DEPAKOTE Reviews (DIVALPROEX SODIUM)Average Rating: 3.0 (584 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare DEPAKOTE with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
More on DEPAKOTE: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR DEPAKOTE | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 4 | epilepsy | Severe mood changes, weight gain, and curve in appetite. I can't eat things I used to be able to eat. Have taken it for almost 2 months now. | F | 21 | 2 months 1000MG | 12/21/2011 | 3 | seizure | I was on it all my life n got taken off 3yrs ago.well after i lost all my teeth. From it n now doctors say that coould not cause it | F | 37 | 10 years 1500x2 | 12/17/2011 | 3 | Cyclothymia | Weight gain, hair loss. | After reading some of these comments, I realized that my functionality level is probably attributed to this as well. There are some days where I just don't feel like functioning at all, (I call these my dark days) and others I'm completely fine. Fortunately I am on disability so this does not affect my job. I'm going to talk to my doctor again. I went down to 750mcg, but that increased my moodiness. Maybe we'll see about tapering off altogether. | F | 34 | 3 years 1000 1X day | 12/5/2011 | 2 | Migraines | 500mg for first 4 months - no side effects but I was still having migraines. Increased dosage to 1000mg a day and still had migraines, memory loss/slowed mental processing, tired, dizzy/faint headed and tremors (increasing every day). | F | 34 | 8 months 500mg 2X day | 12/4/2011 | 1 | Epilepsy | Weight loss, hair loss, stop in menstruation, mood swings, short term memory loss, headaches, anger, and tremors. | I was only on Depakote for a very short time before I went and saw an actual neurologist before I was switched to Keppra. I suffered horrible short term memory loss, to the point where I would forget what I was going to say in mid sentence. My period COMPLETELY stopped for those 3 months and when I would shower I would pull hand fulls of hair out. My hands would shake uncontrollably to where when I would eat I could not eat anything that required a spoon otherwise I would not be able to keep it on the spoon. I had kidney stones while on it as well and the smell of cooking food made me barf. Since I have been switched I am back to normal for the most part, still getting use to the new medication. | F | 18 | 3 months 250mg 3X day | 12/1/2011 | 5 | migraines | hair loss, weight gain, all side effects went away after about 6 mnths | started depakote for daily migraine treatment and it ended up stabilizing my mood and helping my anxiety panic and other issues i was on other meds for. i asked to stay on depakote for my mentality and do not want to go back. | F | 31 | 2 years 1000 mg 1X day | 11/29/2011 | 5 | Bi-Polar type II | Weight Gain from 230# to 290# in first year, then gain subsided, but cannot loose it again. Almost no sex drive, nor ability to orgasm. | It has greatly stabilized my mood. I no longer get wildly angry, and throw things, nor do I do crazy things like cut oddly shaped holes in the outside walls of my house, drive on city sidewalks late at night to avoid stoplights, etc. After I was on Depakote for a year or so, doc wanted me to try Lamictal. I went out of my mind titrating down from Depakote, then back up to theraputic dose of Lamictal, and finally back again. I don't want to go off Depakote again...ever. | M | 53 | 6 years 1000 MG 2X day | 11/7/2011 | 2 | Bipolar Disorder | absolutely NO sex drive, feeling no emotions at all (zombie-like), loss of interest in the things I love, painful, denser breasts, feeling of boredom all the time, having a hard time falling asleep (smoke weed before bed to help, or else have crazy dreams), and when I wake up in the morning I can't stay awake, I just want to go back to bed...always feel tired and weak, just want to curl up in a ball and go away. | At first I thought this drug leveled me out because I always had extreme bursts of hyper-ness that was out of my control, then would get very angry, then depressed...and the Depakote seemed to help. I believe now that it was just all in my head because it was the first actual drug I've ever taken (aside from birth control) and the doctor made me believe it was so great. I hate how anti-social I've become, and how I can never enjoy sex with my partner. This drug makes you feel like a zombie all the time...you think your happy and won't smile, or you will find something funny in your head, but not actually laugh at it. I am now on ritalin because im having a hard time concentrating in college and want to stick to just that. I would much rather have mood swings than feel like this...I just feel like nothing, like a plastic bag floating in the wind. PLEASE reconsider taking this drug especially if you are a young woman. I believe I was mis-diagnosed, and doctors love to brainwash you. Try to cope with it on your own with the help of friends and a well balenced diet. BELIEVE ME...your sex drive is worth SO much more than this drug, especially when your young like me and shouldn't be "like a 60 year old woman", as my partner says. Look up natural remedys...It's so much healthier for you and I am seeing the doctor tomorrow and telling him what I want...I recommend everyone do the same...YOU get to decide what you want out of life...noone else. | F | 20 | 3 months 250 MG-ER 2X day | 10/25/2011 | 5 | Bipolar, depression, mania | mild hand tremors, mild weight gain, mild hair loss, short stomach cramps | I experienced the traditional symptoms, but not to any great extent. My hands are a little shaky, but not so much that it effects daily living. I lost a little hair, but I was going bald anyhow. I gained about 15 pounds, but no one really notices. I get a belly cramp if I take it on an empty stomach, but a lot of medicines do that, so it's no big deal. This drug has worked wonders for me, though. I take Prozac for the depression end of things, and take the Depakote for the mania and agitation end of my symptoms. It works very well. The psychiatrist had me taper off Depakote, to see if I still needed it I suppose, and symptoms of paranoia and agitation returned very quickly. After restarting Depakote, the symptoms were relieved quite quickly. I'm very happy to tolerate the side effects from Depakote because it works very well for me, make me more tolerable to be around, and I credit it for saving my marriage. | M | 38 | 6 months 500 mg 3X day | 10/13/2011 | 1 | bi-polar | From the age of my mid 20's I have been on psycotropic medications. Fist it was prolyxin. Used as a punishment drug while I was briefly hospitalized at a hospital for the criminally insane. It's a long story but after selling my blood a few times I had held up a gas station with a toy gun. That was used allegedly for my "psychotic behavior". I have had ECT(the doctor who first gave me those later committed suicide after he was found to be "playing around with his female patients), lithium, haldol, abilify and between 50 to a 100 others by now. ALL of them I have found to be poisons to a brain which was once, and I like to think still is remarkably compassionate however bitter and betrayed I know I have been by the minuscule number of psychiatrists who define what reality is suppose to be for everyone. I just got out of doing a 3 week stint in a hospital where I was told if I did not take the depokote again I would be confined to a psych ward and treated over my objection. It is another long story that will be coming out I am sure after my death from the sum total of all of these mind numbing chemicals which seek to have traumas suppressed rather than deal withe them or to just medic ate undesirables out of the social fabric by shutting them up. The economy of the world is going down the toilet hatred is no where to be seen on the DSM as the only really bizarre mental illness meanwhile nuts who become psychiatrists point to a degree as valuable as TP to "p | M | 63 | 1 years 500 3X day | 10/13/2011 Patient History | 1 | Bipolar 2? | Tremor and clumsiness. Major Hair Loss. | Been off almost 3 months and the hair is still coming out in clumps. Lost half the hair on my head. It's been a nightmare. | F | 40 | 3 months 250 mg 3X day | 10/10/2011 | 5 | Weight gain , no sex drive, tremors | Has controlled my agression, and makes me feel under control . | M | 52 | 20 months 500 3X day | 10/2/2011 | 5 | depression, mood disorder | EXTREME nausea at the start - then no side effects | Have been through numerous anti-depressants. Their effectiveness just seems to wane and stop working after 6-8 months. I thought Depakote's nausea would kill me but after a few weeks it abated and lifted my mood so I could function very well. I'm also on 10mg Lexapro daily. I asked the Doc if we could go slow in increasing Depakote dose and we ended up just keeping it at 250 mg per day and it worked like a miracle drug for 8 months. From other posts, I expected hair loss etc, etc. Nothing, except some weight gain. In the last month, I've noticed a gradual downturn. I'm more likely to isolate, focus on negative, distract myself, get nothing done, eat/sleep not as well, not leave the house. Don't know if dosage needs to increase or it is not going to work anymore, as has happened with other meds in the past. Will see Doc today for next step. I'd urge folks to try to stay at low dosage IF it's working for you. Some Docs are too quick to up the dosage just because that's the protocol. | M | 60 | 9 months 250 1X day | 9/28/2011 | 4 | epilepsy | drowsiness, memory problems, | I was prescribed Depakote after Tegretol (unfortunately) stopped working. I am always groggy and have forgotten what it is like to feel wide awake and full of energy. My friends joke with me all the time because I have a hard time remembering things. I also forget words and lose my train of thought easily. Thank you for the comments about the drug..now I know that there is a high probability that Depakote is causing these issues. I will say though-I haven't had a grand-mal seizure since I've been on the drug and so I count myself lucky. | F | 38 | 10 years 250 MG 3X day | 9/27/2011 | 5 | bipolar | mild hair loss, mild nausea and mild tiredness | I started this medication after they tried to put me on ativan. Later they found out I needed something for bipolar. The side effects are easing off after my two weeks and I feel so much better. I was having panic attacks. I felt like I was about to have two since starting the medicine but they subsided! So not only do I feel better with the depression, but I am not struggling with the panic attacks. I am sorry for the ones who are having problems, but I am happy that I am starting to feel somewhat normal again!! | F | 36 | 2 weeks 500mg 1X day | 9/5/2011 | 1 | epilepsy | extremely sedated, bulging veins, could hardly walk (used to exercising at least 5 x a week), eyes stung, chest pain, | Did control grand mal seizures | F | 61 | 2 months 1000 mg 2X day | 8/28/2011 | 1 | Bipolar Disorder | Trembling hands, blurred vision, extreme anxiety, paranoia, lack of motivation, sore breasts, vivid and crazy dreams, sleep walking, extreme forgetfulness, scattered thoughts, easily agitated, loss of appetite and sleep, nausea, can't find the right words... it makes me feel socially awkward when i try to talk to people and I can barely finish a sentence without slurring or using the wrong word im looking for not to mention I can barely go anywhere without running into things or tripping over my own feet! I never asked for this... | I thought that this medication would help my Bipolar disorder however since I have started taking this medication my grades have went down in college, I have less of ambition towards my degree or work, and my health has greatly deteriorated after starting this drug I am so young however I am on Celexa, Depakote, Klonopin, and Heart medication. I feel worse now than I did before starting the drugs...I have weaned myself off and now hoping to control my bipolar disorder on my own. | F | 20 | 2 years 250 MG 3X day | 8/24/2011 | 2 | bipolar | Breast soreness, weight gain, didn't even help with mood swings | This pill is almost like a placebo, husband says made my bipolar worse. I felt okay, but he said I was more agiated, and got angry easier..my breasts have more than doubled in size. When I started taking the pill, I weighed 108, now I weigh 118. I'm 5'7.. So that much is a huge differnce to me, being as I have never weighed over 120..I have been put on 13 different meds to try to control my mood swings and crazy thoughts, I believe I am going to stop taking this one, and just go back to taking nothing like I was 2 years ago. I feel like that would be better than all of this crap I have been put thru. The depakote didn't really bother me, didn't have nausea, lightheadedness or anything like that.. so confusing, so just going to go back to nothing and see how that works out for me.. Good luck to all who try this, hope it works out for you! | F | 24 | 3 weeks 250 2X day | 8/21/2011 | 1 | "bipolar" ? | unsatiable appetite, foggy mind, EXTREME nausea and diziness, sleepiness all day long | this was prescribed to me by a psychiatrist, my first. i have always had bouts with depression but lately my moods seem to be going a little haywire so he suggested i am bi-polar....really?! after talking to me for 5 min he thinks im bipolar. and then he prescribes me this INSANE seizure drug!!! imediately i felt SO groggy, dizzy, not all there, like im high on something but not in a good way. and on top of these horrible physical side effects the mental side effects are just not worth it! i thought i had it bad before? think again! now i am MORE depressed more often throughout the day and my moods go up and down as much as the temperature outside! ive also had TWO panic attacks while taking this! all of the symptoms i was hoping depakote would help with, it magnified and made SO much worse: depression, anxiety, anger, irritation, sadness... plus i felt like such a zombie. at times i feel absolutely nothing. then 5 minutes later ill feel on top of the world, then 5 min after that ill be so depressed and want to hysterically bawl my eyes out! and i noticed that i couldnt feel satisfied when eating and i just want to keep eating and i wasnt sure if i was just over thinking it but now that i see this i know its DEFINITELY a side effect of this ridiculous medication. i am hoping i can wheen off this before the hair loss and shaking set in..... | F | 24 | 15 days 250 mg 1X day | 8/13/2011 | 5 | Bipolar 2 | Somewhat hard to fall asleep at night, a slight feeling of sedation for a few hours after taking the dose, so I take it before I go to bed at night. I am on Depakote ER. | This drug transformed my life for the better. I was in a mixed state episode that Lamictal just wouldn't stablize, so my psychiatrist switched me to Depakote. I personally haven't experienced hair loss or gained weight, though I'm very active and come from genetically thin stock. The drug stabilized the hypomania pretty quickly, but it took a few weeks for the depressive symptoms to significantly ease. I felt kind of zoned for a couple of weeks, but my energy level is at least as good as it ever has been, and I can focus and concentrate much better. I haven't had another depressive episode since I've been on it, and the hyp-mania is controlled as well. I'm uneasy about some of the side effects people are mentioning, but so far I'm just not experiencing the negative effects some of you are. I guess everyone is different, and I'm glad I started taking the medication prior to reading these comments. I may not have tried it otherwise. | M | 53 | 9 months 1500 1X day | 8/7/2011 |