darcness
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My wife has been having all kinds of trouble with Depakote recently. I'll start from the beginning and go from there...
At first, she was sleeping a TON when taking it. She would sleep for 15-16 hours a day and there were many times when she even appeared to be so fatigued that she would literally fall asleep all through the day. It seemed that no matter how much sleep so got, she'd never be rested. Also at this time I noticed that she was having a lot of jerking around in her sleep.
As time went by the SE's seemed to subside. For about 2-3 months she was doing extremely well. Her mood had improved, the side effects were almost non-existent and she was doing very well with control. The only real side effect I noticed was the jerking in her sleep. It wasn't too bad though at this point.
Well the past month or so (6 months on Depakote now) she's took a pretty big turn for the worse. She's once again sleeping all the time. She's falling asleep while watching TV or eating and she spends most of her time on the couch. I've noticed her mood dropping again and her energy levels are horrible. Also the night time twitching has gotten much worse, even happening while she isn't sleeping at times.
On top of all this, she's caught a cold or something this week. She's basically bed-ridden. She did clean the apartment yesterday but it totally exhausted her. She's tired, sore, and slightly depressed almost all the time.
We're going to the neuro on Monday to talk to him about all of this and get her levels checked. I'm really concerned with what's going on right now. For whatever reasons it seemed like these delayed side effects are hitting her really hard. She's even noticed that she's losing more hair.
Another thing we're talking about is having kids. I put in an offer on a house this week and hopefully we will get it. We're wanting to move on with our future and start a family soon, but between the Depakote, which isn't good for pregnancy, and the horrible state she's in right now, it's not happening any time soon.
I'm to the point that I'm convinced she needs to come off this med. It's just not working well for her at all. She hasn't had any t-c's or partials, but the jerking in her sleep and the changes in her energy and mood tell me it's definitely not the right med for her.
Has anyone else seen side effects that pop up later like this? Do these sound like common SE's for Depakote? From what I've read the story sounds pretty similar to others on Depakote and having SE's. Also, are there any good AED's that work for a wide range of seizures and are safe for pregnancy?
At first, she was sleeping a TON when taking it. She would sleep for 15-16 hours a day and there were many times when she even appeared to be so fatigued that she would literally fall asleep all through the day. It seemed that no matter how much sleep so got, she'd never be rested. Also at this time I noticed that she was having a lot of jerking around in her sleep.
As time went by the SE's seemed to subside. For about 2-3 months she was doing extremely well. Her mood had improved, the side effects were almost non-existent and she was doing very well with control. The only real side effect I noticed was the jerking in her sleep. It wasn't too bad though at this point.
Well the past month or so (6 months on Depakote now) she's took a pretty big turn for the worse. She's once again sleeping all the time. She's falling asleep while watching TV or eating and she spends most of her time on the couch. I've noticed her mood dropping again and her energy levels are horrible. Also the night time twitching has gotten much worse, even happening while she isn't sleeping at times.
On top of all this, she's caught a cold or something this week. She's basically bed-ridden. She did clean the apartment yesterday but it totally exhausted her. She's tired, sore, and slightly depressed almost all the time.
We're going to the neuro on Monday to talk to him about all of this and get her levels checked. I'm really concerned with what's going on right now. For whatever reasons it seemed like these delayed side effects are hitting her really hard. She's even noticed that she's losing more hair.
Another thing we're talking about is having kids. I put in an offer on a house this week and hopefully we will get it. We're wanting to move on with our future and start a family soon, but between the Depakote, which isn't good for pregnancy, and the horrible state she's in right now, it's not happening any time soon.
I'm to the point that I'm convinced she needs to come off this med. It's just not working well for her at all. She hasn't had any t-c's or partials, but the jerking in her sleep and the changes in her energy and mood tell me it's definitely not the right med for her.
Has anyone else seen side effects that pop up later like this? Do these sound like common SE's for Depakote? From what I've read the story sounds pretty similar to others on Depakote and having SE's. Also, are there any good AED's that work for a wide range of seizures and are safe for pregnancy?