Divalproex sodium and Insomnia: What Users Say

• Bip...
• April 2, 2016

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I took Depakote 500 mg for a week, then increased my dose to 1000 mg after the next week. The next day, I began having terrible stomach pains and pains in my kidneys, especially after eating. I emailed my doctor, and he told me the side effects would subside, but they didn't. They actually got worse, and the abdominal pain would linger all day and night. I also had a hard time sleeping, I would wake up every 1-2 hours and sleep less than 6 hours a night, along with having very vivid dreams. The dreams later got more and more violent/terrifying, and I began to fall into a very deep depression, one I had never felt in my entire life. I stopped taking this medication after three weeks. I will never take this medication, even if it saved my life."

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

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I take Depakote 500 mg 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 it's 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 four times their size. My ankles were very red, painful, and swollen."

• Anonymous
• June 20, 2012

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "Manic bipolarism for 7 years. Know I'm a type 'A' person, Depakote, Effexor, Xanax. I come from the medical field, lab, and have seen people come in for blood work on everything from lithium to Thorazine. I have (with M.D. agreement) backed down from 500 mg ER Depakote to 250 mg 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 lifesaver."

• Kba...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 15, 2019

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "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 a different experience on different drugs, so take this with a grain of salt."

• jut...
• May 5, 2010

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "When it worked, it was great. Couldn't keep my levels the same, though. When levels went too high, I got tired and shaky and could not sleep. When it went too low, I rapid cycled between mania and depression. May work for you, but not for me."

• top...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 22, 2022

Divalproex sodium for Epilepsy "This is the worst drug I have ever taken. I started off with double vision, muscle weakness, and instability, so I could not walk, and dizziness. I fell and broke three ribs. I had hallucinations, aggressive behavior, anxiety, mood changes, and paranoia. I was in the hospital when all this happened, and they kept giving it to me. I tried to escape the hospital, and the goon squad stopped me. One night I was convinced I was going to be kidnapped. I had to go to rehab to learn how to walk with a walker. The rehab doctor cut the dosage, and my mental health improved. They kept giving me opiates for my back pain. I also had other side effects such as back pain, runny nose, difficulty sleeping, and constipation. When I finally got home, I quit taking this stuff. In about four weeks, I was back to normal."

• Cat...
• December 25, 2022

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I’ve tried over 15 medications. My doctor is still on the fence between MDD and bipolar because my episodes don’t seem to be clear. I suffer from horrific depersonalization and derealization. I’ve been in a 4 1/2 episode, PTSD, and GAD, and what seems to be a very up-and-down mood throughout every day, crying fits, impending doom, catastrophizing. I tried lithium, and it used to work for me, I was hospitalized in July, and they put me back on it. It did nothing for months for my depression and anxiety and made OCD tendencies, catastrophizing, and intrusive thoughts 100x worse. I was petrified to go onto Depakote because of things I’ve heard. My doctor has me on 750 mg. I’ve had one crying spell in 2 weeks vs. every day, my anxiety is still definitely there but more controlled, my racing thoughts have lessened, and I’m thinking more positively. My only complaint is I’ve gained 7 lbs and am having difficulty staying asleep. But I’ll take that over what I was dealing with."

• Bi-...
• April 27, 2011

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I was diagnosed with bipolar back in 1993 after the birth of my last child. Being the youngest in my family, I was not told of the condition being hereditary. I was prescribed 750 mg to begin with and now at 500 mg a day. I cannot attribute any weight gain to Depakote, as at current I am in postmenopause and weight gain is likely. I've had no issues with my liver; however, I do bruise easily. At the time I began Depakote, I was running on overdrive and zapping out, not sleeping, not eating, feeling guilty, anxious, panic attacks, etc. Since then, I have returned to a relatively normal life. I have currently been put on Effexor to help with my postmenopausal symptoms. I'll update you on my progress."

• Edd...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 31, 2022

Divalproex sodium for Epilepsy "I'm epileptic. I have been having seizures since my early teens. I’m 52 now. I was born with a tumor in my brain. The tumor has been removed, but the damage of the scar tissue is causing me to have seizures. I have been taking Depakote 2000mg a day, and I take with it Keppra 1000mg a day for 2 years, and the side effects suck. I can’t sleep, I stutter, I’m always anxious, and I have tremors. I have my ups and downs, mood swings. I lost my hair, I’m easily angered or frustrated and nervous. I also have high blood pressure now and have to take high blood pressure meds. I smoke THC and CBD to help. I’m usually nauseous, and I have digestive problems, if you know what I mean. I still have seizures, mainly blackouts. I haven’t had a grand mal seizure for a bit. But I would like to know if anyone came down with high blood pressure when started taking the meds."

• Jil...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 25, 2018

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "Been on Depakote and Prozac for three days. I take 20 mg Prozac in the morning and 750 mg Depakote before bed. First day great.. I felt better! My mood was noticeably happy, and I could actually think clearer without being agitated. Second day had trouble sleeping, anxiety, tremors, and a little hallucinations. Third day terrible nausea, panic attack, in the bathroom every 20 mins seems like, bedtime abdominal pain, and diarrhea. I'm slowly coming off of this med now."

• Mou...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 9, 2021

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I've been taking 250 mg/day for bipolar, and it already seems therapeutic for me. It's difficult to feel angry, and generally I just feel euphoric or calm. Some interesting side effects I've noticed, however, include a complete absence of hunger (and in turn weight loss), insomnia, feeling energized most of the day, increased frequency of erections, and feeling that I'm living life on autopilot (in a good way). At a higher dosage, I experienced a lot of hair loss, so I'm hoping to continue at my relatively small dosage."

• Car...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 26, 2022

For Borderline Personality Disorder "I must be one of the lucky few who don't experience any side effects from this at all. Not even weight gain. I told my psych that lithium is messing up my cognition and giving me brain fog. Along with Wellbutrin, he substituted this in but didn't mention the whole increase in neuroplasticity. My sharp memory is coming back and my learning abilities as well. I feel like I can retain information better as well. Thank God, because I was very close to stopping medication and abusing drugs to reduce my lithium levels back to crazy low like originally, so I could be incredibly sharp-minded again -- of course, the horrible paranoia would come back as well. I'm at 750 mg at bedtime, it also helps with my insomnia."

• Jb3...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 30, 2020

Divalproex sodium for Epilepsy "I have been taking Depakote a while now. I've been seizure-free for years, however, I feel this drug has some side effects. I feel depression, can't sleep most nights. I'm thinking of talking to my doctor and getting off this drug. Honestly, I don't want any drug. I want to try to go drug-free and hope for the best."

• Kmc...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 29, 2023

Divalproex sodium "So I’ve been diagnosed with bipolar and then undiagnosed. I have severe MDD, crying fits, severe panic, and anxiety. I was petrified to try Depakote. I started at 250 mg ER twice a day and went up to 750 mg (250 mg three times a day). I have light sensitivity and I did gain weight, but partially that’s my fault for eating foods I should not. It has been my lifesaver. My new doctor recently lowered my dose and I feel horrible. Severe anxiety and depression, sleep issues, I’m going back up on my dose. Personally, my side effects have been minimal. Depakote is also very different as it helps produce GABA, which helps anxiety and panic disorders. I was losing hope, but it has been my lifeline."

• che...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• October 14, 2017

Divalproex sodium for Bipolar Disorder "I take non-generic Depakote ER 1750 mg, Haldol 4 mg, and propranolol 20 mg. I have some hair loss, insomnia, and shakiness. I believe the medicine is finally working after 17 years of trying every bipolar medication with Depakote ER. I lose my patience and get angry at customer service representatives sometimes. I lose my patience and get mildly angry at my husband, but it appears to be under control. The insomnia at times gets really bad, and I wind up calling Lifenet to cope. I will be trying melatonin 3 mg to see if this helps. I want to try 1500 mg of Depakote ER to see if my insomnia improves also."

• and...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 12, 2021

For Cyclothymic Disorder "I am taking a low dose of 500 mg twice. I'm tapering off lithium (300 mg for a few more days), so I am not sure how it is standalone. Lithium did nothing for me, but this drug makes me calmer, sleep better, and my anger issues have subsided. I am sad I cannot take a sip of alcohol, as an internet search scared the bejesus out of me. Do not drink with this drug!"

• D12...
• June 8, 2020

"I have tried a number of antidepressants over the past 6 years with little to no effect, so my doctor wanted to try a mood stabilizer. I had an absolutely horrible experience while taking divalproex sodium for anxiety. From day 1, I had crying spells that lasted all day long, paired with the worst insomnia imaginable. I literally could not sleep and would pace around my house because I thought I was losing my mind. I cannot begin to explain how much worse this medication made my anxiety. It was so bad that I went to the ER because I didn’t know what else to do. I was losing my damn mind. The depression was so awful as well. The last couple of days while taking this medication left me sitting on my couch like a vegetable. I was told to continue taking divalproex sodium because it “takes a couple of weeks” to get into your system. I took this medication for 4 days and decided I had enough. This medication was just too hard on me."

• Mal...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 7, 2022

For Borderline Personality Disorder "When a medication does not help, that is unfortunate. But when it actually increases symptoms, like this one, that is scandalous! It caused sleep deprivation, nervous exhaustion, and it increased my agitation and irritability, which had been pretty bad anyway. At the beginning, I thought these would be just temporary side effects, but after a week, symptoms reached an intolerable level. I did not want to become completely mad, so I gave it up. If I had taken it for another week, I am sure I would have ended up in a mental hospital. I would rather die than take this medication any more in the future. It is pure torture, gradually making you a nervous wreck, and could be effectively used for extracting confessions from innocent people in prisons of authoritarian regimes. An awful, really awful medication, so avoid it if you can!"

• Ryu...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 9, 2020

Divalproex sodium for Mania "I didn’t care for it. On one, it just made me sleep. When it got moved up, it just made me more manic."