Acid Valproic! Help

[daybrake 54]

Has anyone used Valproic Acid (Depakene)? I used it for 4 months and stopped abruptly. I feel like a zombie, without thoughts, feelings and lethargic. I am losing hope that I can be rational again.

 

[LittleJem]

I haven't used it myself - but I really recommend the FB groups on medications/withdrawing from medications. People there will have expert advice for you.

 

[tuto170]

I was on it for awhile, this medication is not that really strong. Most "mood stabilizers" like depakote and lithium are failed antidepressants. They make you a bit drowsy and less anxious. They dont do much alone, but as an addon is a good med. Depakote affects "gaba" receptors that are responsible for relaxation and controlling anxiety. Depakote has similar withdrawals like other antidepressants, like you said cloudy mind and lethargic, but it should go away soon.

 

[NeverEndingProblem]

Has anyone used Valproic Acid (Depakene)? I used it for 4 months and stopped abruptly. I feel like a zombie, without thoughts, feelings and lethargic. I am losing hope that I can be rational again.

It might take a little time for your Brain Biochemistry to return to normal. Try not to worry about it too much -you've not been taking it for too long before you abruptly stoppped so you should be ok. Right now I feel in a similar space to you, because I'm rapidly reducing an antipsychotic. I've done this a number of times, and every time I do it - it feels like my brain will never repair - but i feel back to 'normal' everntually. It take a bit of time and patience.

Good luck.
Also dont forget to eat well, and perhaps take some b vitamans/multivitamins.

p.s I once went cold turkey on Valproic Acid and felt very shit for about 2 months, then I slowly but surely felt alot better.

 

[Gnip]

Depakote was in a long line of prescribed medications that did nothing to my mental functioning. I talked to a number of people who were on it at a learning disabilities conference, and they described it as a medication which halted their experience of "colliding thoughts," but after I gave it a more than fair chance to fail decisively, I discontinued it.

Through the whole time I was on it, my psychiatrist arranged for me to have my blood serum levels routinely monitored. On paper, I was a perfect candidate for Depakote, but we're all an experiment of one, and it simply didn't help (or harm) my mental functioning in any way. In that respect, they might as well have been sugar pills.