Depakote for Bipolar Disorder User Reviews (Page 3)

• Anonymous
• October 15, 2012

"This medication has kept me stable for 4 years. I am now 23 and was on 1000mgs at night. I recently went down as my bloodtests came back to high. So I went back down to 700mg and had another manic episode. I am now in the process of finding a antipsychotic to go with it. I have managed to stay 110 lbs for 4 years with a healthy diet and exercise. The only side effects I had were major hair loss, slight tremors, and nausea. All of which have passed within a year"

• D Peo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 22, 2015

"My husband says Depakote is having a positive impact on me as well as our family! I'm not in bed all day or hanging around the bedroom. I'm up and about the house. Since decluttered, even organized! My personality has blossomed too. The last six years I tried a wide spectrum of medications; Seroquel, Lamictal, Latuda, zonisamide, carbamazepine to name a few! My bipolar worsened five years ago after our last child. The side effects were hair shedding within three weeks but no significant weight gain. I have always had a thick head of hair so it's not really noticeable but I can tell one side limp and not hanging full. I've started biotin along with a multivitamin. My Doc also told me to try a zinc a supplement. Overall I feel it is working."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 28, 2022

"My husband has bi-polar. When we first started dating, I didn't know he was bi-polar but everyday was crazy until he had a nervous breakdown and this great doctor put him on Depakote. It took a while but he got back to handling life and being more of his self. Don't get me wrong there are still bad days, where he needs to sleep all day or he's ready to fight everyone but I try to be his anchor no judgements but just being there for him. I married him for better or for worse and it's now been 14 years. He's now on disability with Medicaid, helps a lot. I love him. He knows that no matter what"

• Cricky
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 4, 2020

"First day of starting it had bad abdominal pains ,headaches , lower back pains, spasticity in legs, dystonia , tired, ankles hurt, tender muscles very sore . Blurry vision not happy at all. But lamictal also caused all of these side effects as well. I hate the bipolar meds they offer ."

• Beach...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 17, 2019

"Depakote has worked amazing well for me for the past 2 decades. I have changed over to something else for a short period of time when it became ineffective. That has only happened 3 times in 17 years. It is not the greatest drug when you have to get off of it. You have to taper down very slowly."

• sf100
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 7, 2018

"I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety 35 years ago, but finally received a diagnosis on the bipolar spectrum two years ago at the age of 60. Depakote ER (2000mg at night) fixed things I didn't know were wrong and has stilled the ultradian cycling that was really my problem all along. I feel luck that the only side effects I have encountered are hair loss at first (now resolved) and occasional heartburn. It relieved most of my depressive and hypomanic symptoms within three weeks, but I just added Lamictal to help a little more with depressive symptoms. I take a complicated stack of meds to manage psych. symptoms, but Depakote is by far the most important."

• Sion
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• July 12, 2016

"2007 - Put on 750 mg/day of Depakote alongside Lithium 800 mg/day. Killed libido stone dead. Did not help stabilise mood but worked away destabilising good lithium effect. Found this out after stopping Depakote 2014. Depakote has caused prostate cancer which was removed by radical prostatectomy June 2014. So it has caused me to be severely incontinent now, with erectile dysfunction. This month June 2016 it has been confirmed I have Multiple Myeloma a blood cancer. Depakote is the suspected trigger again. These effects result from being put on Depakote for seven years with no investigation of physical symptoms being reported to "psychiatric professionals""

• M M 555
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 9, 2016

"I take depakote 500mg extended release at night for bipolar. Mostly mania. I like depakote because it keeps me leveled. I feel normal. No mania. No depression. I do sometimes have trouble sleeping but not much. I have felt nauseous but I'm gonna go to my primary doctor because my psych says the nausea would've happened in the beginning of depakote and I've been on it for a while so probably not caused by depakote. Anyone taking depakote, make sure you go to your follow ups to check liver enzymes in your blood since it can cause liver damage. Overall I think depakote is effective for me. I tried lamictal and abilify and I hated them. They made my ankles swell up to 4 times their size. My ankles were very red and painful and swollen."

• Depab...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 4, 2018

"After the birth of my daughter I had a depressive episode, I would like to note I was 40 pounds over weight after having my daughter, normal after childbirth. I delivered a healthy baby and my pregnancy had no complications and I had normal lab results on physicals before depakote. After being on it, I ballooned up another 40 pounds. The depakote messed with my thyroid issues, gave me obesity, sleeping about sixteen hours a day, mental fog, severe fatigue, depression, fatty liver diagnosis. I like walking every day and after the depabloat I could not get the energy to walk anymore. The doctor blamed everything on me, (wonderful doctor). Before depakote, I did not have any of these problems. So beware. The professionals can care less what the medication does to you. I wouldn’t take this medication again. This was all over the course of eight months. The doctors will blame you for every adverse side effect to cover their own bottoms when prescribing this crud of a medication."

• nonenn
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 8, 2020

"Was given a choice of Depakote or Lithium when diagnosed with bipolar three years ago. I chose Depakote while knowing nothing about it. I've had three manic episodes in my life and Depakote's brought me back down from every one. And since I have mixed episodes, they get really dangerous, so I probably owe Depakote my life. Only downside I've experienced is nausea and vomiting, it can hit pretty hard and out of nowhere sometimes. Made me want to stop the drug at one point, but for me the pros outweigh the cons. You have to get your blood tested every few months and it interacts with some other medications (like Lamictal) so take care."

• mouse...
• July 19, 2013

"Have been Bipolar since 89. I have been on Depakote for 9 years, 500 mg x 3. I went from 210lbs to 304lbs. I have been on just about everything over the years. A little bit lethargic, but this seems to have stabilized me the best."

• BAEEE...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 30, 2015

"Depakote worked for me as a mood stabilizer, but caused a lot of side effects. Weight gain = 30 pounds in 3 months and pancreatitis. Doctors didn't realize the pancreatitis was from the combination of two of my medications until I had it three times - pancreatitis is excruciatingly painful and lead to me losing my job from losing so much time at work. I'm giving this medication a low rating event though it worked well for my mood because there are so many other medications out there for bipolar that are weight neutral and don't cause organ damage."

• Manuel
• May 15, 2016

"Noticed that depakote improved stability of mood and reduced depression. However, it did not help with mania mood swings. This drug also totally removed my libido. I have never experienced such an inability for sexual activity than while taking this drug. A week after stopping the drug and sexual libido is back. I would avoid this drug if male."

• P I S...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 19, 2019

"Depakote has proved a good med to keep me from being manic, has twice Brought me down from mania, both times with increased dosage. Much more effective than antipsychotics alone, namely abilify, zyprexa and seroquel. Now I am on 2 grams a day, split into 1 gram doses twice a day. Great for mania, not for depression. I'm currently in a depressive episode, recently started another med for that, alongside the depakote. I struggle to control my appetite on Depakote, but eating healthy, wholesome meals helps me not to give in to unhealthy cravings. Good outweighs the bad for me :)"

• Medbag
• December 2, 2015

"I've taken a lot of meds in 19 years and took Depakote for around 1 yr. Weight gain about same as Lithium. This drug gave me hallucinations at night and freaked me out big time. Beware. I didn't hallucinate before the drug and now that I've stopped it 6 months ago - no Depakote = no hallucinations"

• Yellehs
• Taken for 10 years or more
• January 7, 2018

"I've taken depakote for 13 years along with citalapram. 250 mg depakote with 10 mg of citalapram. It helped with my intense excitability, my severe depression and suicidal thoughts which happened to me 2 weeks out of the month. It was so bad. After taking these meds I felt so much better like a "normal" person. I had no side effects. My symptoms were down to 3 days instead of 3 weeks which I could deal with and didn't want to kill myself anymore. I'm an bipolar and/or pmdd. They are not working for me anymore so I'm going to have to change to something else. Hope this helps someone. :)"

• Anonymous
• June 20, 2012

"Manic bi-polarism for 7 years. Know I'm a type "A" person, Depokote, Effexer, zanix. I come from the medical field, lab and had seen people come in for blood work on everything from lithium to thorazine. I have (with M.D. agreement) backed down from 500mg ER Depokote, to 250mg ER every evening along with a sleeping pill. The sleeping pill is new, so next time I will give the name. When "they" found me, I was so gone into what we call our "BLACK HOLE". I truly have no idea what all they tried....BUT the Depakote, according to my wife (Nurse for 34 yrs) was my marriage and life saver."

• Gage...
• October 6, 2015

"I honestly don't know how many stars to give this medication as much as I've never had such an experience. I was in a coma light sleep when my therapist came, I heard myself say "we need to go to the airport" when actually I never said anything at all. I felt drunk waking up, started losing my hearing, it got cloudy. I only took it a month but being in that state of mind frightened me.I gave it up and my hearing is mostly back about 98 percent but my balance and coordination still suffers from the medication but has improved since I stopped it. I was so upset that I called the FDA and reported my experience, I would hate for anyone to go through that.On the plus side? When I was awake and aware and not "drunk" it did help my manic episodes."

• Rusty
• June 17, 2015

"Since 2006 I have been on some sort of med for my depression or what my family doctor thought was depression. First med was Lexapro and boy did it send me into a manic stage. Never felt so high in my life, a cloud was lifted. That drug worked for a while but soon after it lost its effectiveness. Tried about every SSRI on the market until we ran out and at that point I did not want to live anymore. Family dr sent me to a psychiatric hospital in which I saw my first pyschiatrist who said my OCD was the root of my depression so he put me on Luvox along with my Klonopin. After a while I seemed better but not for long. Been on Depakote ER 1000MG ever since and everything seems fine, except weight gain. Mood better."

• Melanie
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 2, 2016

"I am not very fond of Depakote. When I took it it didn't improve my moodswings that much. In the beginning it made me nauseous & caused my hair to fall out. No, I didn't go bald, but it thinned out my hair enough that my hairstylist noticed. Eventually, my hair stopped falling out, but I gained a lot of weight & I had very bad tremors & bad coordination. If you do decide to take this medicine make sure your doctor tests your blood regularly. I think you are supposed to have your blood tested every 6 months."

• Patient
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 12, 2013

"I started up on 250mg and ended up at 1500mg. I noticed very subtle effects if any. Hard to remember, I went through a lot and was on Seroquel also at the time. Seemed to have a slight calming effect. However after time it raised my liver enzymes and lowered my platelet count (which is a potential side effect) So I went off of it. I don't have many hypomanic episodes and never a manic episode so I don't know why my dose got that high. Didn't notice anything significant. Gained 20 lbs, made me sick and tired. Wasn't for me."

• Kbano
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 15, 2019

"I’ve noticed no change in my mood swings or manic tendencies on this drug. I still go through both; in fact, I’m concerned it could be causing me some insomnia. I’ve taken it for about a year, and in the last month I’ve dealt with major depression and mood swings, which bring me swiftly to paranoid thoughts and delusions. All in all, it’s done literally nothing it’s prescribed to do. Everyone will have different experience on different drugs, so take this with grain of salt."

• Anonymous
• November 5, 2009

"I have Bipolar Disorder. This is the only drug that's worked with out breaking me out in rashes, or making me feel so drugged I couldn't work or function. The only problem I have with it is it makes me a little hyper. I controls my temper well, without making me sleepy."

• Velve...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 1, 2017

"Depakote was a nightmare. Besides having acute, non-stop stomach pain with chronic diahrrea, my hair started falling out in clumps. Good thing I have thick hair or I could have been bald at the end of this drug. I don't recommend this to anyone. It was like taking poison."

• Karyn...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 9, 2016

"Didn't realize how great it was till it was gone. After 4 years of failed cocktails until I found Depekote with Zoloft. I was on it for 3-5 months @1250mg and had Excessive Weight gain, insatiable hunger,,,BUT Worth it! I was productive, positive, stabilzed, making plans and following thru. Then Liver enzymes high @ 6 mo. and abruptly taken off ... Horrible move by panicked Doctor. On my third medicine since and all bad results. Any opinions on Depokote retry while protecting my liver with Milk Thistle & Turmeric? My last blood work was best its ever been. I have no faith in my Dr and am seeking a new."