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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Is The Correct Dosage For Depakote Taken For PTSD And Major Depressive Disorder After Having Cervical Fusions?

Hello Doctor. I Have A History Of Seizures. Ive Just Been Switched From Keppra To Depakote ER. 500 mg At Bed Time. I Had Been Seizure Free. Iaso Have Ptsd & Major Depression. For The Past 2 Years I Wake Up Almost Everyday Crying. I Am On Medicine For The ptsd & Depression. I am Also In Counseling. I Had Been Seizure Free Since Feb 2012 A Week After I Had Multiple Level Cervical Fusions. I Also Have A Pinealcytoma. Could This Be What Is Causing The Symptoms And Seizures. The Neurosurgeon Sees Not To Think So. Is This The Correct Dosage For The Depakote? May I Also Add I Had a 4 Day Inpatient Stay At The Hospital EEg & Monitoring. The Neurologist Said That It Was The Most Abnormal EEg She Had Ever Seen During Sleep. My eegs Are Usualluy Normal During The Day. I Have Been On So Many Anticonvolsant Meds. Could I Still Be Having Nocturnal Seizures & This Is What Is Causing Me To Wake Up Crying. I also Wake Up In The Night Sometimes Dripped In Sweat. Hormone Levels Are Normal. Please Help ! I Need To Be Able To Semi Live A Normal Life.
Mon, 14 Jul 2014
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Neurologist,  's  Response
there really isn't a "normal" dose of Depakote to be used for conditions such as PTSD or other psychiatric illnesses. It is very much to the discretion of the treating physician who may or may not follow blood levels as an example. or, they simply may titrate the medication according to the effect. It sounds as if you are having at the very least nightmares and terrible insomnia or difficulty sleeping because of the PTSD and potentially nightmares. I will tell you that there is a more specific medication that has a good success in treating nightmares. It is called Prazosin. your doctors may already have you on this medication but if not you can ask about it. this medication was shown to be very effective to control nightmares and follows what is referred to as the Raskind protocol. You can look that up on the Internet and find many references to it. I hope you get better.
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What Is The Correct Dosage For Depakote Taken For PTSD And Major Depressive Disorder After Having Cervical Fusions?

there really isn t a normal dose of Depakote to be used for conditions such as PTSD or other psychiatric illnesses. It is very much to the discretion of the treating physician who may or may not follow blood levels as an example. or, they simply may titrate the medication according to the effect. It sounds as if you are having at the very least nightmares and terrible insomnia or difficulty sleeping because of the PTSD and potentially nightmares. I will tell you that there is a more specific medication that has a good success in treating nightmares. It is called Prazosin. your doctors may already have you on this medication but if not you can ask about it. this medication was shown to be very effective to control nightmares and follows what is referred to as the Raskind protocol. You can look that up on the Internet and find many references to it. I hope you get better.