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Lactose In My Depakote...

Stormy

By Stormy
in Related Issues & Disorders

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Stormy Rookie
Stormy
Posted

So I called the company that makes the Depakote I'm on, and while there's no gluten in it, there's 132.1 mg of lactose. *insert your favorite expletive here* So.. in a 500mg tablet or Depakote, does anyone know if 132.1 mg of lactose is a lot? A little? Not enough to matter or call the doc and throw the pills out the window? UGH.

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

So I called the company that makes the Depakote I'm on, and while there's no gluten in it, there's 132.1 mg of lactose. *insert your favorite expletive here* So.. in a 500mg tablet or Depakote, does anyone know if 132.1 mg of lactose is a lot? A little? Not enough to matter or call the doc and throw the pills out the window? UGH.

Call your doctor and ask if it is okay to take something like lactase with it if the pill is giving you problems. You might be able to switch to the generic form, Valporic Acid, but ask the pharmacist for the name of the company that makes it and call them to be sure it is gluten and lactose free. Whatever you do DO NOT just stop taking it as it is a drug that needs to be tapered off. Hopefully your doctor is also doing regular blood draws to check your levels and for any adverse impact. That is really important if you started taking it before going gluten free because as you heal you may start to absorb more of it than prediagnosis and it can be a really toxic med with some nasty side effects.

Stormy Rookie
Stormy
Posted
  • Author

I know, I made that mistake last year when I didn't have the money for it- I stopped cold turkey it was... very unpleasant. The problem is, I'm already on the generic version. Supposedly most medications have a minute amount of lactose in it as a binder, and only super-sensitive people react to it. Well.. I've gone right back to having diarrhea, cramping some and having MORE mood problems than before the Depakote. I think I fall into the super-sensitive category here. Also, the manufacturer called and left a message on my phone, apparently there are other "unknown" milk proteins used in the manufacturing of the drug, and therefore there might be Casein in it, too. I don't know if I'm sensitive to Casein, but I avoid it anyway. There is some good news, at least. The extended release version doesn't have any lactose in it, so I can hopefully get switched to that this week. I'm a little tired of the backslide...

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I know, I made that mistake last year when I didn't have the money for it- I stopped cold turkey it was... very unpleasant. The problem is, I'm already on the generic version. Supposedly most medications have a minute amount of lactose in it as a binder, and only super-sensitive people react to it. Well.. I've gone right back to having diarrhea, cramping some and having MORE mood problems than before the Depakote. I think I fall into the super-sensitive category here. Also, the manufacturer called and left a message on my phone, apparently there are other "unknown" milk proteins used in the manufacturing of the drug, and therefore there might be Casein in it, too. I don't know if I'm sensitive to Casein, but I avoid it anyway. There is some good news, at least. The extended release version doesn't have any lactose in it, so I can hopefully get switched to that this week. I'm a little tired of the backslide...

Talk to your doctor as there may be other meds you can use if they are giving it to you for mood issues. I was on it for atypical seizures. You may find after you have been gluten free for a while that the med also is not needed as celiac can have effects on the brain that lead to anything from mood problems to epilepsy to MS type symptoms and those can resolve gluten free. I weaned off all meds at the end of the diagnostic process with my doctors help and never needed to add any of them back in but I was very lucky in that respect and all may not experience the same.

Stormy Rookie
Stormy
Posted
  • Author

I've been on every med you can come up with for the moods. This is actually the second time they're trying me on Depakote. When I came up positive(ish) for Celiac, it was one of my doctor's hopes that it would help my moods. And it has, a lot! :) I'm still not really normal though, hence the retry with Depakote... And the resulting chaos with lactose. Eeesh.. I'm hoping that maybe down the line I'll get to be in your shoes and won't be on any meds either, but right now I need something (peace of mind! lol).

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Please read my story in my profile. Depakote is NOT the answer for celiac bipolar illness. No psych meds are. You will just keep breaking through until you fix the underlying nutritional deficiencies. You need a really good supplement designed for bipolars like Metagenics or EMPowerPlus, fish oil, and a decent amount of choline (lecithin or egg yolks).

sariesue Explorer
sariesue
Posted

Have you tried newer psych meds ? Saphris, Seroquel, Abilify etc. Does the brand name Depakote have the lactose in it? It might be worth switching to brand name if it doesn't have the lactose

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Stormy Rookie
Stormy
Posted
  • Author

I've tried all of them, sariesue. I've had multiple psych's look at me and say they don't know what to do with me! (This was before my Celiac diagnosis). Skylark, I'll check out your story tomorrow when I have time to really read it and think about it (I have to work soon). Thanks, for taking the time to post your story and realize that I'm probably in the same boat as you are! Fun times, having docs not know what's going on...

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

I've tried all of them, sariesue. I've had multiple psych's look at me and say they don't know what to do with me! (This was before my Celiac diagnosis). Skylark, I'll check out your story tomorrow when I have time to really read it and think about it (I have to work soon). Thanks, for taking the time to post your story and realize that I'm probably in the same boat as you are! Fun times, having docs not know what's going on...

Don't worry! We are fixable. I have had only one week-long manic episode since fall of 2006 and I'm pretty sure it was a Hashimoto's thyroid flare-up, because a hypothyroid depression followed it that was treatable by increasing my dose of thyroid.

Mango04 Enthusiast
Mango04
Posted

I consider myself extremely sensitive to lactose and casein, but for some reason pharmaceutical-grade lactose in medication doesn't seem to affect me at all. You might be okay with it, too.

ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

I've tried all of them, sariesue. I've had multiple psych's look at me and say they don't know what to do with me! (This was before my Celiac diagnosis). Skylark, I'll check out your story tomorrow when I have time to really read it and think about it (I have to work soon). Thanks, for taking the time to post your story and realize that I'm probably in the same boat as you are! Fun times, having docs not know what's going on...

You may find these articles to be helpful. Hopefully you will be in the group they are referring to in the snippet that I bolded. It can take time but for quite a few of us things do get better after we have been gluten free for a while.

Open Original Shared Link

Psychiatric symptoms and coeliac disease

"Coeliac disease should be taken into consideration in patients with psychiatric disorders, particularly if they are not responsive to psychopharmacological therapy, because withdrawal of gluten from the diet usually results in disappearance of symptoms"

Administration of afobasol for correction of mental disorders in celiac disease patients

Open Original Shared Link

Stormy Rookie
Stormy
Posted
  • Author

Thanks, I'm looking into that now.. hoping I find something to help! :(

Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Stormy, I just answered your PM with a pretty big wall of text. Feel free to ask more questions!

sariesue Explorer
sariesue
Posted

I've tried all of them, sariesue. I've had multiple psych's look at me and say they don't know what to do with me! (This was before my Celiac diagnosis). Skylark, I'll check out your story tomorrow when I have time to really read it and think about it (I have to work soon). Thanks, for taking the time to post your story and realize that I'm probably in the same boat as you are! Fun times, having docs not know what's going on...

I definitely know how that feels. I was labeled med-resistant after only a year because I went through all of the major meds. I also have a strange tolerance of medications. I either tolerate them too well and need huge amounts or I can't tolerate it at all.

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