Posted by Christ_empowered on April 19, 2011, at 3:12:43
In reply to Depakote sprinkles - insomnia and dose question, posted by TriedEveryMedication on April 18, 2011, at 11:46:16
hey. Depakote is dosed based on blood levels, not dose per se, so its hard to say when you'll hit an effective dose. It depends on how your body handles the depakote, what you're treating, and other medication(s) you're taking.
Some people process depakote better than others. I was put on 1500mgs for acute psychotic mania; I had to reduce to 1gram b/c my blood levels were too high. I've heard that docs aim for lower blood levels for milder bipolar-spectrum disorders than they do for anti-manic action in Bipolar I.
As for the insomnia...I don't know what to tell you. Depakote didn't help me sleep, but it didn't keep me up, either. It did, however, make me even more anxious and jittery, which supposedly isn't common, but I've heard from other people that they experienced that, too. If you're not experiencing nausea, taking meds that could push the blood levels higher, or generally a slow metabolizer of meds, you might want to try pushing the dose a little higher to see if you can get some sleep. You should also have your blood levels done soon so your doctor knows how you process the depakote.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:983155
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110418/msgs/983236.html