Re: Depakote-Seizures and Mood Swings?

Posted By a href=mailto:***@**** jones]/a on April 18, 1999 at 20:14:18Pbr: h4Topic Area: Other Behavioral Topics/h4br: : My 16 year old daughter has severe depression and mood swings.  She also hasbr: : ADD and anxiety.  At this time she is taking Prozac for the depression.  Her br: : was discontinued due to problems with her thyroid.  That left her with taking br: : only the Prozac and the Tenex.  For several months I have been unable to get br: : her to take her medications regularly.  She says they make her tired andbr: : sleepy.  Her mood swings have gotten really bad, so I told her to tell the doctor br: : at her last visit and she did.  He took her off the tenex and added Depakote.br: : I filled her prescription and since ther was no paper telling anything about the br: : medication, I did some research and found out that Depakote is an anti-convulsivebr: : drug.  Why was this prescribed for mood swings?  I was not told by her doctor to dobr: : periodic blood work, but as a person who suffers from a Seizure Disorder, I knowbr: : that this is an important part of seizure medication.  Should I refuse tobr: : let her take this medicine?  What are the side effects?  She has had a few episodes br: : of dizziness and has only been on the medicine from wednesday night.  Please advise br: : me about this situation.  I am very afraid for her to take this medicine.  I knowbr: : first hand what seizure medication can do to you because I take 500 mg. of Dilantinbr: : per day and still have a few light break through seizures.  Is it possible that br: : Depakote has other uses other than anti-convulsant?  Why can I not find it inbr: : any of my drug books?  Thank You.p:


br: Dear Cathy,p: Depakote is an enteric-coated tablet that combines valproic acid and sodium valproate. Treatment with valproate is an accepted method of helping children and teens who display bipolar disorder. The most commonly prescribed mood stabilizi

[tonya-jones]

Posted By tonya jones on April 18, 1999 at 20:20:58

Hi my name is tonya .  I take depqkote. It works well for
mood swings.  It take 2 wks to get in your system. tonya
jones.

[Cathy__0__0]

Posted By Cathy on April 27, 1999 at 01:12:24
The depakote does seem to help some, but I found out that she has been skipping doses at night.  I have spoken about this to her and hope that she understands the importance of saying on schedule with her medications.  I know how important it is to remain on a tight schedule with your meds since I am a seizure patient.
by the way, Tonya, thanks for the advice.  Thanks to all.










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