Valproic acid and Memory Loss: What Users Say

• Res...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 7, 2021

For Bipolar Disorder "This drug is clearly extremely dangerous for some people. It was for me. I felt like I was an entirely different person - and not a normal person either. It was as if an alien had taken over my body. I had bizarre paranoid thoughts and started thinking I was seeing symbols in everything. I lost all motivation and purpose. I became depressed and suffered from chronic insomnia that caused me to be awake at night and asleep during the day. My right hand started to tremble involuntarily. It got so bad that I couldn’t write or type. I lost the dexterity of my fingers such that I had to purchase voice recognition software to type and use my computer for the work I was doing. And my memory crumbled. I would walk into the kitchen from another room only to forget why I went there. This happened constantly and daily."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 14, 2018

For Bipolar Disorder "The jury is still out on this medication (branded as Epilim). I was prescribed 1.5g a day to act as a mood stabilizer. It's hard to tell if it's any better than previous medications. I didn't suffer any immediately obvious side effects, and my mood does appear to have been mostly 'stable' since using it. Though I have suffered from increasing memory loss in the years since taking this drug, so there could possibly be a link there? I have read on some of the epilepsy (a condition this medication is usually prescribed for) forums that some 'users' have also experienced short-term memory loss. Perhaps one day (probably after I'm long gone, or at least after my mind has faded away) evidence will come out to support this? For this reason, I can only rate this drug as a neutral 5, with not much firm evidence either way. It's unlicensed for my condition, and hence I am (as we all are) being experimented on to some degree."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 14, 2018

For Bipolar Disorder "The jury is still out on this medication (branded as Epilim). I was prescribed 1.5g a day to act as a mood stabilizer. It's hard to tell if it's any better than previous medications. I didn't suffer any immediately obvious side effects, and my mood does appear to have been mostly 'stable' since using it. Though I have suffered from increasing memory loss in the years since taking this drug, so there could possibly be a link there? I have read on some of the epilepsy (a condition this medication is usually prescribed for) forums that some 'users' have also experienced short-term memory loss. Perhaps one day (probably after I'm long gone, or at least after my mind has faded away) evidence will come out to support this? For this reason, I can only rate this drug as a neutral 5, with not much firm evidence either way. It's unlicensed for my condition, and hence I am (as we all are) being experimented on to some degree."

• hon...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 17, 2022

Valproic acid "I have been taking this med for 6 years, very effective to control mania but not as effective for depression (I had to take Cipralex). This med has a lot of side effects: hair thinning, memory loss, weight gaining, urination problems, fatigue (especially for high doses)... I don't recommend this med for bipolar, it's only effective for mania. 9/10 for mania, for other symptoms of bipolar and BPD: 4/10."

• Joe...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 7, 2021

For Epilepsy "Valproic acid is a horrible medicine. Try to avoid it. I lost 5 years of my life to memory loss before switching to Vimpat (not 100%, but definitely better)."