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depakote side effects

Sat, 10/18/2014 - 19:03

Topic: Medication Issues

Hi! I am new here. My 9 year old son was diagnosed with absence seizures yesterday. He was also having an abnormal spike on the EEG so the neurologist opted to place him on Depakote 250 mg twice/day. I have been reading the side effects on every site I can find. He has had 3 doses and after the first dose he became very hyper and also have the 2nd dose. He just took the 3rd dose a few minutes ago. Is hyperactivity a side effect anyone else has seen? He has also had some behavior that was mildly aggressive but not really, just more verbal with yelling his answer to my question. Also I have had to repeat myself several times when telling him to do something or stop a certain behavior ie jumping over furniture, etc. He did calm down as we got into the afternoon. He also had diarrhea but I have read that is common. Any info and input you can give me will be much appreciated. -Tina

Comments

An abnormal spike in an EEG

Submitted by just_joe on Sat, 2014-10-18 - 21:46

An abnormal spike in an EEG is seizure activity comming out of the brain. The EEG shows where in the brain that activity is comming from.You posted dosaes you gave given him. He is now in the third dosa. It is to be taken 2 times a day. Morning is one dosae evening is the second dose the third dose would be the next morning so he has only been on this medication for 1 1/2 days. Is that right??? Or are you calling each day of meds a dose?? It takes a few weeks for side effects to stop as the body gets used to the medication and dosage. Once that happens the neurologist will have another visit to see if your son is getting better and having fewer issues. At that time the dosage can be raised or lowered to help control his seizures. As the body grows the dosages will need to be raised or lowered to keep the medication levels at a rate that control the seizures but arean't to high to cause any problems. If he is still moody or hyperactive after a week then by all means contact his neurologist and discuss this issue with him. I say that because he might have been put on a dosage that is too high. I say that because a medication that works for one person may not work for the next. Dosages are like medications. The ammount one person takes without a problem could be toxic or too much for the next person. When I was started on medications back in the stone age the first medication dosage was to high. I was taken off it after a few days. I went about a week before being put back on it at a lower dosage. It worked well for 35 years. I started having problems and it took me some time to connect but the medication was my issue since I had taken it for so long I was toxic on it. I was having the same issue with it as I was the first dosage I was ever given. I was sent to the hospital in Lubbock and I was right. It did take some time to get medications and dosages set but I have been doing good. I hope this helps and he gets the medication set and gets seizure free Joe

An abnormal spike in an EEG is seizure activity comming out of the brain. The EEG shows where in the brain that activity is comming from.You posted dosaes you gave given him. He is now in the third dosa. It is to be taken 2 times a day. Morning is one dosae evening is the second dose the third dose would be the next morning so he has only been on this medication for 1 1/2 days. Is that right??? Or are you calling each day of meds a dose??   It takes a few weeks for side effects to stop as the body gets used to the medication and dosage. Once that happens the neurologist will have another visit to see if your son is getting better and having fewer issues. At that time the dosage can be raised or lowered to help control his seizures. As the body grows the dosages will need to be raised or lowered to keep the medication levels at a rate that control the seizures but arean't to high to cause any problems.  If he is still moody or hyperactive after a week then by all means contact his neurologist and discuss this issue with him. I say that because he might have been put on a dosage that is too high. I say that because a medication that works for one person may not work for the next. Dosages are like medications. The ammount one person takes without a problem could be toxic or too much for the next person. When I was started on medications back in the stone age the first medication dosage was to high. I was taken off it after a few days. I went about a week before being put back on it at a lower dosage. It worked well for 35 years. I started having problems and it took me some time to connect but the medication was my issue since I had taken it for so long I was toxic on it. I was having the same issue with it as I was the first dosage I was ever given. I was sent to the hospital in Lubbock and I was right. It did take some time to get medications and dosages set but I have been doing good. I hope this helps and he gets the medication set and gets seizure free Joe

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