Posted by BIGDaddyachmed69 on May 10, 2005, at 9:38:31
In reply to Re: Darned dyslexic fingers, Depakote, GHB and sleep » theo, posted by cache-monkey on May 10, 2005, at 1:32:44
> Hi theo,
>
> I'm currently at 750 mg ER, having just reduced from 1000. I haven't really experienced any therapeutic benefit to speak of. For a while it felt as if the Depakote was making me worse off. Trouble sleeping. More depression.I know this post isn't directed towards me, but I'm bored so I'm gonna weigh in. Same here as far as the Depakote making you feel worse...but I stand by the fact that it's helped control my outbursts, and seems to be doing something for my social anxiety.
> Thing is that I'm not really on the manic end of the BP spectrum, spending most of my time in various down states (dysthymia, depression, dysphoria).
When you were off the Depakote, was mania EVER a problem? If so you might want to consider Lithium...in my opinion it's better than Depakote for depression, and works to treat mania as well though to a lesser extent. I think I've read that Lamictal can sometimes cause hypomanic episodes...but if the depression is really the primary issue you could mention that to your pdoc, too.
> Only after reducing my Depakote dose to 750 and adding Seroquel (25 mg) for sleephave I actually started to feel mentally better . Physically, my appetite's still way up and my libido way down, though.I know my appetite's way up...but I'm on what appears to be a very high dose (I haven't run into anywhere here that's been above like 1000mg). On the other hand, I'm experiencing no sexual side-effects whatsoever...it's almost to the point where it's a little too much.
> I know what you mean about the pdocs not listening. Mine tends to insist on pushing and pushing the dose of a med regardless of how I'm responding. I'm in the process of trying to find a new pdoc...
My pdoc does the exact same thing...luckily I like the guy. I trust him, he's the only psychiatrist I've ever seen and he's even treated my father for the past 15 years. But sometimes I come to him with a problem, and he'll just be like "let's go higher on the Paxil"...in the past he's gone well above the FDA maximum recommended dose. That was before I started reading those package inserts that list the full prescribing information...I just feel more comfortable keeping the dose within the FDA-approved range. I know they're allowed to go higher at their own discretion.
Anyway, hang in there buddy.
poster:BIGDaddyachmed69
thread:494405
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050510/msgs/495966.html