Posted by Mr Cushing on November 8, 2002, at 14:34:31
In reply to Mr Cushing, posted by Krysti on November 8, 2002, at 14:04:32
I was just talking to my MD today and he told me that the highest he would recommend a patient to go on Valproic Acid (Depakote) is 500mg per day. He said that there are still some Doctors that insist on it being 1,000, and some scary ones that insist on even prescribing more than that. He said that from his years of experience with the drug, his research on it, the conferences he's attended, etc. that it's a really tricky one to get right. He said that if you're Bi-Polar and you're taking it, but you're taking too little of it, it could increase the effects of your manic or depressive episodes, whichever you're going through at the time. Then if you take too much of it, you can push yourself to the opposite end of the spectrum fairly easily. For example, when you were manic and you started taking that high of a dosage, that "blah" feeling, you shouldn't have experienced. That would have been the cue to reduce the amount you were taking.Ummmm, he told me that alcohol really shouldn't be used with the drug, but that if you do drink, just be very cautious. Don't drink till you start to feel really out of it because it could counterbalance the effects of the medication.
Then I asked him about smoking weed on the drug. Honestly, I don't plan on quitting smoking anytime soon. Been smoking for 13 years and I rather enjoy it. Anyways, he said that if smoking weed didn't make you manic before you got on the medication, then it really shouldn't have any effect on it now that you're on the medication. That as a warning, just when you're smoking if you feel like you immediately need to take a nap, or if you become so stoned from a small dose that you're VERY giddy and pretty disoriented, quit it untill your body stabilizes a little bit more with the medication before starting again.
He said that out of the two evils (alcohol and marijuana), he would highly suggest smoking instead of drinking. That's alright with me though since that's what I planned to do in the first place.
He also gave me a standing order to get my blood work done. He said that it would probably be best for me to increase it yet again when I'm ready to 375mg per day and let that rest in me for about 3-4 weeks, if it's still not enough, talk to both my Psychiatrist and himself before increasing it any further. He said that in very rare cases is 500mg needed to control a Bi-Polar's mood swings, and sometimes if it is, and the person isn't so unbalanced that he needs to be hospitalized, that maybe a switch to a different drug is a better decision.
It took me a little bit today before I started feeling alright, but honestly, right now I feel great. The Doctor asked me in his office today if I felt like I was Manic now with the increase in the medication made yesterday and I told him that I don't feel like anxiety-ridden, but I do feel pretty happy and have a nice amount of energy. *shrugs* How the Hell is a normal person supposed to feel anyways? What's normal? What's "balanced"???
I do find though that once it gets about 10 hours or so between my doses (I noticed this yesterday too) that I start to get really tired and my body kind of aches a little bit. Also, I'm having kind of the opposite effect that most people have on this drug. I keep reading that people have HUGE appetites on Depakote. Honestly, I really haven't had much of an appetite lately. I'll eat like a small lunch with a bottle of Sobe and then have an average sized supper later on in the day.
I could be feeling more drugged out in the mornings because of the amount of Clonazepam that I take, however, I'm still not completely confident in the Depakote ever being able to help me sleep properly. I've had a VERY hard time sleeping for as long as I can remember. When I became completely manic for about a year or so there, the insomnia became almost unbearable. But ever since I was born I've had trouble sleeping. I don't want to risk taking something like Ambien or anything like that because I'll probably be needing to take it like every night and for years on end. The Clonazepam, when I take a high enough dose of it (only .75mg so far, so that's not too bad) gets rid of the racing thoughts in my head and I'm able to drift off comfortably to sleep.
Oh, and I got that book that you suggested for me to read yesterday, "The Unquiet Mind". It's on order now from Amazon.com with some other books that I plan on reading this month.
Anyways, let me know how that Seinfeld show is tonight and I guess I'll talk to you tommorrow.
poster:Mr Cushing
thread:32043
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20021106/msgs/32044.html