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Depakote, Behaviors, and personality
Mon, 02/11/2008 - 19:22Comments
Re: Depakote, Behaviors, and personality
Submitted by ValNewLife on Thu, 2008-03-13 - 12:36
If you believe it's the medicine, don't give up!
One other thing we learned the hard way... Don't have your child's medical records sent directly from your current Neurologist to your new Neurologist. Have them sent to you, then you send them on to the new Neurologist, after you've gone through each and every page... Here's why...
When we finally had the records sent to us, we realized why every Neurologist was telling us the SAME THING, without really spending the time with our son... They would read the medical records, which included the first Neurologist's opinion... Once they read that, that's the opinion they went with. Period. We couldn't BELIEVE some of the information we were reading in our son's records! Things that were NOT correct! I went through each and every page and made notations (with back-up) regarding each incorrect statement. I also included a cover letter, explaining our past experiences, etc... Once we did this, we found our Neurologist, and got our son back!!!
Good Luck! There is hope! God Bless, Val
If you believe it's the medicine, don't give up!
One other thing we learned the hard way... Don't have your child's medical records sent directly from your current Neurologist to your new Neurologist. Have them sent to you, then you send them on to the new Neurologist, after you've gone through each and every page... Here's why...
When we finally had the records sent to us, we realized why every Neurologist was telling us the SAME THING, without really spending the time with our son... They would read the medical records, which included the first Neurologist's opinion... Once they read that, that's the opinion they went with. Period. We couldn't BELIEVE some of the information we were reading in our son's records! Things that were NOT correct! I went through each and every page and made notations (with back-up) regarding each incorrect statement. I also included a cover letter, explaining our past experiences, etc... Once we did this, we found our Neurologist, and got our son back!!!
Good Luck! There is hope! God Bless, Val
Re: Depakote, Behaviors, and personality
Submitted by cocohouston on Thu, 2008-03-13 - 17:26
You're story broke my heart. I went through that experience with my son when he was 4. After he began taking the depakote, we watched our son slowly slip away from us. He went from a happy child to a sullen, angry and defiant boy who was in the principals office his second week of Pre-K. The light that was in his eyes disappeared and he was lethargic and moody. I told the Neuro he was having a reaction to the medicine but he insisted that the seizures where to blame for the mood changes and the tremors in his hands and the Doctor increased the meds. At times he was shaking so bad, he couldn't feed himself. He was withdrawn and had no friends. I cried thinking that this is where he was going to be. Fortunately, after talking to many people, I found an epileptologist in Houston and he immediately took him off the Depakote and put him on a new medication. I kept him home for two days to see if he had any seizure activity before sending him back to school. Within a day, I could see our happy boy returning. His eyes shinned and I heard him singing in his room, then I realized that my happy little boy had stopped singing when he was on the Depakote. I knew then that we had made the right choice for him. I proudly took him back to school and the teacher couldn't believe the change in his behaviour.
He is now 7 and is a very happy, little boy who enjoys playing sports and is very popular with the other children.
If you feel there is a reaction with the medication, you must bring it up with your doctor and get a second (or third) opinion.
Good luck. I hope that everything works out well for your daughter.
You're story broke my heart. I went through that experience with my son when he was 4. After he began taking the depakote, we watched our son slowly slip away from us. He went from a happy child to a sullen, angry and defiant boy who was in the principals office his second week of Pre-K. The light that was in his eyes disappeared and he was lethargic and moody. I told the Neuro he was having a reaction to the medicine but he insisted that the seizures where to blame for the mood changes and the tremors in his hands and the Doctor increased the meds. At times he was shaking so bad, he couldn't feed himself. He was withdrawn and had no friends. I cried thinking that this is where he was going to be. Fortunately, after talking to many people, I found an epileptologist in Houston and he immediately took him off the Depakote and put him on a new medication. I kept him home for two days to see if he had any seizure activity before sending him back to school. Within a day, I could see our happy boy returning. His eyes shinned and I heard him singing in his room, then I realized that my happy little boy had stopped singing when he was on the Depakote. I knew then that we had made the right choice for him. I proudly took him back to school and the teacher couldn't believe the change in his behaviour.
He is now 7 and is a very happy, little boy who enjoys playing sports and is very popular with the other children.
If you feel there is a reaction with the medication, you must bring it up with your doctor and get a second (or third) opinion.
Good luck. I hope that everything works out well for your daughter.
Re: Depakote, Behaviors, and personality
Submitted by coltsmom on Thu, 2008-03-13 - 11:55
Wow! We are going through this right now. Our son is a totally different person since starting meds for seizures. He snaps back and forth with moods and at times seems like he loses touch with reality. He hallucinates and goes into fits of tears or rage. We are frustrated and don't know what to do. We were told to take him in for an evaluation since it is "behavioral" not the meds. He has been on Topamax and now Depakote. I found an alert from the FDA dated January 31, 2008 concerning these meds that it can cause suicidal behaviors--especially in epileptics:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/antiepileptics/default.htm
Wow! We are going through this right now. Our son is a totally different person since starting meds for seizures. He snaps back and forth with moods and at times seems like he loses touch with reality. He hallucinates and goes into fits of tears or rage. We are frustrated and don't know what to do. We were told to take him in for an evaluation since it is "behavioral" not the meds. He has been on Topamax and now Depakote. I found an alert from the FDA dated January 31, 2008 concerning these meds that it can cause suicidal behaviors--especially in epileptics:
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/antiepileptics/default.htm