Depakote and seizures

My son has been taking Keppra since his first seizure last year when he was 18, starting out with 500g. He kept having the seizures (all grand mal) off and on and because he was planning on going into the military, he was told that because of the seizure disorder, he could not serve. Given a medical discharge and coming home, he still had them, but the cause was because at times he forgot to take his meds or he worked out over exerting himself, stuff like that. From the end of April until July 6th, he did not have a seizure (his Keppra was increased to 3000g a day), and that seizure was not as bad as the previous ones he had.

We ended up switching doctors because the original doc did not want to do an eeg on my son, so with my husband and my decision plus our primary care physician agreeing, we starting having my son see a new doc. This doc seems to really care about his patients, and after talking with us, he gave my son a prescription for Depakote, 500mg three times a day along with the Keppra. A day and a half after taking the drug (the first day he took it at night then taking it as prescribed daily), he started vomiting. He would eat, later on lay down, wake up EXTREMELY nauseous, and start throwing up. This happened for four and a half days, and the doctor told him to stop taking the meds immediately. He did blood work again and said that his Depakote serum levels had dropped drastically and he wanted to put my son back on the Depakote, but at half strength; 250mg three times a day. Our answer to that? HELL NO!!! My son was miserable; he has a job and hangs out with his friends and not being sure if he would start throwing up again, he minimized going out except to go to work. It is frustrating as all HELL, took that crap for six days and four and a half of those days he was vomiting, unsteady on his feet, eyes were red looking like he was a zombie, and had starting messing with his memory in ONLY SIX DAYS! Yes we all want him to be free from this demon, and so far for these past few months of this year, (from end of April to July 6) he has had one seizure. He has not had another one since that day. As far as we are concerned as his parents, he will never take that crap again, I don't care WHAT this doctor says. And I am going to say that I believe that my son will not want to take it again either, even at a lower dose.

I took the time to call the company who manufactures the Depakote, and one of the reps I spoke to said that even if my son took a lower dose, it could still have the effects of vomiting as with the higher dose, and her concern is that when he is throwing up, he is also throwing up the Keppra which could cause him to have a seizure. NOBODY wants that!

I took Depakote for a few years and I will never go on that drug again. I gained over 50 pounds, my hair fell out in clumps, and I developed very bad acne. I also could not go out in the sun because I would blotch up for weeks. It worked great on my migraines and seizures, but the side effects weren't worth it.

I have been on Depakote for several months, for migraine related seizures. The side effects have kept me from functioning , as I have had chronic pain in my bones & joints, muscle fatigue, muscle spasms and my favorite wieght gain.

listlessness, outragous hunger. weight gain over 100lbs in a yr no energy sleep all day all night every day no enthusiasm or interest in anything. sweats profusely at any kind of exertion. am on them for seizures but they never stop i still have them, i am on over 3000 mg a day.

I was recently taken off Dilantin and given Depakote ER. I had a terrible reaction at first. Seizure episodes, nausea, loss of memory, etc. I was told that this was a "transitional reaction". Have been on Depakote ER for two weeks and am exhausted all the time. I have bursts of energy but this dissipates quickly. Still have loss of memory and bizarre dreams.

People taking this drug for seizures are going to have very different experiences then the bipolars, I believe. Pretty much everyone has some weight gain, but not major (10-20lbs).
I was diagnosed as a rapid cycling bipolar, and before this drug, I was completely miserable. I was started on Depakote instead of Lithium due to fewer side effects, and it was a huge sucess.
Moods are stable, manic episodes are gone, sleep is stabilzed, libido is normal, depression is rare. I am 20 lbs heavier, happy, and "normal". I can't say enough good things about this drug.
Bipolars, steer away from the negative comments here and go to the bipolar support sites. You will find almost nothing but positive testimonials about this drug for our condition.

My son started taking depokote at the age of 11. We kept him on it for about 3 months and decided to take him off of it because he absolutely did not like how he felt on it. Tired all the time and just not himself. The seizures continued and I felt like I had to do something so we took him back to Childrens Mercy in Kansas City, Mo and the dr. put him back on it reassuring me it wasn't the medicine that was making him feel this way. He has been on the extended release med since June of 2005 and he is in his first year of high school and he is failing all but 2 classes. He and I both told the dr that he is having trouble concentrating but the dr chose to ignore my remarks. Now the first semester of his first year in high school is over and I don't think he has passed most of his classes because of this drug. I have since then contacted the hosp and I am changing dr's and we are getting him off the drug. No they tell me that you can not go off of depokote cold turkey. It is going to take 6 wks to take my son off of it and change to something else.

I have been taking this med. for years now and I have put on so much weight. My legs hurt all the time and as well as most others I am very tired all the time and dizzy also am unable to concentrate.But I am so afraid to get of this med. because I have been on it so long and thats all I know to prevent my seizures.

I have son takes Depanke Liquid because he can't swallow the tablet for Depakote. And also he takes Tegretol. His behavior was terrible and get worst since he takes two medications together. Now the dr is cutting off Tegretol down slowly. And he will be on Depanke Liquid for good. SOme day he will learn to swallow the pills instead of carrying the liquid all the time. Do you think Tegretal and Depanke make him worst behavior? Thank you I need your opinion please t hank you again

would like to know if anyone has taken a combination of depakote and carbatrol. my son is on both of these for seizures and since on this combo has lost a tremendous amount of weight and has mood swings. has anyone else had these side effects. not even sure if they are side effects.