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Parkinson's as a side effect

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MedHelp Member's Question

Parkinson's as a side effect

by BRSTZ, Jun 11, 2002 12:00AM

Tags: parkinson's, Neurology, liver, manic, seizure, stress

Can Depakote cause Parkinson's like symptoms? Please direct me to any literature that may document this.

Doctor's Answer

by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT, Jun 11, 2002 12:00AM

Absolutely. It definitely can cause tremor, but in addition to this it causes a parkinson like syndrome that reverses on discontinuation of the drug. Interestingly enough, in the past year I spoke to a drug rep for depakote about this and the company sent me some information. The most recent article I could find in an AMerican journal was:

Neurology Sept 1996 pp626-635 by Armon et al.

The article was not written for the lay public and will contain a lot of medical jargon, but you can certainly find it at a medical school library nearby and ask your PCP to help you understand it. The other thing you can do is write to the company for any literature they may have for the lay public regarding this matter. Good luck.

Member Comments (3)

by links, Jun 12, 2002 12:00AM

Here is a link to the Abstract of the paper mentioned by the Doctor.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8797455&dopt=Abstract

If you enter

Depakote parkinsonism

into the search field, you will get a few more papers. Sometimes these contain links to the full article.

by Magick, Jul 25, 2002 12:00AM

To: Doctor

Hello, I went to the ER in June and was diagnosed with "seizure, new onset. First one I've ever had. I am 39. Was about 20 seconds. Felt like a panic attack to me; however, I did lose consciousness which had never happened. I immediately was asked if I were pregnant or thinking about it, said no and am now on Depakote 750mg a day for 3 months until I'm rechecked and they'll notify DMV. Had a normal CT and a normal MRI which the Neurologist took 3 weeks to tell me were normal. Now I'm to have an EEG of which I know nothing about. In the hospital they did blood tests & found slightly elevated liver enzymes but not "hepatic'? levels?. and told them I drink alcohol mild to moderate. My side effects to this medication are very uncomfortable (stomach pain, watery eyes, achy legs at times, blurry eyes, unsteadiness, diarrhea, neck pain/headache. Any offering of information as to why a manic depression/bi-polar medicine is given to a first time supposed seizure person when I haven't truly been officially diagnosed with one? Previously before this incident, I have been under extreme stress, loss of periods (before Depakote)and had actually hit my head (back left) 4 days prior to onset seizure. As a note, in the past I've taken tons of acetaminophen and OTC holistic drugs. I am now under even more stress because I don't want to even take this medication period. What should my EEG show or prove that could possibly keep me off these drugs (if known). I'm still in child bearing years and this is a concern. If I'm only on this so the Dept of Motor Vehicles doesn't take my license then I'd prefer not to drive again. If my liver tests were already elevated, it seems quite odd I would be given such a severe class D drug (name gynocologist gave it)for a first time maybe maybe not seizure when it's main precuation is liver failure and pancreatic failure. I'd rather take the panic pills and never drive again at this point if this is the sole reason I have to have this heavy a drug and this many tests for a one time thing at present. Is it possible my hitting my head and the stress could give me a pseudo seizure? Finally, would an EEG show an actual seizure and will having an EEG provoke a seizure. At this point, I don't even want the EEG. Now forever, I'm branded legally in a file somewhere with taking a drug for the manic stage of manic depressive disorder or migraine headaches when all I did was pass out while buying a blouse at the store. Seems like a leap from aspirin to heroin to me. Thanks for your help.

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