[Info] Inactive Ingredients in Depakote & Dilantin may surprise you...

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Joyful

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Hi Guys, Many of you may already know this, but I have just discovered it & thought I'd share. I have done a bit of research to find out about the ingredients in my medications and was surprised at what I found.

Here it is, the inactive ingredients of Depakote:

corn oil
FD&C yellow 6
gelatin
iron oxide
methylparaben
propylparaben
titanium dioxide

Dilantin inactive ingredients :

lactose monohydrate
confectioner's sugar
talc
magnesium stearate
gelatin
FD&C yellow 6
 
Why does that surprise you? Many of the AEDs contain some of these ingredients.

I take Topomax and it's inactive ingredients are:

carnauba wax, hypromellose, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, polysorbate 80, pregelatinized starch, purified water, sodium starch glycolate, synthetic iron oxide, and titanium dioxide.

Plus Keppra's inactive ingredients are:

colloidal silicon dioxide, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, polyethylene glycol 3350, polyethylene glycol 6000, polyvinyl alcohol, talc, titanium dioxide, and additional agents listed below:

250 mg tablets: FD&C Blue #2/indigo carmine aluminum lake

*500 mg tablets: iron oxide yellow

750 mg tablets: FD&C yellow #6/sunset yellow FCF aluminum lake, iron oxide red

* I take 500 mgs of Keppra.

One can find drug info on http://www.rxlist.com/drugs/alpha_a.htm
 
Why does this surprise me ? What possible reason could there be for including confectioner's sugar in medications ? Or talc for that matter ? Titanium!!! Uh ... I don't want that stuff in my body, yet I have to take it - alot of it, on a daily basis.

Not all of these ingredients surprised me, but several did. I guess I'm just ignorant when it comes to these things.
 
Why does this surprise me ? What possible reason could there be for including confectioner's sugar in medications ? Or talc for that matter ? Titanium!!! Uh ... I don't want that stuff in my body, yet I have to take it - alot of it, on a daily basis.

Neither do I. But then again, I don't want TC seizures, either. They put fillers into the meds when coming up with a new medication, so they use what they have and add to it.

Search the FDA sight for more answers:
3. What is the purpose of the Inactive Ingredient Database?

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ucm080123.htm#purpose
 
Thanks, Cint. I guess w/ this diet I'm on I think I'm doing good w/ avoiding sugar, then I find out it's in the medicine I take. Oh well, I guess it doesn't always have to make sense.
Thanks alot for the link . I'm learnig more and more every day. :)
 
I wonder if that is just for the brand name Depakote. I take generic Valproic Acid capsules. I wonder what they have in them.
 
Good point. I've recently switched to the generic myself.

It was just a bit frustrating to see LACTOSE monohydrate and confectioner's SUGAR as two of the ingredients in the Dilantin. I'm trying to avoid dairy and sugar and w/o even realizing it I've been consuming the stuff!

And TALC ! Uggh!

" Talc is closely related to the potent carcinogen asbestos. Talc particles have been shown to cause tumors in the ovaries and lungs of cancer victims. "

Not to mention this -titanium dioxide which is in Depakote. I looked up titanium dioxide and discovered that it is actually TITANIUM - yeah, I need that to prevent seizures ??
Here is a link explaining more about this ingredient.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027000_titanium_dioxide_vitamins.htmlde -

I can't help but wonder if my seizure medicine may possibly be the cause of other health problems. This is just my own suspicion; not making any accusations or anything.

And it isn't like the meds have really controled the seizures, either.

In case you can't tell, I have more faith in the diet than I do in the meds. Sorry, but that's just how I feel.
 
I was looking up the propyl and methyl parabens you listed above.
In this article : http://www.drugs.cm/inactive/methylparaben-290.html
I ran across this little gem:

"All parabens have similar structure to estrogen. Studies conducted in the early 2000s located traces of parabens in breast tumors."

Those dirty rotten bastards! (excuse my French)
I had been taking Valproic Acid for about a year when I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
 
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Oh great. I'm just sitting pretty waiting for my biopsy results to come back. All this time I've been thinking I've no cause for concern b/c I know that cancer feeds on sugar and I havn't eat anything w/ sugar for the past month, but it's in my medicine!
 
I just came across this and thought I'd share.

http://www.sooperarticles.com/healt...sible-causing-ovarian-cysts-women-356604.html

http://www.ehealthme.com/ds/depakote/uterine+cancer


"Depakote commonly causes tiredness and can also slow mental processes. In addition, patients may experience nausea, tremors, hair loss and weight gain. Women who take Depakote are more likely to develop polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which can cause ovarian cysts and affect the ability to get pregnant."



When you are taking this medication and at the same time are waiting for biopsy results, it doesn't make things easy!
 
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Thanks for the link, Joyful. I started Depakote for the first time at 14. Even though we asked many questions, we weren't really told about the side effects. I really despise Depakote, I think it's a vile drug. I am furious that I was never told about PCOS. I am completely infertile and have not been able to find a cause. Hmmm, wonder if the medication could play a role?
 
Hey cuppycake --

Unfortunately the issue of PCOS in women in epilepsy is still murky. What studies there are suggest that for some women the two disorders are co-occurring (the way some people with epilepsy also seem to suffer from autoimmune disorders like Hashimoto's or lupus). And of all the anti-seizure medications, Valproate/Depakote seems to have a significant link to PCOS as well. The current thinking is that there is something about Valproate that may exacerbate an underlying tendency towards to PCOS in women with epilepsy and make it worse.
 
What I find more interesting about this thread is that those fillers vary from one manufacturer to another manufacturer. A very minor amount of one of the toxins could have little or no effect. It is frustrating to have any control over this because the ingredients are listed ALPHABETICALLY rather than by QUANTITY. Any other food is required to list ingredients by quantity from highest to lowest. Who made up this stupid rule?
 
This ingredient looks suspect.

Titanium Dioxide Classified as Possibly Carcinogenic to Humans

http://www.ccohs.ca/headlines/text186.html

Titanium dioxide has recently been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as an IARC Group 2B carcinogen ''possibly carcinogen to humans''. Titanium dioxide accounts for 70% of the total production volume of pigments worldwide. It is widely used to provide whiteness and opacity to products such as paints, plastics, papers, inks, foods, and toothpastes. It is also used in cosmetic and skin care products, and it is present in almost every sunblock, where it helps protect the skin from ultraviolet light.


With such widespread use of titanium dioxide, it is important to understand that the IARC conclusions are based on very specific evidence. This evidence showed that high concentrations of pigment-grade (powdered) and ultrafine titanium dioxide dust caused respiratory tract cancer in rats exposed by inhalation and intratracheal instillation*.

So that means it's only a lung cancer risk when inside aerosols.

I'd think if someone ate food with their depakote, the titanium could possibly reach deeper into the human body?

I ask because I don't know.


Dunkin’ Donuts Is Getting Rid of Titanium Dioxide in Its Food

http://time.com/3738521/dunkin-donuts-titanium-dioxide/

The move will not change the appearance of its baked goods, says the chain

However, there is no clear evidence that titanium dioxide is harmful to humans, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says as long as the colorant does not amount to 1% of any product, a label is not mandatory.

“Nevertheless, we began testing alternative formulations for this product in 2014 and we are in the process of rolling out a solution to the system that does not contain titanium dioxide.”


The Dunkin Donuts were never something deliciously wholesome to begin with, so...


What I find more interesting about this thread is that those fillers vary from one manufacturer to another manufacturer. A very minor amount of one of the toxins could have little or no effect. It is frustrating to have any control over this because the ingredients are listed ALPHABETICALLY rather than by QUANTITY. Any other food is required to list ingredients by quantity from highest to lowest. Who made up this stupid rule?


They say back in the 60s Nixon who came from a farmers community style background. You know, mormon commercialites or something to that effect, did what he could to feed starving americans. The result? High Fructose corn syrup. (I'm sure the death by starvation statistics plummeted after that one, right? Little joke.) Big industry simply doesn't have the resources to scale up production to feed the masses (with traditional style food stuffs, supposedly), so they have to do what they can with whatever crafty chemicals grad students come up with, I guess.

Right? We've basically stripped the oceans of a huge amount of wild life in a very short time, and so on...

We could scrutinize every chemical out there, but it's pointless, because it really comes down to common sense, which we've thrown away. Don't put metal and plastics in your food. There is already enough from the dirt and soil and whatever else. We as human beings have to adapt and learn to deal with these new substances, so there are going to be a few people who cannot adapt fast enough, or some materials that we simply cannot effectively eliminate at a rate that is acceptable at all.




I'm joking around, because it's not that bad, but yeah, you get the idea.
 
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I'm guessing that different manufacturers vary fillers because of their different rates of disolving; which can impact how fast one's system can absorb the medication.
It does appear to be more consistent with brand name medications. I wish they could clone our medications that work. My meds have been around 25 years and their trademark should be given to generic companies with no variations.
 
This is crazy! I can't imagine why some of these ingredients are in these meds. Sometimes it seems liked the deck is stacked against us.
 
BTW, you can research medications from this link at the FDA:

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/index.cfm

After searching, you might have to drill down (click a few links) until you find the drug details page with a link to "label information". Click that and you can then (hopefully) click a link for the latest label which will list inactive ingredients (probably near the bottom of the page).
 
Why does this surprise me ? What possible reason could there be for including confectioner's sugar in medications ? Or talc for that matter ? Titanium!!! Uh ... I don't want that stuff in my body, yet I have to take it - alot of it, on a daily basis.


Hi Joyful, Titanium is used for rockets. Did you know that Titanium is also used for an Ultrasound biopsy of the breast?
 
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