depakote

i take care of a seventy year old man that takes depakote and so does my son and he is 8. my patient takes 4/ 125mg. in the morning and 6/ 125mg. at night. he has had two srokes and a heart attack but still walked aftter both his stokes. he pnemonia (pneumonia) about a month ago and now all he does is sleep. its hard to get him to eat or do anything he used to do before. i think he is taking to much depakote but im not a doc. my patient also has sundown syndrom (syndrome) where he stays up all night and sleeps all day. thats why he was even put on depakote to begin with. his daughter wants to take him off of it but is scared. how would we do that. we are also takin him to the doc.on friday..........

[bernie40]

I wouldn't take this man off depakote without having had a full consultation and guidance from the doctor it could be very detrimental to his health if not fatal.  This med is, as you are probably aware, an anti-seizure medication as well as one for mood disorders.  Taking someone off this risks them having a seizure.

Only a Dr can determine whether or not this man is benefiting from the med but by all means you and his daughter can raise your concerns with him.  You may want to ask the Dr exactly what purpose the depakote is being used for.

[fairygirl19792005]

thanks for the reply. we are just trying to see other options. like i said we have a doctors visit on friday. so yes we are going to raise our concerns with him.

[bernie40]

Good luck for Friday, I hope it all goes well.  I meant to say that depakote does make you drowsy, almost zombie like in high doses.  It made me dozy on 1000mg daily so definitely worth mentioning the link to the Doc.

[LeftCoastChick]

If you are concerned about this doctor, you can always get a second opinion or mention that to his family.. My mum's gone through a heck of a lot of ill health but always bounced back. She fell a couple of months ago, and bruised her leg. She know has a wound, which a nurse comes in to change and give her meds IV every day now.She was never like this before, sometimes, it just happens like your patient and my mum just to knock them down. I wish the best for your patient.