Going off Depakote, going on Lithium and dealing with the mania while that's happening

[rachael]

My doctor has considered a few times already to change to Lithium, but we always waited it out to see if Depakote would work after all. Now it clearly stopped working, I'm in some kind of irritable state of mania, I can barely work, I feel like crap. And I have to wait about a week till first to have a blood draw and then to see if my kidneys are alive before they'll start me on Lithium. I decided to take sick leave today since I simply can't deal with work at the moment, but from the outline of how the change will go, it will be over a months until I'm on a stable doses of Lithium and off the Depakote.

 

I don't want to be on sick leave that long, but I'm also not really confident being full-time on work during this time. My work place is very understanding, so I'm considering disclosing. Any opinions on that? Any tips on getting through the hell of being on meds that are not working while waiting to get put on other meds?

 

I'm planning lots of nature, sports, relaxing, eating well. 

 

Thanks

[San]

Good luck with it. I hope your results come back fast, and you can get rolling. Depakote did kind of the same thing to me, I'd get caught in mixed states. 

 

Lithium fortunately works quite quickly, so you might not miss as much work as you'd think. Depakote doesn't have a physical withdrawal, or brain zaps or anything, but it has to be tapered down because of seizure risk. 

 

I don't know how much I'd disclose. You could say you've started a new medication (and don't have to elaborate) and its causing you to not be able to do as much at work as you like. Can you go part-time for a bit, until every thing's sorted out?

 

My tips are to take gentle care of yourself. Try to get in good sleep, that can help with stopping episodes. A routine is a good thing. You have some good ideas listed. Distraction could help. Have you asked about any PRN's you could take during the change to make it easier?

[rachael]

Thanks San. Had a conversation with someone at work today and they'll support a flexible sick leave. Not having to be worried about that helped (so do benzos for now).