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Has anyone taken sodium valproate ????

1 reply

lilruthie · 24/10/2010 13:08

Hi all this is my 1st post on here....just abit of info about myself....had a nervous breakdown back in june 2000 and been in and out of psychiatric hospitals on n off with severe deppression and anxiety....

Have tried many antideppressants over the years but unfortunately not really helped....

I suffer very high moods then dip to very low and suicidal moods....I have never had what they call manic episodes just very high moods...these moods can vary in length from days n months of highs n lows but have never settled where i'm neither high nor low....

Had an appointment with my psychiatrist on thursday and she is saying possibly i could be suffering with bipolar but before she makes this diagnosis she wants to put me on sodium valproate which she informed me was a mood stalizer....so was wondering if anyone has been on or is still on this medication and if so if possible could anyone give me some feed back as very concerned with weight gain as she said it is a very common side effect....

She has asked me to make an appointment to see my GP and discuss with him and is sending my GP a report of our meeting....

Very concerned with weight gain as a common side effect as i have suffered with weight issues and still do....at the time of my breakdown they said i was borderline anorexia....so i hope you can see why i have concerns with weight gain...

Thanx for reading and hope i get some replies with feed back...

Take Care n Hugs Ruthie xxx

P.S So very sorry for the long essay lol xxx

OP posts:
GetDownYouWillFall · 24/10/2010 16:36

Hi there Ruthie

I've not been on sodium valproate myself, but was an inpatient with someone who took it. I don't think it had a major impact on her weight.

She came off it quite quickly as they don't really like giving it to women of child bearing age as it is known to cause birth defects in foetuses. Although she wasn't planning on getting pregnant, her first pregnancy was unplanned, so understandably she didn't want to take the risk.

If that's not an issue for you then that's ok, but just something to bear in mind.

Curious as to why they are not trying you on lithium, as that is the treatment of choice for bi-polar and is very effective at mood stabilising.

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