Posted by Ritch on May 5, 2005, at 10:07:02
In reply to Re: Keppra - causes mania? » Ritch, posted by theo on May 4, 2005, at 23:01:50
> I forgot to ask, does Depakote ER 250mg cause any cognitive impairment?
All antimanic agents that have worked for me have caused some degree or type of cognitive blunting or dulling. However, some of the severity of depressions that have been prevented has to count against that to some extent when figuring that in. I would hate to think that I'm trading a nasty yo-yo for depression on the installment plan, but it is kind of like that it seems at times--:) As far as chronic day-to-day cognitive side effects of antimanics go.. lithium was easily the worst, Trileptal caused it too, and also Depakote. Particularly with Depakote (for me), the biggest trouble is transient word recognition difficulties (or delayed recognition).. it is a little like the epilepsy patients who have their corpus callosum (sp?) severed and when looking at a word with their left eye (only), they can't recognize it. There are rare occasions where I look directly at a common word and know that I know what it is, but I can't describe it-- it's pretty weird. I notice it the worst when I increase the dose, and it *does* settle down and fade somewhat with time.. with Trileptal (in my individual case).. it seemed to gradually worsen on the same dose. Keeping the dose of Depakote at a lower level mitigates a lot of that and overall I can tolerate it better than any of the others for the antimanic benefits that it provides (a good cost/benefit ratio). I think I would have little cognitive impairment at all if I could get my sleep architecture straightened out (and whatever med that is used to help that, if any doesn't make things worse the next day).
poster:Ritch
thread:487624
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050504/msgs/494063.html