Posted by Ritch on February 3, 2002, at 9:56:01
In reply to Re:depakote/insomnia! » Ritch, posted by Chloe on February 3, 2002, at 9:39:01
> Hi Mitch,
> Thanks for the last post. I guess sneaking in some fish oil before bed is not a good idea in your case.
>
> I tried the depakote 125 mgs, 10:30am and pm. It really did not disrupt my day at all until I got home after 5 pm. Then I felt slightly tired, and thought I might nap. NO WAY. I just can't seem to shut off on depakote. So I started doing stuff, and had a really bad temper/screaming outburst. This surprised me. I hoped all that crap was behind me. But it did not last long.
>
> Anyway, when I went to bed, I could NOT fall asleep for an hour. Then I must have woken up every hour all night long. It was miserable. I would have vivid dreams and wake up disgruntled that it's only been an hour or so of restless sleep. Then this am, I didn't want to get up...But of course the dog really need to go out, and fast this morning, figures!
>
> So, I wonder if you have any thoughts about this? Is this insomnia going to continue to worsen? And am I going to continue to feel disagreeable and grumpy? Or has the dep not had enough time to "work" and smooth things out yet? My impression was that dep was supposed to help with anxiety and sleep. I am not feeling terrilby quiet inside and my sleep is worse than it's been in years...I wish I could get a hold of the pdoc. But I imagine she has no experience with this reaction. I am always having reactions she is not famililar with.
>
> Should I stay the course with the 250? Or back down to 125 at 8 pm. Or try to just stay at 125 dep and increase my neurontin if I can tolerate it. That is more calming. But N really does nothing for the outburst or cycling. Damn, there is just not miracle cure for me.
>
> Sorry this is so long and full of questions that are probably unanswerable!
> Take care,
> Chloe
I suppose it is entirely possible that Depakote might cause insomnia-but I really doubt it. If your pdoc wants you to stay at 250mg-I'd stick with it and see how it goes. If it doesn't seem to be "helping" you sleep that much-you might try your idea of splitting the dose 12 hrs. apart-taking one tab at bedtime and the the other at midday the next day. I didn't get very fatigued on Depakote until I got to 500mg/day. But, I still had trouble with munchies at *any* dose.Gee, I wonder if your amitriptyline dosage *decrease* from 20mg > 10mg at bedtime might have something to do with it?
BTW, I'm trying one gelcap at lunch (that contains about 1G of Omega-3) now and I don't notice any significant reflux like I did with the fish oil. Of course, it may do NOTHING, but that's ok.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:90799
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/92697.html