Valproic Acid for use in aggression

July 9, 2012

Dear all,Our son has just been prescribed Valproic Acid (generic form) for use, in conjunction with Abilify, as a mood stabilizer.We noticed today, and are monitoring, a swollen area below his eye, which also looks bruised. This has been reported to his Psyc., who suggested stopping the med. for the rest of today and seeing how it is tomorrow. Has anyone had experience of this med.? I read through the possible side effects and one of them was that platelet production can be affected. He has only been on the med. for a few days now, and his Psyc. said that side effects would not normally happen so fast, but there can always be exceptions to the rule. I am now nervous about this med., which has had the desired effect, even in a few days, but at what cost?

Thanks, as always,Caroline

July 9, 2012

My son experienced something like hives when he was on this as Depakote, but

when they put him on Stavzor which is the same medicine but, (our doctor says,)

" it crosses the liver in a different way. " the hives stopped. Changing to

Stavzor may be helpful for your child as well. Also, if your child has any

issues with his kidneys this may not be a good drug for him. That said, This

being allergy season, the swelling and dark area under your sons eye may be

caused by swollen sinuses and putting a warm cloth on it may help.

Is he able to express if he may have bumped his eye or if a sibling or friend

may have caused the injury? Sometimes with our kids we jump to a conclusion

only to have them come out later with a statement that " remember, I got hit in

the eye with the bedpost. " or " my mouth got hurt on the toy car. "

Glenda

>

> Dear all,

>

> Our son has just been prescribed Valproic Acid (generic form) for use, in

> conjunction with Abilify, as a mood stabilizer.

>

> We noticed today, and are monitoring, a swollen area below his eye, which

> also looks bruised. This has been reported to his Psyc., who suggested

> stopping the med. for the rest of today and seeing how it is tomorrow. Has

> anyone had experience of this med.? I read through the possible side

> effects and one of them was that platelet production can be affected. He

> has only been on the med. for a few days now, and his Psyc. said that side

> effects would not normally happen so fast, but there can always be

> exceptions to the rule. I am now nervous about this med., which has had

> the desired effect, even in a few days, but at what cost?

>

> Thanks, as always,

>

> Caroline

>

July 10, 2012

Hi Glenda,Thanks so much for the info. I will discuss Stavzor as an option with his doctor.My son went to bed without bruising and woke up with, thus thinking it could be as a result of the medication. For the time being we have taken him off it for safety, increased his Abilify to 15mg, split in two doses, rather than just one at night to see if this will stabilize the mood swings.Thanks again for your help as always and best wishes to you and the family.I CarolineSent from my iPhoneCaroline

My son experienced something like hives when he was on this as Depakote, but when they put him on Stavzor which is the same medicine but, (our doctor says,) "it crosses the liver in a different way." the hives stopped. Changing to Stavzor may be helpful for your child as well. Also, if your child has any issues with his kidneys this may not be a good drug for him. That said, This being allergy season, the swelling and dark area under your sons eye may be caused by swollen sinuses and putting a warm cloth on it may help.

Is he able to express if he may have bumped his eye or if a sibling or friend may have caused the injury? Sometimes with our kids we jump to a conclusion only to have them come out later with a statement that "remember, I got hit in the eye with the bedpost." or "my mouth got hurt on the toy car."