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Long term side effects of Depakote

Thu, 02/22/2007 - 23:22
My son (7 yrs.) has been off Depakote since November. We feel blessed that he has been siezure free for over 2 years now. According to our neuro his last EEG in Dec. showed "potential for siezures" but we haven't seen any so he is keeping him off meds. I'm writing because he has been having trouble in school (1st grade) specifically with reading and we are trying to figure out why. He has been in a reading recovery program but not making the progress everyone had hoped. We wonder if there could be any long term effects from the medication or siezures. He is very bright but sometimes very slow to grasp certain concepts. One day he'll read a book beautifully the next day he'll pick up the same book and its like he never read it before. The teachers first thought was focus issues (ADD?) but it's really only during reading and typically kids with ADD don't just have trouble focusing in one area (so I'm told). Anyway, just curious if anyone has heard or experienced undocumented side effects of Depakote in children that may offer us some clues to helping our son. Thanks.

Comments

Just a thought - my son had

Submitted by MityaRN on Wed, 2017-09-27 - 01:40
Just a thought - my son had seizures. He also had an undiagnosed visual impairment (loss of peripheral vision on one side) that we didn't find out about until they worked him up for brain surgery. If your son's seizures have eye symptoms or have been identified as coming from the back (occipital region) ask them to do a visual field study. (ps. my son is seizure and medication free and in college. Keep the faith!)

I'm on 500 my and no side

Submitted by Kensington on Sun, 2018-10-21 - 05:53
I'm on 500 my and no side effects that I'm aware of.  Going to up the 1000 to see if mania is less.

I messaged you on f/b. My

Submitted by aherring79@yahoo.com on Thu, 2015-07-23 - 17:04
I messaged you on f/b. My name is Amy Middlebrooks...please message me when you can! Thanks so much!!

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