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galinda
Weight Gain and Depakote
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Okay so I went to see my neurologist yesterday and he told me some not so good things about my medicine. Well lately I've been gaining weight..but I exercise everyday for 20 to sometimes even an hour a day and I lift weights. I did the no carb thing but that was short lived but I still counted calories and all that and I havent lost any weight.
My neuro was like "ah you gained weight" and I'm like yeah thanks for reminding me. He said it's because of the Depakote..I was pissed cuz I forgot about that side effect. And he said I can never go off of the depakote b/c when I was just on lamictal I kept having seizures. So I heard Topamax makes you lose weight instead of gain like on depakote. I was wondering..if you have JME-can you take topamax instead of depakote???
Recent Comments on this Discussion
When I was in eighth grade I was put on depakote (2004). I was already a chubbier kid, but I did notice some weight gain. Eventually I was weened off the depakote after 3 years. I was seizure free for about 2 years. I finished high school, and I was doing great. But now I'm back on it after I had a seizure last friday. :/ Oh well, that's life. I'm gonna make sure I talk to my new Neurologist about different medications that could treat me with less side effects... Lepitral, Topamax, Keppra, maybe even medical marijuana. I just figure that if I'm gonna be on these meds the rest of my life, I might as well live with the least amount of side effects.
Hey Galinda,
My boyfriend is in this same exact situation. He currently is on Depakote & it was making him gain weight. Then they started to switch him onto Topamax, the side effects took a terrible toll on him. The Depakote did make him gain weight, but the Topamax made his memory terrible, he couldn't remember anything, he had trouble talking and doing simple things. So they took him off of it. The Topamax, however, did balance out the fact that Depakote made him eat a lot, thus gaining weight.
Side effects are a real bugger, he was just taken off of Zorantin last week, because it was making him pyscotic. It's been a trip.
I don't know much about depakote, but I was taking tegratol for four years and gained 60 plus lbs my dr decided to switch my meds to tompax because the weight gain was causing depression I've been on it now for about 2 years and it has been the worst thing that has ever happen to me. I feel like this biggest air head , a lot of times I get questioned by people about doing drugs because I space out and don't realize it and I have to then explain that thats a side effect of my medication. My dr will not change it because i havent had a siezure which is reasonable but rediculous at the same time. I used to be a straight a student i just graduated this year with mostly b's and there was no weight loss i tried everything atkins counting calories running working out vegeitarian nothing worked it just maintains your weight. Topamax is something no one should have to go through its horrible. Its the worst drug on the market
GreenGrapes008
I originally was put on 3000 of Depakote and gained over 50lbs. Ugh! ruined my college years. After graduating, my dr suggested Topamax in conjunction with the Depakote. We lowered my Depakote and added Topapmax. The result = I lost all the weight, which was a great thing, however, the Topamax made my thought process extremely slower. I am now off of it and on Zonegran, which is similar, but with less side effects! Please ask your doc about either Zonegran or Topamax as an add on and lowering the Depakote. (I've been on Depakote, Tegretol, Top, Keppra, Zonegran, Diamox and Depakote is the best for my JME).
Good luck
Have you tried Stavzor???
hi,
yea, I've been on Depakote for almost 2 1/2 yrs. now and wen i started i weighed 139 pounds and over a 1 1/2 yr period i gained almost 60 lbs! i'm now bouncing between 190 and 200, and 4 some1 5'3'', 5'4'' and only 17 yrs old I am a high risk obesity. i get a lot of pressure frm my parents and they make me feel bad most the time as if i'm trying not to lose weight. the depakote makes it really hard but if any1 has any method to lose weight i would eternally grateful =]
thnx
A.
I was on Topamax for a while, it seemed to work pretty good for the seizures. But, it took a lot of my thought process away. I couldn't even spell. Example-I was at the doctors, had to pay with a check, I couldn't spell the numbers.
I do know how you feel, Because I am on Lyrica which is an off shoot of Depakote. And yes, I have gained twenty pounds, no matter how little I eat and how much exercise I do. My one doctor had warned me of this, but wanted me on the med anyway. It is very frustrating, I needed new clothes, because after a short while, mine didn't fit. ugh
I haven't heard to much on Topamax. I wanted to try it but my Dr wouldn't let me. I also have JME and Grand Mals. I would ask about Limictal.It works very well for me. If you looking towards Topamax b/c it makes you lose weight I wouldn't take it I tried to get for that reason b/c Depakote made me gain as well. I guess Topamax isn't very good from the research I've done and from the Dr's I've seen in Boston
I take depakote also. I gained like, a lot of weight from it which sucks. I did ask if I could switch to some meds that would not make me gain weight and look all fat. But, unfortunately for me, the neurologist dude said that I can't because it was something about other meds won't help my seizures or something. How f***ed up can that get! Oh well, gotta live with it...damn! Good luck to you all with the depakote stuff.
~Sophs
I use to take Depakote when I was young I had to watch my weight as well. It didn't help to much for my seizures but at that point Depakote and Dilatin were the best for treating my type of seizure. Well after I had a little boy everything changed! my hormones of course had changed so I started to gain weight. My eating habits were still the same as there always were so they messed around with the dosage and it only got worse. So finally the only thing I could do was through a threat out to my Dr that if he didn't do something I would take myself off!!! well it worked! I now take Limictal within 1 month I lost 10 pounds! I have two different types of seizures jme and grand Mals as well as Bipolar. I would ask your Doctor again or get a second opinion!!! the weight gain will ONLY GET WORSE!!! trust me I started it when I was 14! there are better meds out there. I was told the same thing. Good Luck!
i gained 30 pounds on this med. i then developed an eating disorder and lost it all.
when i was on it i was always hungry and ate my luch and then my friends lunches. it was embarrasing !
ask for a different medication.
I was diagnosed with jme at the age of 15. When the doctor wanted to put me on medication at that point in time I refused to go on it because he warned me of the side effects. A few months later I experienced a grand mal seizure and was started on depakote that night at the hospital. I have been on it ever since and that was just short of 10 years ago. In those 10 years I have had extreme tiredness (all the time), hair loss, and worst of all gained a total of 80-100 pounds. Granted I can't blame all the weight gain on the Depakote. After gaining the majority of the weight I became depressed and was also put on an anit-depressant which lucky for me also causes weight gain. I have gained about 20 pounds since going on the anit-depressant the rest was all while just on depakote. In the 10 years since I had that grand mal seixure I have never had another jerk, tremor, or grand mal seizure but my dr still insists that I will be on this medication for the rest of my life b/c "jme is not a type of epilepsy that you typically grow out of." I have recently discussed with him going off of the depakote b/c I just recently got married and my husband and I want to start trying to have children so I am hoping that by going off of the medication I will start to shed some of these extra pounds. I know a lot of people think that we are making such a big deal about weight and they way we look when this medication is helping to control our seizures but the weight I am at now is not a helathy weight for me or if I get pregnant my child. I am 5'1" and weigh approx 200 pounds. This is extremly hard for someone who was thin their whole life. Its not that I even eat a lot. When I sit down to meals I eat one serving if I even finish that and rarely do I snack between meals and no matter how active I am I just seem to keep gaining. When talking to my dr about getting pregnant he said being I have to drive he would prefer that I go on another medication while pregnant instead of stopping completly but he said if I can find a way around driving then he wouldnt mind me stopping the depakote and just waiting to see what happens wihtout any medication. This is the option I am leaning towards but I just have to find someone to drive me everywhere which will be very inconvenient. Anyway I'll keep everyone up to date and let you know the progress.
Ok, this is what I did.
I'm also on a similar drug that has the same side effect. So my neuro put me on 25mg Topamax twice a day and that kind of settled it. Problem is about switching is that full force Topamax actually makes most people feel incredible sick all day long. Even being on the little amount I was on made me feel sick (also made me teary eyed at night/irritable, gave me pins&needles in my feets, hands and upper lip AND gave me AIWS -Alice in Wonderland Syndrome). So just ask for a bit of Topamax to balance out the appetite/weight gain.
Well, I'm now 18 I was 15 when I was diagnosed with JME and I'm currently taking Depakote. What I have completly noticed is between that time the weight gain, and now I have to go on a diet provided by a nutricionist the neurologist recommended, to see if that would help me. I think that is the actual side effect that I have noticed at least on my account.
My husband has EP. He went on Depakote in college and gained about 100lbs. He is now on Topamax and lost all that, and then some. He's been on the Topamax for several years now and it seems to be working pretty well! Good luck!
Also, my doctor told me that Depakote was the best kind of medicine out there for seizures, so maybe you should stay on it.
I take Depakote for my seziures, and I never really gained weight, but I got the other side effect from the medicine which was the hair loss, but now my side effect is gone so, maybe yours will be gone after a while as well.
I was diagnosed with JME when I was 16 (am currently 23) and was placed on Depakote. I hated it. I was shaky and had weight gain and was very sleepy. I spoke to my doc about changing meds and switched to Lamictal. I had weight loss and it was apparent to my peers (they thought I went on a diet). I have loved my experience with Lamictal.
After brain surgeryIn 1995(repaired an A.V. Malformation), scar tissue that developed caused me to have ongoing seizures. I was put on every anti-seizure drug at the time, but was allergic to all of them, except Depakote. Weight gain was the first side effect that I noticed from the drug. I have been on the Depakote until February of this year, when I heard that Topamax might control my seizures. This meant no more going in to get my valproic acid levels checked, no more being tired, and most importantly, I could lose the 50 plus pounds that I put on over the past ten years. After being on the Topomax for three weeks, I had a seizure. The first one in five years. I realized one thing for sure then. The weight gain sucks, but the grand-mals suck even more. I have not found a diet that seems to work miracles yet, but I am not giving up yet. For now it is smaller portions, and plenty of exercise. Atleast I can maintain my weight by doing this.
Take Care,
maddy
Hi,
I know you posted this a loooooong time ago, but I just came across it as I'm pretty new to this site. I'm a 27 f with JME and have been taking Depakote for 11 years with great success, no tonic clonics and only moderate myoclonic jerks. However, I'm in the process of changing over to Keppra because the side effects stink! At first I did okay with the weight gain, but lately it's been hard to keep off...I'm always having this "full" feeling in my body and I've gained about 15 pounds. I'm taking 750mg of Depakote, and can't wait to start taking less. I was wondering how your seizure control has been on the Keppra/Depakote combo? Have you maintained your weight loss? If you have any advice, let me know, thanks! Hope you are well.
OK. Was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1992. Been on Felbatol, Tegretol, Lamictal, Topamax and Depakote. NOW my regimen includes Lamictal and Keppra. Told nothing about any of the syndromes, learned these in medical school when I had to drop out after one year due to my absence seizures. On Tegretol for 10 years. Contraindicated for patients with absence seizures according to the FDA. Read your inserts. Ask your pharmacist. None of the online literature will state so. But it exacerbates the condition. Was put on Depakote, gained 43 pounds in 6 weeks. If I was not able to eat every two hours, I was about to pass out. I was stunned. It felt like my stomach was a cavern and if you stood in it, and spoke, it would echo. I guarantee it! I felt so down on myself. But learned to deal with it. I had been heavier before and lost over 60 pounds in med school. So I was OK. But I too exercised like a mad woman to try to take the weight off. It only made me more hungry! Topamax caused the opposite effect. I could go days without eating and not feel hungry. Neither were good for me. I took off those Depakote pounds without even trying. Ate whatever I wanted, whenever I felt like eating, and managed to come from 225 to now 175. Not healthy, ladies. Not at all. I lost control of my seizures without the Depakote, had the best control ever with it. I tell my family I would rather be fat than be a vegetable. I had no control and almost lost my job because of it. My personality changed and I drove my family and coworkers nuts. Now I am taking Lamictal and Keppra. Appetite is improved. I eat three meals a day and I even noticed I am gaining a little weight back, but I think it is due to my healthy appetite. The Depakote and Topamax screwed up my metabolism royally. Almost as bad as my Tegretol experience. I have to manage to get some exercise in now and be sure I don't get that weight back on. But I am feeling so much better with the Keppra. I like it. I think! I am not sure yet since I am still titrating up, but I feel so much better, so much more clarity when I think-- only tired more. Sleepiness is a side effect, so I am sure that has something to do with it. But I can deal with that, like all the other meds. I pray for the magic bullet-- the one pill we can take to do away with this disorder, and also be comfortable without the side effects. Hopefully medical progress will bring it soon, in my lifetime. Keep your chin up and speak with your neurologist often. My experience has been that I have had to be a little more aggressive with my doctors than normal people or normal circumstances might require. But I have been successful, even though they think I am a pain. Oh well-- I am not paying hundreds of dollars for his office to blow me off. I stongly encourage you to speak with your doctor about your medications if your weight causes issues for you. There are other options, but I am not certain of your E experience either. What you have been taking may be the very best for you and it will be an adjustment, but you will be fine. I am certain of it. Having E is full of challenges (now 12 years for me!) but I am certain you can make it through them just like I did.
Jamie
great replies so far (well, not so sure about the pot/booze one) but anyways
i'm on depekene (same as depakote) and i think the weight gain is a concern of course. i also have JME. been on depekene for a long time now...so yes, the weight gain will even out and stop (i've been the same size/weight for at least 5 yrs now). i think when u are new on the drug to watch your diet and exercise and that is the best you can hope for. i've heard the stories of how ppl have lost tons of weight AFTER going off of depekene, but for me personally, i've stuck with the depekene. don't know if i want to risk it - depekene is typically the best for JME. if it is working and you want to get your license, i'd suggest to stick it out. you'll need a certain # of years seizure free for a license. definately, don't go the route of pot and booze...this is not good advice!!!
hope this helps a bit with your decision
cassandra
I was on depakote for a couple years, when I was first diagnosed. I hated it. I gained about 60 lbs, nothing I did helped me fight the weight gain. Then I started having other problems, hair loss, tremors, and more. I had to have my dose cut and then was put on Topamax. Yes, I lost 15 lbs the first month. I think I lost about 30 to 40 lbs at the begining. My doctor took me off of it because I was loseing too fast. I had to switch doctors, and he put me back on Topamax. I didn't lose any weight the second time, but I wasn't gaining like I did before either. I was staying about the same. For me that seems pretty good.
You use your own judgment, and consult your doctor about it. I found my option, you should find yours with your doctor's help.
I have the same problem as doksdarlin. I was placed on Depakote in my early 40's after an episode of Status epilepticus. I take 300mg of Dilantin and 20- 250 mg of Depakote a day. I gained 60+ lbs in about 7 weeks during a stay in the hospital. My hair falls out (and breaks off), I have tremors and even though I eat healthy and exercise 45 minutes a day, I cannot lose the weight I gained. I want to be healthy, but I see no light at the end of the tunnel. Is there anyone else who is taking as large a dose as I am and maintaining their weight w/o seizures?
Hi everybody,
Sounds like all of you are very active people. Increasing exercise and lifting weights and participating in sports all have one thing in common - they build and maintain muscle mass. Guess what - muscle mass is heavier then fat so yeah - you might be gaining some weight in your efforts to lose weight....especially if you are not eating right and regularly.
The key is moderation.....in everything. Eat smart and with reasonable portion size. The exercise will help to maintain your muscles as well as other parts of your body (heart, lungs, etc.) but excessive exercise can build more muscle and thus add more weight. Don't go only by the scale.....it can't tell you how much muscle you have and how much fat you have. Look in the mirror - work on what you see there! If there is fat accumulating where it wasn't before or where you don't want it - target those areas with some exercises that will burn that fat and make good muscle instead.
I think weight gain is a side affect we all deal with. What I have found is that I reached a certain point and then the gain stopped. I have used portion control and exercise to maintain that weight for several years now. Is it where I would like to be? No - but it is better then where I could be if I didn't take control of it. I still have periodic increases of about 10 pounds and sometimes a monthly increase of 5 pounds (water weight) but both are short lived and reduced by increasing both exercise and water intake for a few days.
Your primary care doctor can help you develop plans to help stabilise and maintain a healthy body and healthy weight for you - even with added weight from the med side effects.....but you have to keep it up. Don't give up and don't use the meds as an excuse for gaining weight.....excess weight causes far more health problems then you want to add to what you already have to deal with. Eat smart, exercise wisely and moderate. You'll be okay....maybe not a size 4 but I never thought a size 12 was all that bad anyway!
Later........................Lee
Hello.
I use to take Depakote when I was like 20. I am now 30. It made me gain so much weight and i had lots of mood swings, not to mention it didnt control my seizures. I am now on Topamax and it is having a opposite effect, but it has only been a few months. I hope depakote works for u.
hi
i take carbamazepine (generic for Tegretol), and i have gained all of this weight (about 20 lbs). does anyone know how to get rid of it (safely and sanely)? I play sports (volleyball) and it hasn't seemed to have left. i can't run as fast or jump as high.
Late,
ash
Leah,
I was on Depakote for 15 years, the main side affects are the liver damage. I took alot of vitamins for that while I was on it. But what I really noticed was the hair damage. My doctor did not tell me about that at all. My hair would grow to my shoulders and then break off. Even if I got it trimmed it would still break off. So mabe take prenatal vitamins for your hair.
mirrorcat21
i was diagnosed with JME this past december.
THE DAY BEFORE MY 16TH BIRTHDAY!!!! and yes im not allowed to get my permit until june now, even after i spent a long time studying the permit book!!
anyways ive been taking Depakote since december. Recently ive noticed that it has made me so tired! ive gained about 12 pounds, probably just because its making me sleep too much and i think the meds hav increased my apetite. Im an elite softball player and i enjoy working out , but the constantly being tired thing is getting old..i come home from school n just want to sleep!!..ive only been on the medicine for a month so im really hoping it doesnt get worse..and also weight gain is the last thing that i need!
Hi, I also have jme. From all the literature I have read, topamax works very well for it. While I couldn't stand taking it, topamax is well suited for jme. Of course ask your neuro. As for me, depakote works fine.
My son has been on Depakote for almost 10 years now, and I have to say our experience has been very positive. For one thing, I was initially told that Depakote had a lower incidence of cognitive side effects (i.e. many drugs effect "thinking" more dramatically), and I believe it. My son has been on Depakote throughout schooling (since 1st grade) and his only poor school performance has been motivation-related (not liking the teacher, etc.) -- overall he tests very well (while on Depakote), was admitted to the gifted program while on Depakote, and generally makes A's and B's (except in those instances noted above!!!). It has controlled his seizures VERY well (only 10 in almost a decide) with one exception -- when he entered puberty, things changed (as we had been told could happen) -- his body was apparently a little too accustomed to the Depakote and started "dumping" it (very little was retained in his bloodstream). He had 3 seizures in 7 months -- which is VERY frequent for him (prior to that he went 29 months without one). At that point, his neuro added Lamictal "on top" of the Depakote, and he's been virtually seizure-free since (he's had one in over a year, and that was after forgetting his medication for two nights in a row). He's on 1250mg per day now, due to his being a pretty big 14-year-old (weighs 145lbs., which may indeed be partly due to the Depakote). I'd say that's really the only "side-effect" we've had any evidence of (weight gain). That's something of an issue for him, but not too much -- it may, of course, be more important to a girl!
Good luck!