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Anyone heard of Epilim? I am New to America
Tue, 04/25/2006 - 15:18Topic: Medication Issues
Hi there.
I have been living in the USA since Novemeber. I had brought over 5 months supply of medicine from the UK and have now run out. My Doctor has prescribed Depakote. In the UK I was taking Epilim or its generic equivalent depending on my Pharmacists mood.
My new pharmacist said that he didn't know of Epilim over here and there is no such Generic for Sodium Valporate so am having to pay $30 a month on Med's when previously I paid nothing in the UK.
Any response would be appreciated.
James
Re: Anyone heard of Epilim? I am New to America
Submitted by scorpio on Wed, 2006-04-26 - 05:20
To expand on Spiz's comment, valproate is the salt of valproic acid and is the active ingredient of the various forms of valproate marketed (Spiz mentions a number of them). It is 'delivered' via the acid itself (valproic acid), magnesium/calcium salts of same, sodium valproate (Epilim), sodium hydrogen divalproate (Depakote) and valpromide. None of these appear to have any inherent superiority though they vary in the rate they are absorbed, time taken to reach peak serum levels, according to tablet form, whether taken with/without food, etc etc. Slow-release formulations also exist. As to cost, there is probably not much difference between that of Epilim and Depakote - though there is obviously no National Health Service in the US, to pay for the cost of prescription drugs, as there is in the UK! Valproic acid was originally developed as an organic solvent(!) in the 19C and its anti-epileptic properties only recognized much later. Chris