Seahawks0101 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 My Doctor took me off the lithium today because I was feeling so agitated, angry and frustrated I could not stand it. She put me on 1000 mg of Depakote. Has anyone else made this transition? How is depakote different from lithium? I hope it kicks in soon I can’t watch TV, work on the computer or hell anything else because of the need to get up and move around. All I can stand to do is lay in a quiet room. Also I am a mega jerk so no one else can stand me either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spadez87 Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 My Doctor took me off the lithium today because I was feeling so agitated, angry and frustrated I could not stand it. She put me on 1000 mg of Depakote. Has anyone else made this transition? How is depakote different from lithium? I hope it kicks in soon I can’t watch TV, work on the computer or hell anything else because of the need to get up and move around. All I can stand to do is lay in a quiet room. Also I am a mega jerk so no one else can stand me either. im on depakote, i just started a few days ago. Im worried about the side effects on the liver and so forth. Your doc set you up with blood tests? if so how often do you have to do them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks0101 Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 My Doctor took me off the lithium today because I was feeling so agitated, angry and frustrated I could not stand it. She put me on 1000 mg of Depakote. Has anyone else made this transition? How is depakote different from lithium? I hope it kicks in soon I can’t watch TV, work on the computer or hell anything else because of the need to get up and move around. All I can stand to do is lay in a quiet room. Also I am a mega jerk so no one else can stand me either. im on depakote, i just started a few days ago. Im worried about the side effects on the liver and so forth. Your doc set you up with blood tests? if so how often do you have to do them. I have to have blood tests every two weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I went in the reverse direction from depakote to lithium i love lithium everyone is different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siggmin Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I'm on 1250mg of Depakote.. Actually, we call it Epival here. And about 2 or 3 years ago, I was on Lithium. I find Epival a lot better. I haven't had any manic episodes at all since I started it. And recently, I was able to go off my antidepressant without any depression symptoms returning, so far.. I tolerate it a lot better, too.. I was having a lot of hand tremors from Lithium, and a lot of stomach sickness. I only notice a little bit of sleepiness when my Epival dose is raised, as far as side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawks0101 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I'm on 1250mg of Depakote.. Actually, we call it Epival here. And about 2 or 3 years ago, I was on Lithium. I find Epival a lot better. I haven't had any manic episodes at all since I started it. And recently, I was able to go off my antidepressant without any depression symptoms returning, so far.. I tolerate it a lot better, too.. I was having a lot of hand tremors from Lithium, and a lot of stomach sickness. I only notice a little bit of sleepiness when my Epival dose is raised, as far as side effects. The lithium made my stomach upset too. Glad its working for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimako Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I went in the reverse direction from depakote to lithium i love lithium everyone is different Me too. Depakote knocked me so far down I was having a hard time digging out enough to communicate. Also, it made my ears make a horrible noise that kept me up for the whole 3 weeks I took it which, you know, kind of defeated the purpose of getting rid of hypomania. Ear noise made them switch me to lithium and then I slept for 3 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siggmin Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I'm on 1250mg of Depakote.. Actually, we call it Epival here. And about 2 or 3 years ago, I was on Lithium. I find Epival a lot better. I haven't had any manic episodes at all since I started it. And recently, I was able to go off my antidepressant without any depression symptoms returning, so far.. I tolerate it a lot better, too.. I was having a lot of hand tremors from Lithium, and a lot of stomach sickness. I only notice a little bit of sleepiness when my Epival dose is raised, as far as side effects.The lithium made my stomach upset too. Glad its working for youI hope it works for you too.. I have heard mixed reviews, but hopefully it'll work out better than Lithium did for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Right Honourable Jimmy Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Depakote should not have big side effects if doctors slowly increase the dose.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I am pretty sure that for mixed episodes, a ton of depakote is given all at once. It could just be that side effects aren't as noticeable when you are mixed, since you've other things on your mind.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeekers Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 as i understand it, lithium is a mood stabilzer that works on the depression end of BP. and depakote is for the mania end. someone please correct me gently if I'm wrong. when i first started BP drugs a decade-plus ago, my mixed state wouldn't break and my dr put me on 4,000mg of depakote. my depression was amazingly horrible, but he wouldn't give me an AD because I was too unstable. however, the mixed broke and I was put on lithium, seroquel, and lamactil. This was a tough time for me, but I had no problems with the dep except shaking and feeling fragile, which i guess i was. the current drug combo is working fine for me with occasional breaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan77 Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 as i understand it, lithium is a mood stabilzer that works on the depression end of BP. Actually, Lithium works better for mania than depression. However it can help depression too, but not as much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I went from lithium to depakote when I had kidney problems (rare, also genetic for me, you have a 1/100,000 chance of getting them) from Lithium. Depakote isn't a good mood stabilizer for me, when Lithium was. It knocked me out at first, helped for a little while. I didn't gain any weight. It kept my moods stable for about a year, then I started having mixed episodes. I was on pretty much the same medications, except instead of Piportil depot it was Seroquel (works decently, major weight gain) or Geodon (I hate Geodon, doesn't work, weight neutral though, makes me nauseous) replace Topamax with Depakote. It was decent for rapid cycling (it used to be the gold standard for rapid cycling) but I kept getting the damn mixed episodes. It is one of the front line mood stabilizers for bipolar disorder and generally works pretty quickly, and is up there with lithium. I know many people whose lives its saved. Just because it worked for a bit and pooped out on me doesn't mean it will for you. A lot of people find it weight neutral. I had blood tests every 3 months on Depakote, rather than monthly with lithium. After the first couple of blood tests, they changed it to 6 months. It isn't as fussy with levels, and some docs don't do blood tests at all. I started out at 250mg and titrated up to 1000mg (500mg in the am, 500mg in the pm) and found I was drowsy at first. It doesn't cause the "stupids" like Topamax does at the beginning (which can be for months, since Topamax titration takes forever) and the drowsiness goes away. It helped me sleep at night with the Seroquel and no hangover in the morning. I'd still take it if it weren't for the damn mixed episodes. But that's just me. It has a lot of positive reviews. Keep going to your doctor for regular physicals, they can check your liver with a simple test of poking around at it, and they generally include it in routine blood work. My doc does physicals yearly. My liver is functioning really well, which surprises the hell out of me every time. I thought it'd be pickled by now. If your pdoc doesn't order blood work and the liver problems make you uneasy, ask for it. Or ask your GP. I haven't heard of anyone having liver problems, though. It is processed by your liver rather than your kidneys. Good luck on it. It is a 'safer' drug than lithium, and lithium is pretty safe when levels are checked often and you're hydrated. You can take NSAID's, have caffeine and so on with Depakote. It is a gold standard for bipolar, and a lot of people swear by it. Best of luck. It kicks in fast and will calm irritation quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stars Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 (edited) I tried Lithium 2 times at least over the last 35 yrs. Last time I got something called "yellow vision" and Pdoc said never again take that. I also took Depokote arriving at 500mg 2X day. It was experimental at the time I tired in while IP. Upon taking first dose I was watched carefully. I felt like throwing myself into a wall briefly but it subsided. So I stayed on the drug. About half my hair fell out the next morning , it was in my hospital bed. I gained weight , a surprise then. My skin looked awful, I looked 20 yrs older than I was. It did work as a mood stabilizer but looking back I realize I was having some kind of brain zaps with it. I would hear a gun shot going off in my head, or it felt like a door was being shut inside my head. I had no words to tell the Pdoc at the time so I just stayed on Depokote for about 2 yrs. ( Now they call this phenomenon Exploding Head Syndrome. look it up , seriously ) The pdoc had to wean me off of it . I could not just stop the drug as I felt like I was out of control when I lowered the dose too much. ( it took about 6 months for me to stop the drug, it was tough). Edited June 15, 2014 by Stars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hupcake Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I'm on 1250mg of Depakote.. Actually, we call it Epival here. And about 2 or 3 years ago, I was on Lithium. I find Epival a lot better. I haven't had any manic episodes at all since I started it. And recently, I was able to go off my antidepressant without any depression symptoms returning, so far.. I tolerate it a lot better, too.. I was having a lot of hand tremors from Lithium, and a lot of stomach sickness. I only notice a little bit of sleepiness when my Epival dose is raised, as far as side effects. OMG....I was just at docs and told them I had this really episode with a hand tremor...she was shocked. So have to keep a dairy of when it happens if it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crtclms Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I have been on both lithium and depakote (while on Lamictal). The depakote was the med that worked best on my headaches, but it pooped out. I had a fine tremor from the Depakote, a gross tremor from the lithium, that came and went, and the Lamictal exacerbated the other tremors. I smash dishes so often (although my husband is guilty of *some* breakages), that we are down to less than three settings of the stoneware we got for our wedding. Our 13th anniversary is in a week. We tried melamine, but they were like poorly designed paper plates. So we agreed we had to replace it. I already have a few stoneware sets pinned. So now I can peruse kitchen sites, and feel absolutely no guilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
december_brigette Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 I was on lithium 900 mgs for many years and I L-O-V-E-D it. Until I started peeing black and it wouldn't stop. Then my pdoc swiftly changed me to depakote. I suppose I'll be on this one until_____. This is fine. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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