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Benzos Sodium Valproate and its effects on benzos & other GABAergics

Cuncefuct

Cuncefuct

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Joined
Apr 29, 2022
Messages
19
I have tried doing my research. But Google's shitty AI will tell me two different things based on the way I ask the question. I am on 1g of sodium valproate (as a mood stabiliser not for epilepsy) and 45mg Mirtazapine nightly, and have done for almost 4 years. I understand that Valproate regulates GABA but I read that it can often make benzodiazepines less effective. I also read that it can in fact potentiate their effects but I haven't noticed that to be the case IMO. Would someone please be able to help me figure it out what valproate does in relation to GABAergic drugs

I've been tapering off the valproate this past week and also abstaining from benzos to lower my tolerance since i was taking 10mg of clonazepam and 40mg of Diazepam and felt nothing. I am also due for a med review by a psychiatrist, because I've been on valproate longer than my initial prescribing psych suggested before he fkn bumped out.

Either way I'm at a loss and would really appreciate the input of our community to clear this up. Thanks for reading xx
 
Valproates pharmacology isn't entirely clear but what is clear is that valproate can enhance the effects of benzodiazepines.

It's not confirmed to directly interact with GABA but a wikipedia editor believes it may increase brain levels of GABA via inhibiting enzymatic process' and it may also inhibit it's reuptake. The source wikipedia cites for these claims comes from a Australian regulatory product license submitted by manufacturer of valproate and I couldn't find much else confirming direct activity at GABA.

It's better to not view Valproate as a GABA drug at all, because it may not be. What it does do however is block voltage-gated sodium channels in the CNS and we know from other VGSC blockers that they do indeed enhance the effects of benzodiazepines.
 
Is there any evidence that it's bad for you, or, contrarily, good for you?
 
red22 said:
Is there any evidence that it's bad for you, or, contrarily, good for you?
Click to expand...
That depends on the person. For some people it can be a life saver and others it may not be the best option available. Also depends on what it's used for (e.g mood stabiliser or anti-convulsant). Of course there are some common side effects like increased appetite/ weight gain, drowsiness and it can have an impact on your thyroid. But if its what helps you the side effects are worth it. But like all side effects, it isn't guaranteed that you'll experience all or any of them. I've been on it for 4 years roughly and the thing that bothers me the most is that I wake up in the middle of the night or early morning extremely hungry and I also over sleep quite a lot and never feel rested.
 
My psychiatrist just switched me over from lithium to valporate starting from tommorrow, since the lithium side effects were awful, prescribed 300mgs in the morning and 300mgs at night, I am also tapering from a 6mg clonazepam habit gradually, reached 3mgs, relapsed now im back to around 6, 7mgs.. Cannot get in touch with him until wednesday so I am also unsure how the valporate is going to impact the benzos
 
xannymn said:
My psychiatrist just switched me over from lithium to valporate starting from tommorrow, since the lithium side effects were awful, prescribed 300mgs in the morning and 300mgs at night, I am also tapering from a 6mg clonazepam habit gradually, reached 3mgs, relapsed now im back to around 6, 7mgs.. Cannot get in touch with him until wednesday so I am also unsure how the valporate is going to impact the benzos
Click to expand...
I hope the transition goes well for you. I also went from lithium to Valproate and in terms of side effects, the valproate isn't as intense on the body IME. Although my lithium experience was fucked by negligent psych ward psychiatrists, who fucked up my med chart and doubled my dose of lithium overnight. I experienced lithium toxicity for about a week before I could convince any of them that something was wrong. I was shitting literal water, was constantly thirsty no matter how much water I drank and had tremors so bad you could hear it when I talked. At the end of it all they had to call in an emergency psych to assess me, just for him to say "yep, you have lithium toxicity... woopsie" and take me off of it immediately. The next two days I experienced a migraine that was worse than any other migraine I had ever experienced. And that facility did everything possible not to file an incident report even when I lodged complaints they made sure they were never sent out. I doubt they even wrote any of it down to begin with. I still experience tremors and other side effects 2 years after that royal fuck up.

I hope this med change can offer you some relief, and best of luck with the clonazepam too. I also was dependent on that and was taking at least 10mg a day at one point and couldn't really feel anything other than not feeling sick. I found Clonodine and Baclofen to be useful when I didn't have any benzo available and switched to Gabapentin not long ago.
 
red22 said:
Is there any evidence that it's bad for you, or, contrarily, good for you?
Click to expand...
Its bad but better then Seizure s/ Levetiracetam [useless crap].

For Bipolair, a misdiagnose but i took it some years ?
and at the end i was flat, lost any drive, creativeness no longer mattered.
Neither love, sex or hope. I became sort of a 1/ 2 Zombie.
So i stopped, and felt better.

Hurts the Liver pre/ during they [protocol] must measure this.
Over here they discard this, so you have to demand the dr.,
to follow their own written black on white protocol.

Trust no one even yourself, but dr s are by definition not to be trusted,
so guilty till proven they are not. As these fucks have a profession
where they are not checked, and unaccountable for mistakes they make.
 
Cuncefuct said:
I have tried doing my research. But Google's shitty AI will tell me two different things based on the way I ask the question. I am on 1g of sodium valproate (as a mood stabiliser not for epilepsy) and 45mg Mirtazapine nightly, and have done for almost 4 years. I understand that Valproate regulates GABA but I read that it can often make benzodiazepines less effective. I also read that it can in fact potentiate their effects but I haven't noticed that to be the case IMO. Would someone please be able to help me figure it out what valproate does in relation to GABAergic drugs

I've been tapering off the valproate this past week and also abstaining from benzos to lower my tolerance since i was taking 10mg of clonazepam and 40mg of Diazepam and felt nothing. I am also due for a med review by a psychiatrist, because I've been on valproate longer than my initial prescribing psych suggested before he fkn bumped out.

Either way I'm at a loss and would really appreciate the input of our community to clear this up. Thanks for reading xx
Click to expand...

I'm definitely interested in hearing answers to this, too, as I'm on Valproate (800mg/day for seizures) and Gabapentin (2100mg/day for neuropathic pain).
 
TheFunkeeJunkee said:
Valproates pharmacology isn't entirely clear but what is clear is that valproate can enhance the effects of benzodiazepines.

It's not confirmed to directly interact with GABA but a wikipedia editor believes it may increase brain levels of GABA via inhibiting enzymatic process' and it may also inhibit it's reuptake. The source wikipedia cites for these claims comes from a Australian regulatory product license submitted by manufacturer of valproate and I couldn't find much else confirming direct activity at GABA.

It's better to not view Valproate as a GABA drug at all, because it may not be. What it does do however is block voltage-gated sodium channels in the CNS and we know from other VGSC blockers that they do indeed enhance the effects of benzodiazepines.
Click to expand...

So is it likely that it would also potentiate Gabapentinoids?
 
ChemicallyEnhanced said:
I'm definitely interested in hearing answers to this, too, as I'm on Valproate (800mg/day for seizures) and Gabapentin (2100mg/day for neuropathic pain).
Click to expand...
I'm on a gram of valproate a day and still had grand mal and absent seizures. I had not before the valproate. Although I don't think it's responsible for that but it certainly hasn't stop them.

I saw a neurologist who mentioned valproate is more commonly used and especially effective in treating hereditary epilepsy, which i dont think i have. My sister experienced absent seizures during her late teens, and they stopped over time but other than that i have no idea.
 
Doctor or nuerologist (can't remember it was a v while ago) told me if your thinking of having children then it COULD make you sterile.
 
Cuncefuct said:
I'm on a gram of valproate a day and still had grand mal and absent seizures. I had not before the valproate. Although I don't think it's responsible for that but it certainly hasn't stop them.

I saw a neurologist who mentioned valproate is more commonly used and especially effective in treating hereditary epilepsy, which i dont think i have. My sister experienced absent seizures during her late teens, and they stopped over time but other than that i have no idea.
Click to expand...

I'd definitely speak to a neurologist about that ASAP. I'm on Gabapentin for nerve pain/damage but the Gabapentin/Valproate combo has almost stopped my grand mal seizures. I still have absence and focal seizures a lot.
But I have Non-Epileptiform Seizure Disorder* so I'm not the best to ask about this stuff.

*So I don't have epilepsy, but I have Focal, Absence and Grand Mal seizures and have been in Status Epilepticus before. So...I basically HAVE epilepsy except I don't....IDK, even my neurologist gets confused.
 
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