Posted by g_g_g_unit on May 28, 2011, at 3:36:31
In reply to Re: depakote dosing advice, posted by Christ_empowered on May 27, 2011, at 12:35:59
Thanks. I always appreciate your responses to my questions. I wish I could be more proactive around here, but it's difficult because I'm either struggling to feel well or too concerned with returning to 'real life'.
> hey. when I took 1500mgs in the day, I was calmed down but not really sedated. Then again...I was in a mental hospital, and they were trying to keep me as docile as possible. Probably not what you're going for.
I tried taking 200mg this morning with breakfast. It may have been coincidental, but I've been feeling more tired, lethargic and a little 'out of it' since (though the Depakote has that effect on me in general). Either way, I've just been lying around all day.
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> When I was doing outpatient treatment w/ Depakote, I took 1000mgs of the xr with dinner. I still hated it, but it did calm me down before bed so I didn't need sleeping pills quite as often.
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> My guess would be that your depakote dose just isn't enough to get you to sleep. Maybe you still have some agitation from the zoloft, maybe its some underlying issue, I don't know. If it was me, I'd take it with dinner (food will help keep you from vomiting up the depakote later) and see if that helped. You might need a different antidepressant or a sleeping pill for a little while if you're still not sleeping.Hmm, thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, it's weird .. when I take it at night, I feel dopey, calm, yet also energized at times. I had the same reaction to Neurontin. I'll try taking it with dinner for a couple of nights, like you suggest, and see what happens.
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> So..does your doc think you're bipolar? Or is he gung-ho on the zoloft and just trying to calm you down enough so you can tolerate it? If you're still having problems from such a low dose of zoloft even with a little bit of depakote added, I'd ask about switching antidepressants, or just not using antidepressants at all. Not everybody needs a re-uptake inhibitor in their life.Um, he's never specifically come out and said that he thinks I'm bipolar. After I told him that combining Zoloft with caffeine was causing panic-like symptoms, he suggested that I could do with a little "dampening of excitatory neurotransmission." I don't think it was an unreasonable suggestion because most ADs and stimulants I've been trying lately have been causing agitation.
poster:g_g_g_unit
thread:986350
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110515/msgs/986431.html