My doctor wants to keep me on Depakote, she doesn’t want to budge.
I am suffering from a fatty liver and I may have a lesion (tumor) on my liver by my gallbladder.
I have to get another Ultrasound in 3 months.
The bottom line is that my liver is not healthy.
Depakote is very hard on the liver, I honestly believe it’s causing some damage.
I definitely am going to talk with her and ask her to get me off of Depakote.
The thing is she refuses to get me off of it.
I honestly don’t know what to do?
What’s her reason for not wanting to change?
Maybe change your pdr if you can’t change her mind? Isn’t there other mood stabilizers?
I had a horrible upset stomach taking valproic acid…I just stopped…couldn’t take it…didn’t affect me anyways…my antipsychotic was what was helping my moods…
Unfortunately Depakote keeps me stable and she knows this.
I’ve tried all of the other major mood stabilizers and they don’t work as well.
This is why I feel stuck.
But my liver is important.
Can you ask for an appointment with a nutritionist and then for the next three months work on improving your diet? Then see if there are improvements in your 3-month follow-up ultrasound. Depending on the ultrasound results, you can then discuss the depakote with your pdoc at that time.
Maybe you can ask your pdr to reduce the dosage instead? It should cause less harm and keep you stable if possible.
@Moonbeam @anon67051439
I have an appointment with my nutritionist this week.
I’m going on a specialized diet.
I have to lose lots of weight.
I may ask her to reduce the dose but honestly I don’t want to be on it any longer.
It’s toxic to my liver.
Not only this but Depakote makes you gain lots of weight.
It’s almost impossible to lose significant amounts of weight while taking this med.
It’s quite possible that the depakote is not the cause of your liver issues. If you stop the depakote at the same time as you make significant diet modifications, you may never know whether it was your diet or the depakote that caused the liver issues.
Since there is only an upside to improving your diet and losing weight, I would try that first. Since there could be a significant downside to stopping the depakote, I would recommend keeping that option to try if the the diet/weight loss don’t work.
Yeah its a difficult situation.
Risperdal my other med is usually not a big weight gaining med.
But some people gain lots of weight on it.
Have they done blood tests to check your liver function?
I understand your point @Moonbeam but I’m more concerned about my possible lesion located next to my gallbladder.
I’d rather not risk it.
No my doctor wants me to go in for a blood test sometime this month or in December.
I’ve been on depakote since July and I’ve already gained 20 pounds. And I’ve been having stomach pains so I wonder now if its causing me liver damage as well.
Talk with your doctors @anon52450205
Well, you’re doing the right thing by discussing this with your medical team. You can also request a second opinion.
Yeah I may ask a referral to go see a liver specialist.
Thanks @Moonbeam
I would see a different pdoc and see what they say.