Posted by Ritch on October 30, 2002, at 22:21:04
In reply to Re: baseline blood tests (depakote) What is it????, posted by bpgrrrl on October 30, 2002, at 16:29:51
> I have been taking Depakote for about 2 months (at the most) and the only test I had taken was the initial liver function test... Can anyone tell me what this baseline blood test is and if I should be getting one etc...
> I moved thousands of miles away from the m.d. who perscribed the med. and I haven't gotten to a new doc yet.
>Your doc just writes a script for a Depakote blood level and then faxes it to a lab. You show up, they do one blood draw and test to see what the level is. They send the report back to the doctor who wrote the script for the test. It costs about $65 from what I remember (before any insurance is applied). You could see a GP and request one where you live now. It is recommended to do the liver function tests every six months to a year (from what I have been told anyhow). The first time I was prescribed Depakote, the pdoc told me I was on such a low-dose (500mg/day), that he didn't feel it necessary to get routine levels done.
poster:Ritch
thread:125705
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021025/msgs/125879.html