I am a 38 male and have been on 1000 mg of Depakote daily for abo...

I am a 38 male and have been on 1000 mg of Depakote daily for about 4-5 months to treat bipolar disordor. I can honsetly say that this drug saved my marriage, my job and perhaps my life. I am sorry to read that so many fine people are experiencing such terrible side affects. I seem to only experience a very slight lack of concentration, increased sleepiness but no more than 8-10 hours tops and a touch of weight gain. Hair loss?? Not sure as I have losing some for a good while :) As far as the weight gain goes; strongly suggest that people try and eat smaller meals broken out throughout the day and keep sugar-free popsicles in the fridge :-) And of course working out. This seems to have kept my weight within normal range. Good luck all and don't be so quick to dismiss Depakote, it cant be all things to all people but may help the rest of us.