Posted by sickObeingsick on August 27, 2003, at 14:15:51
In reply to Re: Depakote blood-tests show NO Depakote in my blood?, posted by djmmm on August 27, 2003, at 8:17:20
> > I hope someone can provide an answer to this question for me as it will be some time before my Dr. and all the other Dr's getting involved will be able to help me.
> >
> > I currently take 1000mgs of Depakote once a day for Spinal Myoclonus and have been taking it since 1998 but it seems that the original Dr. that I had never told me I was suppose to be getting my blood levels checked.
> > Now I have a new Dr. and the first thing he asked was when was my blood levels checked and when I told him never he immediately sent me to the hospital for testing. The results came back within an hour and they told me that I was:
> > "ACUTE SUBTHERAPEUTIC DEPAKOTE LEVEL"
> > And when I asked what that meant they told me that the level showed I didn't have ANY Depakote in my blood and that a person who never had taken Depakote would have shown a higher level than what my results showed. (scary huh?)
> > Does anyone know what might be causing this to occur?
>
> Are you on any other meds?...there are a few meds that will cause this (including some anti-viral medications) There could also be other metabolic problems going on...and you can't overlook the possibility of a lab mistake...I would get the test done again.
>
> For what it's worth, "ACUTE SUBTHERAPEUTIC DEPAKOTE LEVEL" doesn't necessarily mean that there is NO depakote in your system. A lot of people "respond" to depakote and have subtheraputic serum levels of the drug in their system.Hello, thanks for responding.
The only other med that I take occasionally is Ambien when I feel I need it and I recently began taking Alleve for the pain from Fibromyalgia & Arthritis.
Re: "other metabolic problems" ???
Any suggestions on what symptoms I might look for with regards to the above mentioned?
Recently (2 months) I have begun to experience my right hand being numb all the time, about 3 times a week or so I get faint headed/stomach upset/vomit and have this bright flashing strobe effect going on in my eyes at this time.
The only way to get rid of it is to go to sleep for about 4-5 hours, except for the numb hand that is 24/7.
poster:sickObeingsick
thread:254428
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030823/msgs/254746.html