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What is Valproate Sodium?

Sodium valproate or valproate sodium is the sodium salt of valproic acid and is an anticonvulsant used in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder, as well as other psychiatric conditions requiring the administration of a mood stabilizer.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose # of patients
# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
Major
Moderate
Slight
None
Can’t tell
Bipolar Disorder 30 14 Efficacy_major Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_slight Efficacy_none Efficacy_cant_tell
Treat my mood condition(s) 19 5 Efficacy_major Efficacy_moderate
Bipolar manic episodes 10 2 Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_cant_tell
Epilepsy 10 3 Efficacy_major
Other 5 1 Efficacy_moderate
Fibromyalgia 3 1 Efficacy_moderate

See all 96 patients currently taking Valproate Sodium

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Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
 7
Moderate
 17
Mild
 4
None
 8

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Valproate Sodium

Weight gain 13
Sleepiness 5
Drowsiness 4
Hair loss (alopecia) 4
Fatigue 3
Slowed thinking 3
See all 26 reported side effects ▼ See top 6 reported side effects ▲

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Valproate Sodium. See all 29 dosages ►

  200 mg daily 300 mg daily 400 mg daily 500 mg daily 600 mg daily 800 mg daily 1,000 mg daily 1,200 mg daily 1,500 mg daily 2,000 mg daily
  7 Number of Patients: 7 3 Number of Patients: 3 7 Number of Patients: 7 12 Number of Patients: 12 5 Number of Patients: 5 8 Number of Patients: 8 19 Number of Patients: 19 3 Number of Patients: 3 5 Number of Patients: 5 12 Number of Patients: 12  

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Valproate Sodium (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason # Patients Percentage of patients
Did not seem to work 7   Did not seem to work: 35%
Side effects too severe 7   Side effects too severe: 35%
Doctor's advice 6   Doctor's advice: 30%
Other 3   Other: 15%
Personal research 1   Personal research: 5%
Course of treatment ended 1   Course of treatment ended: 5%

See all 19 patients who’ve stopped taking Valproate Sodium

Reported Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Valproate Sodium

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
0

Stopped Taking Valproate Sodium

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
0

Reported Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Valproate Sodium

Always
 26 72%
Usually
 8 22%
Sometimes
 1 3%
Never
 1 3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Valproate Sodium

Very
 5 14%
Somewhat
 3 8%
A little
 9 25%
Not at all
 19 53%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Valproate Sodium

$200+
 0 0%
$100-199
 0 0%
$50-99
 0 0%
$25-49
 2 13%
< $25
 14 88%

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Report created on February 12, 2012.