antidepressant or other mood stabilizers.

I did a lot of research on Valporates once my Dr. prescribed them for me. I then approached my Dr. with concerns regarding the typical side effects;

You will get fat.
You will go bald, or ur hair will thin or change in some way.
You will always have heartburn, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain or similar stomach complaints.
You will be tired all the time.
Your hearing wo not be as good as it used to be.
You will have the shakes a lot. Gee, & this is an anticonvulsant?
Your liver will hate you.
You just wo not feel that sexual any more. As if all the the above were not enough to turn u off, valproates & other anticonvulsants

After discussing these with my Dr. she assured me that out of the above mentioned side effects, only the weight gain & stomach problems can occur. As per the hair loss, she mentioned that this occurs for women, but only a small %.

You can avoid the stomach problems by asking ur Dr. for the ER (Extended release) tabs. As per the weight gain, there is nothing u can do, other than work out & eat healthy.

As per the liver problems, Depakote does matabolise heavily in ur liver. Therefore, ur Dr. will have to monitor ur blood levels regularly (usually weekly until u reach the theraputic levels, then once a month afterwards). Unless you're not being monitored, u have nothing to worry about as far as having liver problems over the long term.

Understanding the above, u absolutely cannot drink while taking Depakote. The results can be fatal, yes it can kill you! You should not be drinking while taking psychotropic medication anyway, especially with valporates.

Depakote (divalproex sodium) has been around for a very long time. So it is not like you're taking an experimental drug or something that has a high risk of giving u liver problems. If it did, the FDA would have yanked it off the shelf. The key is that when you're on Depakote, u must be monitored & u will be fine.

Before I started taking Depakote, my Dr. discussed a dosage schedule & she explained that we can avoid the side effects by increasing the dosage slowely, while monitoring my blood levels.

Since then, I have not experienced any of the above side effects (some minor weight gain & minimal stomach problems) & the medicine works quite well for me. I've tried other anticonvulsants, such as Trileptal & Lamictal. I've experienced the best results from Depakote.

Different people react to meds differently, but u should discuss ur concerns & reactions to meds as frequently as u can with ur Dr. That is what they r there for.

My husband takes Depakote for his depression. He is not bi-polar either. Depakote has been around a very long time & other than an occasional allergic reaction (the person whose hair fell out) it is a relatively safe medication. The most common side effect of Depakote is weight gain & a ''foggy brain'' (meaning it can make it harder to concentrate until u get used to it). All medications can have potential bad side effects, just read all the warnings on Tylenol. Talk with ur doctor about ur concerns & make sure u get ur levels tested regularly.

That crap made my hair fall out by the hand fulls. Most of the time that medicines side effects are worse than the problem you are taking them for. Good luck. Google Depakote and read the info on it. Write down any changes you are having while on the medicine and take it with you next time you see your doctor. Follow the instructions on the bottle exactly.

Depakote does not have a lot of side effects except weight gain. Everyone that I know that takes it is Bipolar & that was how they determined that I was Bipolar when I was hospitalized. They had tried everything & the only thing that worked was Depakote. It did not work on my depression at all so I told my doctor & he put me on something else. You should drink a lot of water anyways. As far as all of these side effects where did u hear all of that from. I never had problems with side effects it just did not work on me. Good Luck

me i like it.

Go to the website ''WEBMD'' it should give you the information you need.