depakote level too high

well, so far, as of today talking to my pdoc on the ph, my depakote levels were well above 100 and they are supposed to be like 50 to 80 I guess. so, I don't take any tomorrow and go back to the original dose. then we'll see what the seroquel is doing from there. ugh, I hate this stupid process. but, I guess we know now what happens when there is too much mood stabilizer in the body, it pulls us down. No I'm not off to divorce court yet, that's a subject for a more stable amy. forgive me when it comes up, its a marker for my manias apparently, along with my hypersexuality. Wed I was high as a kite, Thursday turned into a day of despair where I was IMing a friend in tears and by Sat was sick as a dog, exhausted and phys sick. Today has been ok but not great, one of those, I shoulda stayed in bed days.
Anyway, we'll see what the rest of the week has in store for me. Looks like it could go any which way it wants. keep our fingers crossed for a good outcome!

oh and I still have to do something about these dang hormones, maybe my mid 60's female pdoc can help cause other wise it'll be Jan before I see a Gyn. instead of the 25 yr old just got out of med school male family physician.

Yes, you've got to watch that Depakote level, as you said. When I first got diagnosed the p-ward pdoc wanted to get me on Depakote as fast as possible so put me on something crazy like 2000 mg. I immediately got sick as a dog, could barely stand up, and was barely awake/alert. It turns out my Depakote level was somewhere around 120. (I think I've got those numbers right - I was so sick at the time I barely remember the days.)

Sorry to hear you've been sick, There's a lot of crud going around Raleigh and Chesapeake right now. Wash your hands a lot and don't shake hands - tell people YOU have the cold and don't want to give it to THEM - it works every time.

Take care.

Amy sorry you are having a rough time now. I went to the Neurologist today and he said my Depakote level was to high and recommended I should stop the Depakote completely. I'm not sure what this is going to do the other drugs I'm taking. Good luck to you in your search. Bob

my pdoc mentioned a level of 118, of course then the crash on Thurs. ugh. I didn't take any today and I'm supposed to go back to the 500mg tomorrow. I feel better today, just very groggy all day, course I didn't get my usual 10 hours of sleep :) My fault for staying up too late knowing I had to get up at 730am today.
I had to teach a class today and so the first thing I did when I got home was change out of the dress up clothes and into comfy pjs. yay for those. I have the house to myself tonight except for my bossy dog so its been nice and quiet.
I've only been taking depakote since March, it was working fine but an external trigger (a guy) pushed the mania up, which is why she added more depakote, I since crashed on Thurs and coming back up to usual is just slow. I hate the thought I might be going into rapid cycling....that would seriously suck, most of the time my moods last months and I had a long run of usual moods, not up or down since April.
Nature of the beast I guess is that it changes configuration, esp as we get older. I am fearful of those warnings I see on the labels of our meds about not using them in the elderly. What will they use? or is there an assumption that we won't need to worry about that? hm.

thanks for the encouragement! I sure needed it.

Amy