Is anyones love one on Depakote? Brief update on my dh. He has been in a memory care facility now for two years. He fell last December broke his hip and had to have surgery. He was discharged from the hospital back to the facility and was placed on hospice. Hospice told me he probably would't last two weeks. That was nine months ago. He is wheel chair bound but continues to hang on. He was placed on seroquel which in my opinion only made him worse with hallucinations. Last week they dc'd the seroquel and started him on depakote 250mg twice a day. His agitation is no better and side effects to the medication keep increasing. Would appreciate knowing if any one has had any experience with this drug. I can't help but feel these drugs do more harm then good. I understand the facility wants to keep him calm for his well being as well as for the safty of the staff but are they over medicating?
Marilyn, I've had no experience with Depakote but my husband was put on Neurontin (Gabepentin) at the height of his agitation/anxiety behaviors. The Dr. prescribed this instead of the anti-psychotic Seraquel, stating that we could go that route if this didn't work. It has helped him greatly - but he didn't have pain issues like your husband may have. They started him on 200mg 3 times a day and have increased it as his behaviors changed so that now he is on 400mg twice a day. He has no side effects. This may not help but I wanted to at least share our experience with agitation/anxiety meds. Sending hugs your way as you deal with this.
They tried Depakote towards the end, when the agitation and restlessness were extreme, and the Seroquel and Ativan were not helping. I think we gave it to him for two days, but it caused him to have extremely painful headaches. (He was able to verbalize that, and it was obvious he was in a lot of pain.) The nurse happened to make a home visit while my private aide and the Hospice aide were both there. With three people seeing what I had been imploring them about over the telephone...the nurse called me (I was at the library, with my cell phone) and it was obvious the light bulb had gone on. Hospice started him on morphine as soon as we could get it from the pharmacy. That worked well, as I've posted before. So, no...no luck with Depakote, but couldn't really give it a long trial because of the headaches.
My apology for starting a new discussion on one that was already in existence. Thanks Charlotte for bringing it to the top. I should have done a search. Thanks Flona68 and elizabeth for your response.
No problem. You are not the first and won't be the last by any means. Besides sometimes starting a new thread brings perspectives that were not in the other threads. And often people do not have the time or energy to do the searches, so do not worry about it. Nor do not be afraid to ask questions again - even if they have been asked before. In reality they probably have but there are 8302 threads in this forum - that is a lot to search through and often the threads are very long.
My DH was in a Behavior Hospital and they gave him large doses of depakote an Seroquel. He was hung over in a wheel chair with tongue swollen not able to hold head up. I told them to stop it. The next day he was more alert. I think it really hurt him. He left the behavior hospital to go to Hospice inpatient. Had combative behavior in transport. Hospice denied him to stay there. Just spent the last 48 hours in ER of regular hospital. I spent last night with him. He was moving and thrashing all night. Finally gave him some meds and he went to sleep at 4:30 this morning. They had to wait until this morning when they had one on one care for him to go to a room. Of course the doctor said it is trial and error to find what works. Looking for a place for him to go from here. I will not place in behavior hospital again. The only thing to do for him is sedate when he becomes aggressive. He is mid stage 7. It is sad that no one wants them and nothing to do for them. It has been the worst 2 months. Not that the last 8 years has been a picnic. But when I think it can't get worse, it does!
jackiem, I'm so sorry that things have taken such a turn for the worse. When your husband was first admitted to LTC, it seemed as though he was going to do OK (except for the interference from his mother). But now, he's stranded with nowhere to go. It's hard to believe that facilities that specialize in dementia refuse to take people with behavior problems. I hope you find a good place for him.
When my wife was put on depakote I believe they built up the dosage over time as they reduced another medication. It was an emergency situation so they increased her dosage faster than normal. She was fine for a while and then less than a week after an episode (looked like she had a stroke but she recovered and we don't know what happened) she became zombie like and they quickly reduced her depakote dosage. She responded well to the reduction without reverting to her previous aggressive behavior.
Jackiem29, my heart goes out to you as it reminds me of the last 3 months before my husband passed. I had the same experience only my husband was in a geriatric psych ward for 2 weeks. They tried everything to control his behaviors including Geodon. Nothing really worked and I was told that at the end they really cannot control all behaviors. But I had the same experience in that no one would take him. I think that was the low point for me. I think at the end the behaviors do escalate. I would encourage you to just breathe through it as Elizabeth suggests and forget about what stage he is in. You are doing great and it sounds to me that it may not be too much longer. Sending you hugs and lots of peace. You will get through it and I truly do understand the hell you are experiencing right now.
Co2 My DH was on geodon in the psych hospital too. He had been there since August 18th until this Monday. Another hospice is coming in and going to be 24/7 until settled. Have evacuation from to places tomorrow to see if they will take him with the hospice care. He will remain in the actual hospital until he has a place to go. They have a one on one with him. They are fantastic. It's amazing that a regular hospital can handle this better than memory care facilities. I feel all they want is the money (memory care facilities. I know we don't have long. Honestly at this point I hope not. He seems in such torment. He does respond to me better than anyone or any drug. I am ready for this to stop for him.