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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest An Effective Alternative For Depakote

Hi, am seeing my psychiatrist tomorrow. My tremors are increasing from 1000mg/day of depakote. I m on that, because 10 years ago, my tremors got really bad taking lithium. I have had bad experiences with antipsychotics - 3 or 4 of them made me psychotic. My psych is wonderful, but doesn t always have great new ideas. Any suggestions for a med? The only purpose is to prevent mania of Bipolar I. I have had 11 years of great psychotherapy which has helped a lot; thus the reason I only take 1,000 mg/day. Any more makes me unable to drive, and I need to in order to work.
Thu, 28 Jun 2018
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Psychiatrist,  's  Response
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

It is always wise to continue the same drug which is working well for your symptoms and also making you feel relaxed. If you feel problematic with usage of 1000mg, you can just reduce the dose under supervision of your psychiatrist. If you still feel problematic​ with the reduced dose then you can try with a Beta blocker which reduces your tremors( not to try if you are having Asthama). If you still feel problematic​ with your tremors there are other alternatives like lurasidone, topiramate, oxcarbazepine which acts well for bipolar disorder. Consult your psychiatrist discuss discuss with him and decide.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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Suggest An Effective Alternative For Depakote

Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. It is always wise to continue the same drug which is working well for your symptoms and also making you feel relaxed. If you feel problematic with usage of 1000mg, you can just reduce the dose under supervision of your psychiatrist. If you still feel problematic​ with the reduced dose then you can try with a Beta blocker which reduces your tremors( not to try if you are having Asthama). If you still feel problematic​ with your tremors there are other alternatives like lurasidone, topiramate, oxcarbazepine which acts well for bipolar disorder. Consult your psychiatrist discuss discuss with him and decide. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.