New meds and need an opinion...Depakote

Have started depakote and I think I may be calling the doctor before the week is out. I need a bit of perspective here - started Friday night and I'm not sure if it was stress or what but I had horrid nightmares and couldn't wake up or move and then once I did rouse, it was just napping for the rest of the night. Woke up exhausted. Not sure if this is part of why I'm so incredibly tired (yesterday and today) or if it's the drug. Still not sleeping soundly and I was warned the med causes drowsiness. I also seem to be having a lot of indigestion...nothing has been sitting very well and if not bland, horribly uncomfortable. I've been downing a lot of Tums to try to combat it (it's an OTC antacid for my non-USA friends) but not working too well. Making it hard to tell if it's M nausea or indigestion.

If you were in my shoes - are these tolerable side-effects? I know it hasn't been long but I was on this 3 days prior (had an interaction with another med that I am now off of) and had indigestion issues. I don't want to be a whiner but also don't want to put up with something on the outside chance it doesn't work. I'm also supposed to double the dose in another 10 days or so and this rather scares me. I normally have an iron stomach and this is the first time I've ever had meds cause this sort of problem and doubling it...I'm afraid of it being unbearable.

Thoughts or suggestions?

sorry to hear of those effects. they sound awful. I have not been on depakote but was on several that did those side effects

and they did not get better. have not experienced reflux from meds. hope you get relief soon.

Depakote gave me hallucinations way back when I tried it. I would wake up from a sound sleep and see giant spiders and spiderwebs over my bed. It freaked me out every time. I would dive under the covers and peek out every few seconds til they went away, usually within a minute or two. It was very wierd but they stopped when I stopped taking depakote.

I don't know if that is the same mechanism as what you are experienceing, but remember that these drugs do alter our brain chemistry. Sometimes it is a side effect that goes away after a bit and other times you have to either deal with it or stop taking the medication.

Alli

If it were me and I was me and I was having the same reaction as you HL I would continue on with the medication for a little while and see how it went. Thats just me. My topamax side effects for the first 3 months were more bothersome than those but thankfully they went away so I'm happy I stuck it out.

If your interested in the heartburn going away, ask you doctor if you can take OTC prilosec. Most places sell an off-label (CVS brand, costco makes one REALLY cheap!!..ect.) that is extremely affordable and much more effective than tums. I got the worst heartburn during pregnancy. It woke me up in the middle of the night and had me praying to the porcelain god if you know what I mean Tums did NOTHING. I took those things once daily and it saved me a lot of trouble. Hope this helps you out!

Unfortunately, this is more than heartburn - that the Tums seems to knock out. This is farther down the pipe that is just miserable. LG, if it was just that I'd be calling the doc for something to knock that out but I don't know that they have anything that works on this (?) I'd hit the Pepto but I don't think that's a good idea to do on a daily basis (other stuff in there). Of all the weirdo side-effects I've had...this is the most tolerable. It just seems that my system does not like food while on this which is bizarre.

The other part that is worrysome is the tiredness. I'm very tired and it's been very hard to get up in the morning (even with going to bed extra early) - and when I double the dose, is this going to get worse? Perhaps I'm borrowing trouble and need to give it a few more days....

Hey HL, you never know you might want to give it a try anyway. I know it isn't garden variety tummy problems but that OTC stuff was strong so it may help you out. Just a thought.

I would quit it if it continues on but I would have quit topamax too if I was that dumb forever. Weird though, my doc reassured me that most times the side effects do fade. Maybe you can call and get the same assurance. If not it might be time to talk about weaning off if you are uncomfortable.

I may do that - I just never have this sort of thing and have no idea what to do. It's not that it's horrible but it's by far not fun (although far more pleasant than my mood shifting every 5 seconds). I just get a bit worried when they start you out at a lower dose and there are minor issues that when you escalate that they are going to become out of control.

There is definitely something weird going on in my head today - feels like two sides at war. Just hope that they decide to call a truce soon...or someone admits defeat.

I do have to stop at the pharmacy tonight, perhaps I'll run a thing or two past the pharmacist and see if they have suggestions or if it's in their opinion that I should call the doctor.

I was on 2000 mg of Depakote for almost two years. The two years I was wacked out on every drug known to man .

The depakote caused extreme trembling. I couldn't east in public becuse the food would fall off the fork. I had a great deal of difficulty keyboarding and my job entails that.

The dose was eventually lowered but I continued trembling at 500 mg and I guess it's not therapuetic at any lower than that.

Charlotte

Oh my Charlotte! Yikes. I'm at 250mg right now and set to go up to 500mg in another 10 or so days.

Will be on the watch for the tremors...I already have mild ones due to genes that only come on during stress - my doctor is aware of this however. It's just the other stuff that is not pleasant right now...

Alright - picked up a refill at the pharmacy and asked the pharmacist about the indigestion issues. He said the Tums are fine but no Pepto - there's stuff that doesn't play nice with Depakote. And he did say I should call the doctor and see what they recommend...

Just one of those things I thought I'd pass along for anyone who might have this issue in the future. I wouldn't have guessed it would be a problem but am glad I checked before I took anything more. Now to go find a loose pair of pants...ugh my whole tummy is just sore. Now what to eat for dinner

Kind of a bummer - other than the tiredness and this, no really crazy side effects. And surprisingly, I took my dogs for a 30 minute walk and I'm feeling less tired. I give up - the world just doesn't make sense.

A follow up to this post.

Called the doctor and got omeprazole for the tummy issues. Although things to seem to be settling down on their own...well until lunch today but I think that was a no-no on my part. Also feeling less tired so apparently these are side-effects that just need time to adjust to. Now hopefully this stuff works. Won't know for another couple of weeks as I'm not at full strength yet and I'm assuming that it takes a bit of time before you see results?

Anyway...just a reference for others on this one for the first time.