Will the medication Depakote calm mom down, make her a vegetable or loose her personality (which is quite funny)?

I find it difficult when any mood stabilizing medication is added - making a permanent solution out of a temporary problem. Most healthcare staff have little training in communicating with people with memory loss, so if there is a change in their routine, which is terrifying to anyone with memory loss, for they memorize their physical environment and routines and when they have to go to another section of the hospital, all is upside down. Most staff, busy with multiple cases, treat the person in a friendly manner but do not slow down their pace to try to hear or respond to their questions, do not wait for them to get words together and there is a complete gap in communication. If your mom fell in such a situation, she would be even more afraid and furious - for old people feel angry when they see young people not listening and responding to them - they remember when they were in charge of teaching young people manners, and so they see fast communication as a lack of manners. And so they speak up the only way they can: by barking complaints, criticisms and orders, and shouting, or even making physical motions (like trying to shove with a walker), for they have lost so many words, that when they feel the need to communicate, they are unable to do so. If there was a "violent" episode - and I think the word is widely overused - but if it happened after a change like an operation or a fall - then it could be resolved for ongoing issues, by getting the person back to their routines, and eventually they relax on their own. And, train staff better! Train orderlies, nurses, MD's - all personell, dealing with elders, to quickly say, "I'm sorry" and pause to hear - and if they don't have time, apologize for the lack of time, and smile. Play down anger, act like you might find things you like in the person - even if you will never see them again. So many episodes happen when different staff have different expectations of communication from different patients, and no one wants to apologize and take it lightly, they want to call it "violent" and give the person a pill. In the middle of an operation it may be helpful, but in so many cases, just looking at the pt and showing a wish to understand, conveys volumes of reassurance.

Hereforher, you have found the right person here . My Mom went to the hospitals Neurology Head and he prescribed depakote sprinkles for all dementia/alz patients once they hit the agressive stage. My little sweet Mom took off out of my house when I had a caretaker there and she took off up the road. My caretaker tried to stop her, wouldnt take her arm off her as she was headed up the hill and mom beat her up. She hit and hit her and the neighbor who was mowing his lawn ran over, his wife drove down and they got her in the car and called me. That was it ! We got Mom home and she cried "whats wrong with me" and then forgot it. I called the neurologist and he called in the depakote sprinkles (because she cant swallow pills) My Mom was a changed women, won-won-wonderful stuff and the Dr said so much safer than seraquel or antipsychotics. At first they sleep a lot, after they get used to it they come around and are great. My Mom went on 125mg 3x daily. Good Luck, its a miracle drug and even children with behavior problems or epilepsy can take it. Any questions, post on my site, dont worry one bit. Not only will you be happier, she will do as she doesnt want to act like that, she cant help it.
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Thank you AC for changing my question back to what I really wanted to ask. I'm at my wits in and when I saw it changed I broke down in tears. I'm not one who cries, I keep it bottled in. I feel so alone because I have no help, friends don't want to hear about it , i was always the happy go lucky one and this site is my only solace. Thank you attain.

The memory care unit nurse practitioner just put my Dad on Depakote when he started getting too angry and agitated and struck out at a couple people. Started him on a very small dose twice a day. He does not act 'drugged up' at all, but is much more calm and happy. NP who discussed it with me, said it's very good with dementia pts who advance to being more agressive, but that it should be started slowly, so as to find the smallest dose that will help and then increase it as or if needed.

Go to internet and type in depakote. You will find lots of info about it which might help answer your question. Yes, it is an antiseizure med, but it might be used for other things.

Mood stabilizing drugs are not the cure all, but if a person is a physical danger to others there is no other alternative. Dementia is a horrible disease, but brain deterioration needs to be controlled for the safety of others.

Ah, Castle, you are so right and that is so wrong! Hospitals and medical settings in general do not deal well with elders and in particular have no clue how to alter their routines for patients with dementia.

I would hope that an assisted living facility who will accept a resident with dementia would have the skills to deal with it, but I suppose that is assuming a lot. Perhaps now that she is back to her own routine in a familiar place and also taking a very small dose of a mood stabilizer she will quickly return to her former baseline and non-aggressive behavior.

Whenever my husband was hospitalized after developing dementia, I made sure that he was never without a family member in his room. The hospital experience itself is traumatizing and I wanted to minimize its impact.

I have no experience with Depakote but have heard good things about it at my caregiving group.

From my experience with depakote, I think it is a miracle drug. Mom was getting very aggressive, taking the Lord's name in vain, hitting people, yelling etc. Doctor put her on depakote and she is a lot better. Wished we had started it out 10 years ago.

My mom got agitated and even mildly violent (hit someone with her purse) on some trials of memory meds too but there was no way to know without trying. Sorry you found out the hard way the Depakote was not for your mom! Make sure it stays on her chart somehow, even in the allergy section if need be; if there was a good reason to try it once, someone else will think of trying it again...that's just the way it is right now, you try stuff that works for "most people" with no idea if you are going to be like or UNlike "most people." Maybe some day they will have an affordable gene test to screen out the bad reactions to common drugs before trying them. Right now except for a couple of very specific things that are high risk, everybody is essentially a guinea pig in their own experiment with an N of 1.

Depakote is prescribed for several reasons. My mother doesn't have epilepsy and takes 4-250mg tabs nightly. It has worked wonders with the irritation and helps her calm down enough to sleep. Her personality has not changed, still as fiesty as ever but not aggressive and prone angry outbursts (my mother once screamed and yelled at me while in the waiting room for labs--this behavior was very unlike my mom.) I will pray for your family and hang in there!