#depakote

Disclaimer: medication works different for every single person. I cannot know which response you will have to any medication. I am not a professional, nor do I know anything about your medical health specifically. Therefore, I firmly stress that any and all advice you take on medications either come from your doctor or at least be taken back to your doctor BEFORE you make any changes. Especially for psychiatric medications, it is imperitive to follow your doctor's instructions exactly.

If you disagree with your provider's decision and they won't help you change medications, continue using what you have been given unless you have a reaction that would warrant an urgent care or ER visit and find a different doctor. Your doctor should ALWAYS respect your legal right to refuse a certain medication as long as you are still willing to get some alternative treatment for symptoms that cause any risk to yourself/others.

If you need to go to the ER or urgent care, explain that you believe this is a reaction to your medication and ask for them to prescribe you an alternative and/or give you instructions on how to safely get off that medication. They'll be able to tell you if that is likely a side effect or not, and give you safe medical advice on getting off that med.

All of that said, I can give anecdotal information on this and it's good news!

I have been given Depakote in crisis (in the "danger to yourself" way) before. It definitely helped then, but for me, it only worked with the acute dose they'd give for crisis-level severe flares. For a lot of people, it works though! And the medication I'm on is similar - it's still an anti-epileptic, just a different one, so I can definitely see it helping. My family members just have a better reaction to the one I've been put on.

Escitalopram is one I have not personally used, but I have heard many other pwASPD specifically mention that as the only antidepressant that helped them. Whilst that doesn't in any way mean other ones won't work for you, it *does* mean there is a strong chance it will help!

My biggest piece of advice: Make sure to ask your doctor if your medications are time sensitive. Some, like birth control, are tempermental if not taken at the same time and may cause a reaction or intense flare if not taken at the same time. If your doctor says that isn't the case, but you seem to find anecdotally that it does for you, I'd advise prioritizing taken it at a set time anyway as it shouldn't hurt as long as you're taking it as instructed.

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