Posted by Ritch on February 1, 2002, at 0:45:23
In reply to Re:TCA/depakote/sleep? » Ritch, posted by Chloe on January 31, 2002, at 18:26:06
> Mitch,
> I have been taking ami about a month. My rages started about the 2 week mark, now that I look back...The antianxiety effect seemed to wear off around the two week mark too. I miss that calming feeling. But the depakote is starting to smooth things out. But I don't feel dep has much anti-anxiety effect, so far. Perhaps I am not taking enough. I am supposed to go up to 250 tomorrow...Just so scared I am going to blow up like a ballon...Does everyone gain weight on Dep? and on lower doses?...From the posts I have read, dep is starting to sound like Zyprexa. But I don't have the ravenous appetite like I did with that one.
>
> > Oh yeah! I just remembered, when I started taking Depakote my pdoc wanted me to take it about four hours before bedtime in the evening. It takes a little while to peak. That way the "peak" hits right about bedtime. Also, it will accumulate for a while and it may take a week or so before you see the sleep benefit-I definitely did have sleep benefits from it.
>
> This was useful. I took it about 6 last night and started to feel slightly drowsy around 9. So your doc was right. And I did sleep a little better last night, thanks. But still suffered from some early morning waking issues...I can hope for the seamless sleep again where I don't wake up for 8 hours. That is priceless in my book.
> Hope you are doing ok. Thanks again
> Chloe
Hi Chloe,Glad to hear you are feeling "smoothed out". I can even tell it in your writing. You said that you are going up to 250mg tomorrow? You still are taking it all in the evening? Just a bit of advice-but I would take all of it in the evening if you are having some probs with early morning awakening. Yeah, I gained weight even on the lower doses-BUT *not* having the munchies is a good sign. I *did* have the munchies when I was on lower doses, so maybe you won't have that much of a problem. Are you still on the amitripytline? Are you taking the Depakote in addition to your Neurontin? The Depakote has a long enough half-life so that you *might* be able to take your Neurontin twice a day instead of 3-4x daily (So you could toss in more Neurontin right before you go to bed-and that might help your sleep also).
There is one thing I have been trying lately for sleep soundness and it is adding a tiny dose of Melatonin (200 micrograms) at bedtime, and it seems to be helping. Another thing I really want to investigate is Omega3 stuff. I tried the "fish oil" gelcaps-YUCK-I have heartburn and it was pretty nasty. I heard that flaxseed oil has high Omega3 fatty acids and isn't "fishy". The reason I bring that thing up is I have heard it helps kids with ADHD as well as bipolar.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:90799
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/92476.html