entcian24's Sister: she wants to taper divalproex / Depakote

[entcian24]

Hi, 

 

I'm new to SA & yet to write an introduction about me. Having been reading a lot about tapering meds since past few days. 

 

I'll quickly get onto the point & ask about tapering Divalproex sodium er 500mg, which my younger sister has been taking for about 2 yrs. 

 

I've read a lot of threads concerning Divalproex, which suggest that these tablets are ER so cannot be dissolved in water, or cut down! Plus, I stay in Mumbai,India where I'm not able to find depakote sprinkles that I can measure & taper to about 10% of the current 500mg.

 

Meanwhile, I have an idea to taper which is slightly awkward & new:

 

I intend to taper the current weekly dosage of 3500mg(500mg×7), by having a 375mg(Divalproex sodium 125mg available here) day on Wednesday! 

 

This way I only taper by 3.57% (125 mg taper for the entire week) for about 4 weeks...& then gradually have a 375mg Saturdays as well (taper by 7.14%, tapering 250 mg weekly)  & so on..

 

I know, this method is entirely non- uniform on daily basis, but I should give it a try since me & my sister sincerely want to reduce her dependence & associated effects of the medicine.

 

Would love to listen to others views on this & if a similar thing has been tried by anyone on SA.

 

Thanks 🙂

 

Edited February 25, 2019 by ChessieCat
added spacing

[Altostrata]

Welcome, entcian.

 

Are you and your sister both taking Divalproex? Do you control your sister's drugs? Is she capable of understanding tapering? It's difficult for us to assist a third party, as we need to know the effects of various dosages and symptom patterns.

 

Here are general principles of tapering for you and your sister Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Tips for tapering off sodium valproate and valproic acid (divalproex sodium, Depakote, Depakene)

 

If you're tapering 500mg per day, the first step in a 10% taper would be to reduce by 50mg, to 450mg. We advise taking the 450mg dosage for a month, to monitor how well your nervous system adapts to the reduction.