Question: I'm not sure you could do anything more than state your personal thoughts as opposed to your medical knowledge. Depakote was very new at the time and my daughter was 11 yrs old. They told us at the time that they had no knowledge of any long-term side effects because it's so new, there are no studies yet.She is now 29 yrs old.She took Depakote for 18 yrs and has quite a few problems. Our problem is that none of the drs will listen to her. They look at her history and start from there. She has numerous issues & we have to start somewhere. The biggest is that she is in chronic pain and due to her age won't even get an xray or mri. Yet they won't sit long enough to listen to the progression of issues as they occurred. Kyphoscoliosis (hatchback scoliosis at 8). Broken collarbone that was never set and healed almost 2" lower. Ganglion cysts on tendons that have spread to the scull that are rock solid with no movement left at all. Every joint in her body pops. Loud and is painful. Just where do we start?

There are numerous issues that neither the neurologist or primary Will address. She is in Chronic pain to the point of tears. It's understandable to me for her to have back pain. With the hatchback scoliosis (diagnosed age 7) and the collarbone being 2" shorter on one side; it is causing all the muscles,tendons,bones, hips to be off. Any & every movement causes sockets or joints to pop, painfully. It is loud and can be herd by everyone in the room. I don't know if they are popping into the sockets ; or the pressure of movement is causing them to pop out. By sockets & joints, I mean feet, ankles, knees, hips (predominantly), back,fingers,wrists,elbows. The cysts are different types. Some are on the tendons (DePutrans Syndrome) are common for epileptics. They are more common in the elderly so when she had hers done; the surgeon said that my daughter was the youngest documented and would be in the medical books.When the 1 on her hand was done - it grew back so fast that her finger no longer can lay flat on a table.The tendon is so taut that the finger is at least at a 45 to 60 degree angle. The cyst on her scalp was originally soft,pliable.It has progressed to no movement, hard as a rock,even possibly attached to the skull now. The cysts are now on the bottom of her feet. She needs her nose done again. I'm unsure how many times it's been broken. The 1st time - she crushed it by going face first to the floor during a seizure. She was a teen at the time. By crushed, I mean crushed; not broken. She was not stable enough for the neurologist to approve reconstruction at the time. Close to a year later, the nose was reconstructed and fixed. It has since been broke again, more than once & she can no longer breathe through it. During a seizure, she can't breathe through her mouth (due to saliva,foam) so even putting her on her side doesn't allow oxygen to get thru. She normally continues to breathe during the seizure ( unlike some epileptics) but with her nose so bad - she can't breathe at all. She has been complaining and begging for help. I have tracked 1 study down, concerning the long-term use of Depakote. I have documented proof of over $20,000 worth of work out teeth. Now her teeth hurt all the time and the study I tracked down pointedly states that Depakote rots the teeth and also states BONE PAIN. I basically want someone (her Drs) to believe that there is something wrong and she's not faking. Take an xray of her collarbone and lumbar spine, a trashcan. Yes,29 is much to young for these problems but she has taken medications longer than she hasn't. She despises the fact that she HAS TO TAKE THEM. She isn't complaining so she HAS to take more. She complaining because she is in pain and no one believes her because of her age.

A very smart man told me something 18 yrs ago ; and he said " don't ever forget it". He said " Nobody knows your child better than you do". And if you aren't happy or comfortable with him, or her.......then keep searching..
Well, here I am - searching...there is something wrong with my child.
I don't expect anything from you but I will go back again to her primary, or whoever it takes until we find out what's wrong.