Any GOOD about Depakote?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

RunningGirl...

You shouldn't worry too much...that itself can cause hair loss and other symptoms...just trying to relax...like I said before...keep doing what you're doing...exercise...eat right (and drink LOTS of water)...get enough sleep...stay consistent...

Also be careful with those multi-vitamins...a lot of them are wastes of money as your body will not use the majority of them and just flush them out...and make sure they are REAL...not synthetic...

I hope your relationship works out well...I pray for you and send you good vibes :)
 
I have a silver hair right where I part my hair...it's like it's poking it's cute little head out to say HEY LOOK AT ME! Omg he's such an attention whore :D
 
Sounds sexy, lol. Well, in the army the women have to wear their hair back in a bun, so any hairs that may have been hidden are seen. They aren't TOO obvious though. It's okay though - people still think I'm 22-23 in uniform (I'm 28). Outside of uniform people are a bit closer, which is funny, because you can't even see the hairs! I guess it's because I get to choose my attire, which I guess isn't 22-23 year old style, lol.
 
I completely understand! and most girls say I am cute...but I'll take sexy as well ;)

Apparently when I let my facial hair grow out I look my age (30) and when I shave I look 20...go figure! I don't like having facial hair anyway...it's itchy and looks messy (I'm a neat freak)

but anyway yes you look cute as well and I'm sure your hair is very sexy (it's hard to see in such small pictures plus my vision isn't the greatest (spending too much time firin mah lazer!)

and yeah I know what all the military stuff is all about...I was a military brat for a long time lol...when the weather gets cold I let my hair grow out until the weather warms up then I usually shave it...military style :D
 
Hahaha, thanks. Well, you can't see it in pictures anyway unless it's super close up :) Mostly you just see dark brown hair. Sometimes kinda wavy, sometimes curly, sometimes straight... depending on the day! I was actually thinking maybe I would put up some more pictures, since I haven't in so long.
 
Indeed I know what you mean! My hair is jet black but has a red tint in the sun at a certain angle...my cat is the same way :D
 
You and your cat match?!? Oh man. I iwsh I was allowed to have pets here xo I could have a matching cat. Though it would be dark brown which may be an interesting color for a cat :p

Sent from my SCH-I925 using Tapatalk
 
Lol yeah that would be an interesting color...don't think I've ever seen a dark brown cat before...I love all cats really...but my favorite are black (Burmese) and orange (Tabby) ones...(Halloween colors lol)...mine is a Burmese...I'll put a picture of her in my profile...you can check it out if you want...

and yeah the reddish tint is awesome :D
 
You have cats, I have parrots. This is my Bombey parrot.

IMAG1017_zpsc28e398e.jpg


I too, am part of the red tint club although I am nicely shaven in the pic.
 
Wow doesn't look like no parrot to me...unless you were being sarcastic in which case hahaha...

but yeah my wife hates it when my facial hair gets long and I try to kiss her...I admit I may be a little rough at times but I just get so excited lol...but I get sick of hearing OUCH! all the time cuz she says I am like a porcupine...but that's only when I've let it grow for longer than a week...(I don't like to shave so frequently because it irritates my skin...no to mention razors are expensive)...but yeah I shave and a few hours later it's already like sandpaper...she doesn't mind the sandpaper kisses so much as the porcupine ones...however...she loves it when I take my porcupine face and rub it gently on her neck tickling her...drives her crazy :D
 
Last edited:
My wife never seems to complain. Although when I let mine grow for a while and then shave, my face is so sensitive. I pick up one of the...er... parrots up and rub them on my face. Feels so soft....

I guess I was being facetious, rather than sarcastic... Meh. Their interchangeable in this situation. :pfft:
 
Last edited:
Ah duh! The cat on your shoulder looks like a "parrot" how silly of me...my cat for one loves being on people's shoulder...that's what it said in the description about her before I found her...I think she is a tree cat...she loves being up high...and pardon me I was in the middle of cooking an omelet so I was a little "slow" earlier...and yeah my cat is so vocal she might as well be a "parrot"! but instead of saying "polly wanna cracker"...she says "give me all your damn food now!"...I admit I spoil her and thus the begging...but oh well...she's my baby...well one of my babies :D
 
Last edited:
I'm just curious... has anyone here taken Depakote WITHOUT all of the negative side effects? Like... not gaining a bunch of weight? I know my neurologist is going to try to put me on it... Last time I saw him (which was too long ago), he said if the Vimpat and Lamictal weren't doing it for me then he wanted to try something stronger, like Depakote... Well, my auras aren't getting any better... if anything, they have been getting worse. Soo... I kinda wanna see if someone hasn't had terrible reactions to the medicine :)
I had very bad side effects with Depakote. Both my mother and I took it, with serious depression following. Bad thing is, neither of us noticed it as it was gradual. I decided to stop taking it one day, and felt much better over time. Told my mother about this, and same thing with her. I wouldn't take that again if you paid me.
 
I had very bad side effects with Depakote. Both my mother and I took it, with serious depression following. Bad thing is, neither of us noticed it as it was gradual. I decided to stop taking it one day, and felt much better over time. Told my mother about this, and same thing with her. I wouldn't take that again if you paid me.

Hmmm...were you taking anything else along with it? I've never noticed anything like that with Depakote (she loves me)...I guess you guys just didn't make good couples...like with me I can't take Paxil, Respirdal, Seroquel, Abilify, or Klonopin because they all aren't my type...I've take many other meds like these but these are just a few...I'm currently only taking Depakote ER atm...with Paxil I felt numb and suicidal...with Respirdal my tongue swelled up so I couldn't talk or eat for a while...with Seroquel it actually did the opposite of what it was suppose to do and increased my anxiety and aggravated my nerves...had the twitches like crazy and felt dizzy/disoriented...with Ability I just felt like I was having some weird OBE...with Klonopin I wanted to go on an insane killing spree...so yeah never again lol


Have you found the right medication for you?
 
Last edited:
I had a strange result with Depakote. Long story short, I was on Keppra for about 8 years, then last year had 3 seizures at the end of the year.

In January I was started on Depakote (500 mg) for the 1st week and (500mg twice a day) for the next 2 weeks. I went in to see my doctor and my Keppra level was a 9.5 and my Depakote was 89. Evidently the 89 is therapeutic but the 9.5 is not. So, we decided that since I was still feeling terrible, we would drop back on the Depakote (to 500 mg a day) and go to BRAND NAME Keppra. After only 1 week I was feeling fantastic, better than I'd felt in many years in fact. That only lasted about 3 1/2 days. Then each day that went by I would feel a bit worse.

I had my Keppra level done again suspecting that it may NOT have been the BRAND NAME Keppra making me feel better after all. Sure enough, it was only a 10.5 (it's supposed to be a 20 for me). I insisted and he agreed, that we immediately go back to the 500 mg twice a day on Depakote, in addition to the Keppra. I think the Keppra is doing nothing for me. The Depakote on the other hand, at least I believe now, is probably what has made me feel so better for those 3 1//2 days. It's only been 2 1/2 days since returning to the higher dose of Depakote, but I have faith that how I feel should improve soon.
 
*waves*

Hola Running Girl

I have jiust had Dekapote (Epilim in UK) added to my mocktail I started on 200mg pm for 2 weeks and just added in 200 mg am. I am mainly just a sleepy poppet I am not on a huge dose by any standards but also on Zonismide and Clobozam and my 3/4 hour afternoon nap keeps me functioning. I am soooooo hoping this wears off soon. Neuro has said if I tolerate the Depakote he'll take me of the Clobozam :)

My mood is a bit low, but again I don't know if that is med related or that my work is being a bit knob cheesey. I am thinking its the later.

So will share notes with you. Here's to keeping our hair ;)

Q
 
I take Epilim EC here in Australia and I have side effects but they are definitely better than having the seizures. I tried Lamictal so that I could get off the Epilim and have an easier time losing weight but Lamictal and I did not get along and I saw an increase in my photosensitivity (I am told that Epilim is the best medication for photosensitive Epilepsy). When I was on a lower dose it didn't really seem to effect me the same with regards to weight. At that stage I was on less than 1g per day and now am on 2g since I had a seizure after the birth of my second child. I do sometimes get a parkinson's like trembling in my hands which is something which is mentioned as a possible side effect (reversible parkinson's) of Epilim. My son has autism and I have recently learned that Epilim is a known teratogenic drug and can be a contributing factor to autism as well as many birth defects (but it isn't the only anti-epileptic medication that can have this effect). Stopping Epilim for me would likely have worse risks though so it is something you shouldn't do without a doctor's advice. In fact if you do end up wanting to have children then I would recommend switching medication prior to falling pregnant if possible. All in all I do think that Epilim is a great medication for many people so I hope that it works out for you.
 
Back
Top Bottom