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        New Message Board Archives >> 2003 Posts >> effects tapering depakote or topamax?
        
(Message started by: MarkV on Apr 24^th, 2003, 3:21pm)

Title: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by MarkV on Apr 24^th, 2003, 3:21pm

I am ramping up on topamax and have to start tapering down on depakote. I'll be at a regular daily dose of 100mg/day for topamax and I've been taking depakote at 1000mg/day for over a year. Anyone experience major probs from tapering down depakote? Anyone experience major probs from tapering down from topamax (if it doesn't help me and I have to do that in the future too)? ???

Thanks in advance !!!

MarkV

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by jonny on Apr 24^th, 2003, 3:49pm

Never taken the stuff myself Bro, but heres some good advice

STOP ITCHING!!!

;D ;D ;D ;D........................jonny :D

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by MarkV on Apr 24^th, 2003, 3:56pm

nice.

yeah, I'm finally over the itch (until I get the next round of shading on the tat). hoping for next week. we'll see.

did you get over your ink fever? its a hard habit to break...

bzzzzzz

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by Mikey on Apr 24^th, 2003, 4:01pm

Mark, i too take Depakote, and have had to taper many times for many different reasons. First what i experienced was trembling, kind of like a nervous or cold, fast tremble. Then i experienced a little coordination problems, things like clumsiness. Sometimes i experienced a feeling of being more depressed than usual, thats about as close as i can get to that one, because it has a kind of mental effect to it. I think that was about it.

Mark, the worse one was the trembling, the others were more of a nuisance to me than anything else.
So i wouldn't be worried about it too much. If it gets too bad, especially the trembling, try to taper off slower and go down slow in mg's. Say from 1000mg a day to 750mg instead of going from 1000 to 500. You would obviously have to have both 250 and 500mg tablets to do that though.

Mikey, ;D

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by MarkV on Apr 24^th, 2003, 4:08pm

Mikey, did you get similar mental effects when you ramped UP on Depakote? I had some minor depression (for lack of a better term) problems when I first started depakote until I got used to my dosage.

Thanks again for the heads up on the DTs.

MarkV

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by Mark C on Apr 24^th, 2003, 4:55pm

Tried Depakote......GI tract could not stand more than 2 or 3 days of it.
Now Topamax (http://www.migraines.org/treatment/protpmax.htm).....I did not do well at all. Took it for about a month and had terrible side effects, lost in space, far out un-pleasant feeling. Anything carbonated tasted like s*it for about a month after I stopped taking it.....and my head still hurt. :-/

Please remember this is just me and some find relief in these meds.

PFDAN's
Mark

Title: Re: effects tapering depakote or topamax?
Post by Mikey on Apr 25^th, 2003, 7:33am

MarkV, yeah, sure did. It did the same thing on the way up as it did on the way down. At first, i think i was possibly tapering down too fast then slowd like i mentioned earlier, didn't help too much, but a little. On the way up i didn't try to take it any slower than the Doc told me to, kinda got used to doing it this way now, so never tried slower on the way up really. Hope you don't get the DT's too bad, and as for that, hopefully you wont have any.

Mikey, ;D