Depakote side effects and teens resistant to taking meds

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My young teen daughter has been recently diagnosed with JME. She has all three types of seizures. She's only had two tonic clonic seizures about 6 months apart. She's been on depakote for three weeks and hates it. Stomach pain yet she's hungry, drowsiness yet she has trouble sleeping and she's become moody and impulsive. I know that sounds like atypical teen, but it's not her. She was born middle aged--responsible, thoughtful, mature, and an over achiever. She has basically raised herself. She's very resistant to taking her medicine. How do you get a half grown child to take their medication without a daily fight? Any other parents have teens with similar side effects?

Comments

Well I am not a parent. I

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:28

Well I am not a parent. I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Well I am not a parent.  I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know  person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Well I am not a parent. I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Oh it can take time and is

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:32

Oh it can take time and is isn't easy with teens because they are constantly changing. Her meds need to be watched and possibly have dosage changes from time to time. Mine needed changes when I was a teen. Like 6 times in a 8-12 month period of time. Grew 10 inches and gained 50 lbs in that period of time. Along with the hormonal changes teens go thru.

Well I am not a parent. I

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:32

Well I am not a parent. I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Well I am not a parent.  I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know  person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Well I am not a parent. I was the over achiever and the one that did things most of my siblings didn't do around the house. I was the honor student. Until I was the atypical teen. So I do know person can change from one to the other. However I also know what it was like with parents constantly asking questions about taking meds and many other things. I HATED their constant questioning. I finally wanted to get rid of the stress that cause because even if you don't know it a person can tell if you are stressed or concerned about them. I knew they were stressed because of my epilepsy and not knowing what to do or how I was doing and handling the diagnosis. We all sat down and talked. The meds I took were placed in one place and I had to take them 2 times a day. It was my responsibility and I was to do it, They would stop asking me daily if I had taken them. Now at times I saw step father counting the meds which did tick me off a little but I let it go because he was waning to check if I was taking them rather then asking. We talked about other issues too. Which helped all of us. It did take a little time but then they saw I knew when I needed to have meds ordered because I told them about a week before I needed them. School work was better. Grades got better. Got back on the honor roll from time to timeOh research the side effects of Depakote you might see some of her issues are side effects that generally go away after the dosage gets to the therapeutic levels. If it was added and she is being weaned off another med then you have both meds working together which generally takes about the same period of time.As for her having all three types of seizures <<< please research the types of seizures since there are many more then three. I know I was diagnosed before the neurologists came up with the different types of epilepsy and different types of seizures, I can and have had petite mal and grand mal seizures. Along with focal seizures, Any of the partial seizures which can and have generalized.I hope this helps and she gets back to being herself and gets seizure freeJoe

Depakote side effects and teens resistant to taking meds

Comments

Well I am not a parent. I

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:28

Oh it can take time and is

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:32

Well I am not a parent. I

Submitted by just_joe on Sun, 2018-03-11 - 14:32

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