Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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Extended Release Tablets.....

BipolarPrincess
BipolarPrincess
I got depakote ER tablets and couldn't swallow those 500 mg pills so I cut one in a half--

That means it's no longer extended release right?

And when I go and tell the hubby that he doesn't understand.

He thinks taking two pills of regular depakot 250 mg per pill

And 500 mg extended release are the same and they are not.

I called the secretary and told her I couldn't swallow the pills and ended up cutting them in half

So my depakote is still not therapeutic yet.

I got out of hospital on Valentines Day--

Had to switch from Lithium to Depakote because
Litium made me vomit all the time amd it constantly made me dizzy. I couldn't watch movies or play games.

Still feeling a little bad sleep and anxiety are getting better as they keep raising my dose.

The secretary understood what I was telling her
when I told her I cut the extended release tablets in half and it was no longer extended release So she told me to stop the extended release tablets after she talked to the doctor on call because my doctor is on medical leave But why can't the hubby understand?
deleted_user
deleted_user
Smashin has it 100% correct don't do it.
StuckAtHome
StuckAtHome
People think in different ways. Maybe he's under the impression that the whole tablet is formulated differently. It's actually either the coating on the pill or the active ingredient being buried in a matrix (depending on the medication) that makes it extended release. As smashin said, once the pills have been cut, crushed, broken, etc. they are no longer extended release. I take 500 mg. Depakote ER and they are huge. I think they make 250 mg Depakote ER if you're having trouble with the larger pills.
BipolarPrincess
BipolarPrincess
I cut them once and took both halves and slept like a baby when the paranoia stopped. It made me very drowsy AND I am suprised I woke up the next day. Hubby kept reassuring me that I would wake up since I was only taking 250 in the am and 250 in the afternoon which was 500. When the extended release tablet was added it was another 500 mg at night all at once. But now my regular does is one pill in the morning one pill in the afternoon around 4 and two regular pills in the evening so now it's not as bad. Still doesn't feel the same when I cut the ER depakote in half and took both halves. But at least now I am not paranoid that I took too much-and I am getting closer to the zombified feeling where all the disorders are shutting up again. I have more than one disorder and when they all talk at the same time it is very scary.

I can get depression and anxiety from PTSD
unsafe thoughts and nightmares from PTSD
Paranoid Delusions from Schizophrenia
And irritability and anger from mania.

It's so scary at times when they all talk at once.
deleted_user
deleted_user
Do what you have to do, good chemists figure in those problems.
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