Depakote effects

[joaquin]

Just curious.  I am taking only 375 mg of Depakote daily (125mg in the morning and 250 before going to bed alone with .5mg or 1mg of xanax).  For the past week I have been feeling numbness in my lips and inside my mouth.  It even feels funny when I wash my mouth.  My regular doctor told me to go to my dentist, because he thinks one of my wisdom teeth is impacting my jaw.  It might be, since it hurts when I yawn. But the dentist cannot see me until May the 5th.  

However, I read somewhere that numbness in the mouth and in the lips could be a side effect of depakote.  My psychiatrist is on vacation, so I have not been able to ask him.  I am more prone to believe that it is a dental condition, but the problem is that I have been having problems articulating certain sounds, like p and f (I am a college professor and a singer, so I am very self-conscious of these things).  Since blurred speech is also a possible symptom and my regular dr. ruled out a stroke (because I am also having an allergy and blurred vision in my right eye), I thought that maybe you could give me some advice.  When I try to make a round o for singing purposes, my mouth goes a little to the side and I feel pressure on the back of my jaw.

I have been taking depakote since January and since being a hypocondriac is part of the bipolar packet (at least in my case), I would like you to give me your best advice.

I am a 46 years old male.  I was misdiagnosed with panic disorder five years ago and given Paxil, which drove me completely manic.  Since I started taking depakote and xanax together, my life has changed positively.  I also had a bout with the flu and after that, two days of wisdom tooth pain.  Immediately after that I started to feel what I am feeling now.

Cordially,

Alvin J. Figueroa, Ph.D.

[kell13]

im have been taking risperdal  1mg at night and 0.5 mg in afternoon i recently stared having more anziety attacks real bad ones and my limbs feel numb plus the inside and outside of my mouth feels like it is burning and ive noticed some have started peeling off some skin the pain starts on one side and moves around i wonder whats going on i have bipolar disorder

[joaquin]

Actually, it was diagnosed as bells palsy.  I am taking cortisone for four days and my dr. told me to increase my xanax as needed, because the cortisone makes me very nervous.  The depakote dosage is too low, according to him to cause the problems.  All the symptoms point out to bells palsy.  By the way, I am feeling a little better, althoug it is an annoying situation.

joaquin

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

Dysarthria is listed as an uncommon, but not rare, side effect, so what you are experiencing may well be from the medication. If it gets worse, you should consider changing medications. Its impossible to be sure that it is the medication, so seeing your dentist may be the next step for you.