CeremonyNewOrder Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Just started it about a week and half ago and boy is it sedative. I sleep like three times a day. I'm just wondering if this is a start upside effect or a side effect that remains with time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DogMan Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 I'm on valproic acid. Which is I think depakene in the USA, and metabolises to the same thing. I've been on it since about 05. Hoping to come off it soon. I've taken it so long that I no longer know if my general fatigue is depakene related. It does get better after the first 6 months or so. But I don't think that I ever returned to energy levels comparable to before depakene. It works really well though. And all AED suck. As a class of meds, they are probably the suckiest of the sucks of brain meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browri Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 On 3/23/2020 at 9:28 PM, CeremonyNewOrder said: Just started it about a week and half ago and boy is it sedative. I sleep like three times a day. I'm just wondering if this is a start upside effect or a side effect that remains with time? Sedation gets better. From day to day I don't feel sedated on it, and I'm taking 1250mg of the ER formulation all at bedtime. Been on it since 2017. Keep in mind that valproate sedation is a GABA heavy sedation. You and your pdoc may need to compensate by reducing clozapine or lithium if the sedation from valproate is too much. Or you slow down and back down on the valproate dose until you adjust. Are you taking the delayed release 12-hour formulation or the extended release 24-hour formulation? On 3/23/2020 at 9:53 PM, DogMan said: I'm on valproic acid. Which is I think depakene in the USA, and metabolises to the same thing. The valproate formulations can be confusing. Depakene syrup or Stavzor capsule in the U.S. are free base valproic acid. Depakote is always referred to as divalproex sodium. In Europe the name for it would be valproate semisodium. Epilim on the other hand is sodium valproate, which means it is entirely sodium-bonded valproate and not a combination of sodium-bonded valproate and free base valproic acid. Supposedly, the combination of sodium valproate and free base valproic acid into the coordination complex, divalproex sodium, improves pharmacokinetics (C-Max, AUC, etc.). Usually people find that Depakote is more tolerable than valproic acid, but more effective than sodium valproate, with Depakote ER (24-hour, extended-release divalproex) being the most tolerable formulation but somewhat less effective than the older DR (12-hour delayed release divalproex) formulation, meaning Depakote ER is usually dosed 20-30% higher than original Depakote 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeremonyNewOrder Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, browri said: Sedation gets better. From day to day I don't feel sedated on it, and I'm taking 1250mg of the ER formulation all at bedtime. Been on it since 2017. Keep in mind that valproate sedation is a GABA heavy sedation. You and your pdoc may need to compensate by reducing clozapine or lithium if the sedation from valproate is too much. Or you slow down and back down on the valproate dose until you adjust. Are you taking the delayed release 12-hour formulation or the extended release 24-hour formulation? The valproate formulations can be confusing. Depakene syrup or Stavzor capsule in the U.S. are free base valproic acid. Depakote is always referred to as divalproex sodium. In Europe the name for it would be valproate semisodium. Epilim on the other hand is sodium valproate, which means it is entirely sodium-bonded valproate and not a combination of sodium-bonded valproate and free base valproic acid. Supposedly, the combination of sodium valproate and free base valproic acid into the coordination complex, divalproex sodium, improves pharmacokinetics (C-Max, AUC, etc.). Usually people find that Depakote is more tolerable than valproic acid, but more effective than sodium valproate, with Depakote ER (24-hour, extended-release divalproex) being the most tolerable formulation but somewhat less effective than the older DR (12-hour delayed release divalproex) formulation, meaning Depakote ER is usually dosed 20-30% higher than original Depakote I'm at 1000mg depakote (have not done level yet) for about 2 weeks and I'm still sleeping all day. I also have not noticed any changes in my mood. Yes I'm using ER caps. Edited April 6, 2020 by CeremonyNewOrder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted April 6, 2020 Share Posted April 6, 2020 I've recently switched to depakote from lamictal. At 1000 ER at bedtime I really am not sure that it affects my sleep schedule that much. The pdoc recommended I take it all at bedtime Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browri Posted April 8, 2020 Share Posted April 8, 2020 On 4/6/2020 at 5:15 PM, CeremonyNewOrder said: I'm at 1000mg depakote (have not done level yet) for about 2 weeks and I'm still sleeping all day. I also have not noticed any changes in my mood. Yes I'm using ER caps. Interesting. My pdoc had me do a level before reaching 2 weeks. If you don't mind me asking, how much do you weigh, and how tall are you? On 4/6/2020 at 7:49 PM, Will said: I've recently switched to depakote from lamictal. At 1000 ER at bedtime I really am not sure that it affects my sleep schedule that much. The pdoc recommended I take it all at bedtime I also went to Depakote from Lamictal to try and get more calming effect out of my AED, and I also don't really feel like it has too much impact on my sleep schedule, but I also wouldn't wanna take it in the morning lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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