I was prescribed Valproic Acid (I think I got that right) which has to be close to the same thing. The VA almost always does generic. I started getting tremors. My shrink told me that wasn't one of the side-effects & upped my dose. The tremors got much worse. I just stopped & the tremors passed. never went to that ass again. Was told by a pharmicist after that indeed, tremors were a side-effect for many! At any rate, did we learn nothing from thalidomide!

We had so many patients on this for Mental health issues and I did medication education with all patients. Every single day.

Never once knew that Depakote could cause birth defects. This needs to be on the prescribing bottle - at the very least!

Valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy, bipolar disorder and migraine. For some women with epilepsy, it may be the only effective treatment option.

But the drug carries a 10% chance of causing physical abnormalities and a 30-40% risk of developmental problems such as autism and developmental delay in children born to mothers who take it. In the UK alone, around 20,000 children have been harmed since valproate was introduced in the 1970s.

Earlier this year, the European Medicines Agency recommended that valproate should not be used in pregnancy unless the woman has epilepsy that has not responded to alternative medications. It should not be prescribed to women of childbearing age unless they use contraception. But surveys show that many women with epilepsy are still unaware of the risks.
[bmj.com]

Apparently it’s a very effective treatment for some.

In the UK cannabis is illegal but can be used to successfully treat many forms of Epilepsy .. however some of the medications that are legal have side effects such as this above article.

Many of the medications in the field are ill fitting and only work on aprox 70% of patients in any given area.. Then within that group many have very difficult side effects ..

It took me forty years to stabilize mine successfully!

Hmmmm. I know there are a few medications in the US that have similar compliance guidelines. Ones that have shown to cause birth defects. The main one that comes to mind is Accutane, an acne medication.

I'm still convinced these things should be left between patients and their doctors.

Sorry folks I thought posted a link but it maybe deleted it by accident !!

Need u to finish post. If they would just legalize weed-no side effects? Are u taking it legally?

Topic please?