Thinking of Asking for Divalproex... thoughts?

[mjs190]

15 hours ago, Paperskyscrapers said:

I was on lithium for 4 years, with limited success due to my rapid cycling.

This is why I'm going on depakote for now.

Oh! Then hopefully Depakote brings you relief. It definitely felt different than lithium for me. It was almost like taking a very mild anti anxiety med or Benzo. It calmed down my brain and helped me feel less reactive and agitated...pleasantly slowed everything down.

[Gearhead]

I tried lithium as a mood stabilizer and it brought me down too much. I couldn’t feel anything.

I tried Depakote and it ruined my skin (by my skin-obsessed standards, anyway); that might be partly due to the fact that I was so lethargic while I took it that I didn’t keep up with my usual care routine. And it also numbed me out. The good news about both is that I didn’t have any mania while on either.

I can’t remember if I was on Depakote or lithium first: one immediately preceded the other. I am interested to note that you and I are exactly the same size, and gained exactly the same amount of weight. 

I also tried topamax for mood stabilization, and it failed completely. I did lose weight, though, which was ironic because I was not at a point when I needed to lose any. But that was just because for an entire month when I started it, my stomach was in agonizing pain. I was nauseated every waking moment. I couldn’t eat more than two or three bites of anything without feeling full to the point of pain. So, yeah, I lost weigh, but when we cut the dose down and the side effects subsided, I gained most of it back, eventually ending up at about 112 pounds, which was a perfectly reasonable weight for my height. Now I’m back to my original starting weight of 109 pounds. 

Of course, YMMV. And if you’re in a place where you need to be taking a med, take it, and deal with side effects if you get them. You’re bipolar. Don’t expect to stay on the same meds forever.

[Paperskyscrapers]

My pdoc and I, after an extensive discussion over text messaging, decided to go for topamax instead. 

I cannot handle the risk for PCOS with depakote, as I am getting married next year.

I took my first dose last night and I calmed down immediately.

I hope the trend continues and that this works.

[argh]

36 minutes ago, Paperskyscrapers said:

My pdoc and I, after an extensive discussion over text messaging, decided to go for topamax instead. 

I cannot handle the risk for PCOS with depakote, as I am getting married next year.

I took my first dose last night and I calmed down immediately.

I hope the trend continues and that this works.

Good luck

[browri]

My personal experience with lithium was really crappy. Only lasted about 10 days and got up to about 600mg. Depakote on the other hand has been a dream and I can tolerate up to 1250mg before I start getting really depressed. 1500mg is the no-no dose. However, I'm taking it with Vraylar which is also a pretty good mood stabilizer so far. Only been taking that about 3 weeks or so but been on Depakote since the Fall of 2017. Switching Rexulti for Vraylar. Both allow me to function on a really low dose of Depakote (currently 500mg).

I would say go for it. I would say the weight gain part may be overrated, as I haven't gained much even when I was on higher doses. What I did gain was most likely from the Rexulti because ever since I've switched to Vraylar I've noticed slight weight loss each day. It's kind of weird actually.