Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

lithium to Epival

16 views
Skip to first unread message

David Dalton

unread,
Feb 20, 2013, 5:41:52 PM2/20/13
to
I'm posting to these groups since I have had some
feedback, sometimes about taking my meds, from
these groups in the past.

I met with my new psychiatrist again today.

My kidney blood tests remained about where they
have been the last few months despite my having
abstained from alcohol for a few weeks before
the blood tests, so I have decided to return
to my limit of two pints twice a week, which
a kidney specialist and my psychiatrist agree with.

Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist
has decided to switch me from lithium to Epival.
However he will leave me on lithium until I
have a good blood level of valproic acid, so
the earliest I will start tapering off the
lithium will be in three weeks time when I
see him again. Also he will leave me on the
olanzapine.

Let me know if I exhibit behaviour unusual for
even me in the next couple of months.

--
David Dalton dal...@nfld.com http://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)
http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/nf.html Newfoundland&Labrador Travel & Music
http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)
"Here I go again...back into the flame" (Sarah McLachlan)

Giovanna Stefani

unread,
Feb 21, 2013, 5:38:59 AM2/21/13
to
David Dalton scrive:

> Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist has decided to switch me
> from lithium to Epival.

Good luck with that. I hated being on valproate and after a while,
refused to take it.

--
Giovanna

daughtersofdea.org.uk

David Dalton

unread,
Feb 21, 2013, 4:08:55 PM2/21/13
to
In article <5125f943$0$1106$5b6a...@news.zen.co.uk>,
Giovanna Stefani <m...@not.com> wrote:

> David Dalton scrive:
>
> > Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist has decided to switch me
> > from lithium to Epival.
>
> Good luck with that. I hated being on valproate and after a while,
> refused to take it.

What was the problem, the side effects or its effect on
your mental state and/or creativity?

Last time he said he was leaning towards Abilify so I was
prepared to argue for Epival. But he said he had
talked with his pharmacologist and that person had
recommended Epival, with a backup of asenapine (another
atypical antipsychotic), not Abilify.

So if the Epival doesn't work out (either it doesn't
completely manage my mood disorder, or the side
effects are too much for me, or it has adverse
effects on my mental state and/or creativity) he
will try me on asenapine instead.

I've only taken one 500 mg dose of Epival
(actually Apo-Divalproex, or Divalproex Sodium)
so far and the only side effects I have noticed
so far are an increase in saliva, which is
welcome since my other meds cause dry mouth
leading to bad breath, and a slight loosening
of my bowel (though not to the stage of diarrhea),
which is welcome since I had been slightly
constipated in recent days.

I plan to update my Salmon on the Thorns web
page in the next few hours. I will probably
edit the Planned Edits subpage, the Recent
Changes subpage, the Summary of key features
of my cycles subpage, and maybe the deities
subpage, and maybe the four components subpage
(I would update the assisted shaktipat entry
to my most recent attempt). Then in the next
few days I hope to edit the messages section.

David Dalton

unread,
Feb 21, 2013, 11:23:00 PM2/21/13
to
In article <dalton-148953....@mx05.eternal-september.org>,
David Dalton <dal...@nfld.com> wrote:

> I plan to update my Salmon on the Thorns web
> page in the next few hours. I will probably
> edit the Planned Edits subpage, the Recent
> Changes subpage, the Summary of key features
> of my cycles subpage, and maybe the deities
> subpage, and maybe the four components subpage
> (I would update the assisted shaktipat entry
> to my most recent attempt). Then in the next
> few days I hope to edit the messages section.

OK, I made some edits, but I didn't really condense
the Summary of key features of my cycles down
as much as I had hoped.

Probably tomorrow night I will get on to the

Giovanna Stefani

unread,
Feb 22, 2013, 5:38:43 AM2/22/13
to
David Dalton scrive:

> In article <5125f943$0$1106$5b6a...@news.zen.co.uk>,
> Giovanna Stefani <m...@not.com> wrote:
>
>> David Dalton scrive:
>>
>> > Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist has decided to switch
>> > me from lithium to Epival.
>>
>> Good luck with that. I hated being on valproate and after a while,
>> refused to take it.
>
> What was the problem, the side effects or its effect on your mental
> state and/or creativity?

It rendered me unconscious for about four hours after ingestion ... three
times a day.

I came off all meds on November 18 (and ditched my psych). Now, I have
moods, I can feel, and I can write ... which latter is rather essential
given that I do that for a living.

--
Giovanna

daughtersofdea.org.uk

David Dalton

unread,
Feb 22, 2013, 3:07:56 PM2/22/13
to
In article <51274ab2$0$1092$5b6a...@news.zen.co.uk>,
Giovanna Stefani <m...@not.com> wrote:

> David Dalton scrive:
>
> > In article <5125f943$0$1106$5b6a...@news.zen.co.uk>,
> > Giovanna Stefani <m...@not.com> wrote:
> >
> >> David Dalton scrive:
> >>
> >> > Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist has decided to switch
> >> > me from lithium to Epival.
> >>
> >> Good luck with that. I hated being on valproate and after a while,
> >> refused to take it.
> >
> > What was the problem, the side effects or its effect on your mental
> > state and/or creativity?
>
> It rendered me unconscious for about four hours after ingestion ... three
> times a day.

I found after my second dose that it makes me slightly
drowsy and gives me more of a tendency to sleep in.
Also it is making me just slightly blah, maybe -0.5
on a scale of -10 to +10, where -2 to +2 is normal range.
But I am currently taking it at bedtime so the
drowsiness bit doesn't slow me down as much as if
I took it three times a day like you did.

> I came off all meds on November 18 (and ditched my psych). Now, I have
> moods, I can feel, and I can write ... which latter is rather essential
> given that I do that for a living.

I hope to gradually come off meds after I come out
of the low years. First I would reduce my
olanzapine from 10 mg to 5 mg for a couple of
months, and if that goes well I would reduce it
gradually to zero. Then after a while on just
Epival I would consider tapering off that. But
the problem is that maybe I won't come out of
the low years while I am on the meds.

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
Feb 23, 2013, 4:36:46 PM2/23/13
to
On 20/02/2013 22:41, David Dalton wrote:
> I'm posting to these groups since I have had some
> feedback, sometimes about taking my meds, from
> these groups in the past.
>
> I met with my new psychiatrist again today.
>
> My kidney blood tests remained about where they
> have been the last few months despite my having
> abstained from alcohol for a few weeks before
> the blood tests, so I have decided to return
> to my limit of two pints twice a week, which
> a kidney specialist and my psychiatrist agree with.
>
> Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist
> has decided to switch me from lithium to Epival.
> However he will leave me on lithium until I
> have a good blood level of valproic acid, so
> the earliest I will start tapering off the
> lithium will be in three weeks time when I
> see him again. Also he will leave me on the
> olanzapine.
>
> Let me know if I exhibit behaviour unusual for
> even me in the next couple of months.
>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CZE6fq2nnk&playnext=1&list=PLzx6gdkTe1ud6bVGBlEZ8JpZGTPVsqRIa&feature=results_video


Dirk
--
Dirk

Full Spectrum Praxis : ZERO STATE : http://zerostate.net

Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

unread,
Feb 27, 2013, 1:13:12 PM2/27/13
to
On 20/02/2013 22:41, David Dalton wrote:
> I'm posting to these groups since I have had some
> feedback, sometimes about taking my meds, from
> these groups in the past.
>
> I met with my new psychiatrist again today.
>
> My kidney blood tests remained about where they
> have been the last few months despite my having
> abstained from alcohol for a few weeks before
> the blood tests, so I have decided to return
> to my limit of two pints twice a week, which
> a kidney specialist and my psychiatrist agree with.
>
> Due to the kidney blood tests, my psychiatrist
> has decided to switch me from lithium to Epival.
> However he will leave me on lithium until I
> have a good blood level of valproic acid, so
> the earliest I will start tapering off the
> lithium will be in three weeks time when I
> see him again. Also he will leave me on the
> olanzapine.
>
> Let me know if I exhibit behaviour unusual for
> even me in the next couple of months.
>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transactional_analysis#Why_Don.27t_You.2FYes_But
0 new messages