Medicine timing?

[RockerMama]

I dropped off the 6 months prescription at the pharmacy yesterday, as we are almost out of the "trial" prescription.

My daughter is up to 3 doses a day(Depakote sprinkles). Timing wise, that would put it at every 8 hours she gets a pill. She get the first dos at 6:30 AM, next at about 2:30 when she is home from school, and the last would be around 10:30. She goes to bed around 6:30(she is a BIG sleeper, and since she is up at 6, she needs around 12 hours sleep), so we have been waking her up to give her that 10:30 dose.

On a good note, I KNOW the meds are working. On a bad note, it is because we missed her third dose a few days in a row, and she started seeing sparkles again. I set alarms now so that doesn't happen again, and we will get into the routine soon enough.

So, what I am wondering is does medicine have to be spaced out exactly? I don't mind waking her up if I have to, I was just wondering if I am making it more complicated then I have to.

 

[Nakamova]

It depends on the medication half-life, plus the individual and their particular sensitivity. I can get away with taking my morning dose whenever I get up -- 6am, 7am, 8am, 9am -- it doesn't seem to matter. I usually take my evening dose at 6pm, but I've never noticed any problems if I'm not on the dot. That's due in part to the fact the Lamictal has a long half-life, as well as my own seizure threshold. Other folks really have to be rigid with their dosing, otherwise they have problems.

You could try giving her her evening dose just before she goes to sleep, and see how she handles it. Since the body's metabolism slows down at night, she may be fine going 12 hours on a single dose. (The listed half-life for Depakote ranges from 9 to 16 hours.)

If that doesn't work, another possibility (to discuss with her her doc) might be slightly lowering the midday dose and upping the evening dose so that she has more med to cover the longer stretch of time.

 

[RockerMama]

That is a really good idea, thank you!