Depakote

Hi, Thank you for posting. Treatment and how the body may react to certain medications varies for each individual. We cannot determine if these symptoms you describe your daughter experiencing is related to stopping her medication or not. It's important that you all are continuing to follow-up with her healthcare team to discuss this further and if she continues to experience any changes in symptoms, side effects, seizure types/frequency, behaviors and moods. To learn more about Depakote: https://www.epilepsy.com/medications/divalproex-sodium and stopping medication, please visit: https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/seizure-and-epilepsy-medicines/stopping-medication Additionally, you may want to consider keeping a journal, or diary. My Seizure Diary: https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/epilepsy-foundation-my-seizure-diaryis a great tool for tracking her seizures, setting reminders, recording medical history, medications, side effects, moods, behaviors, triggers and health events that may affect seizures and wellness, which can be shared with her healthcare team. It’s common for those who are in caretaker role to feel overwhelmed. It’s important to remember that you are not alone, and it is just as important to make sure you’re taking care of yourself as well.https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/parents-and-caregivers  It can be helpful to connect with other parents who may have similar experiences, to ask questions, find &give support to each other, by visiting:  https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/parents-and-caregivers/parents-helping-parents  Or contact our 24/7 Helpline, where trained information specialists are available to answer your questions, offer help, hope, support, guidance, and access to national and local resources. 1-800-332-1000, contactus@efa.org. epilepsy.com/helpline

My son is coming off of both Depakote and Keppra right now.  We are in the PEMU and they stopped him cold turkey while we try to sort out if his seizures are PNES or epileptic or both.  He started by having paranoia that there was someone in the room and out to hurt him and his family.  That was at about 40 hours without meds.  Today, at about 50 to 60 hours off of meds, he has complained of headache and been vomiting with severe nausea/stomach pain that appears to come in waves.  No seizure activity though . . .  I can't get clear answers whether these are withdrawal symptoms from med staff, but my online research seems to indicate that it is withdrawal related.  He had recently cut back to following schedule: morning- 250 mg Depakote, 125 mg Keppra and evening - 500 mg Depakoe, 125 mg Keppra.  He's been on a least Depakote since May 2019.