Bad Reaction To Depakote

My daughters Dr. put her on depakote and it made her very mean and she wanted to jump on me and her sister. She is not a violent person. I called 911 and held her down till help got her. The police took her to jail even after I begged them to take her to the hospital and it was caused by a reaction from a new med her Dr. put her on. Now she has a domestic violence charge and had to stay in jail overnight and now has to be on probation, go to anger management classes and pay court costs. Is there anyway to get these things off her record? She doesn't even remember what happened. I did not press charges and neither did her sister. She also has a 2 y/o daughter and is a very good mother. She, her sister and her daughter live with me. I'm having to pay the court costs, the anger management and the probation, and I'm the one the police put down as the victim, but I'm having to pay for something that was due to a bad reaction to depakote and I begged the police to please take her to the hospital. Is there any way I can get this corrected?

She shouldn't have gone to jail and shouldn't have to be taking classes and probation because of something she doesn't even remember due to a bad reaction to her new med her Dr. put her on. Please, can anyone help me? We have 1 vehicle, I'm on total disability and can barely take care of me, my 2 daughters and granddaughter, now I'm having to pay for all this court stuff and classes she doesn't need to be taking. I feel like it was my fault because I called 911 for help and because she was acting out of control she didn't get the medical help she needed. She got jail instead. And still doesn't remember anything that happened after she took this med. Her Dr. said she can never take depakote or anything like it, that it was a bad reaction. Please, again can anyone help me? The Judge wouldn't let me talk when she was taken to jail and she still didn't seem clear-headed.

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Depakote is an anticonvulsant typically also used as a mood stabilizer for people who are bipolar. Is your daughter prone to seizures or manic depression or diagnosed as such?

That sounds like an extreme reaction to the drug. In hindsight when you called 911 you should have said it was a medical emergency so an ambulance would have arrived instead of the police. Anyway, usually when cases are considered domestic violence the state will pick up the charges. Unfortunately, this means it doesn't matter if you press charges or not. The State will.

Your best bet would be to hire an attorney if you can. Perhaps you could ask a friend or relative for help with the financial cost. An attorney is the only entity who could potentially get the charges deferred or even possibly dropped. Judges aren't going to let you plead her case. Your daughter COULD represent herself but I would strongly advise against it.

If you get a public defender be sure to pull him aside and speak with him prior to the pre-trial phase. Explain to him that she had a bad reaction to a newly prescribed medication. Any documentation from the doctors office would be useful. Particularly a statement explaining that she is no longer to take Depakote due to a severe allergic reaction.

I'm a Lawyer myself and feel confident that if you could afford to hire one you could likely get this case dropped completely. Best of luck.

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Oh my mistake. I just re-read what you posted. It sounds like she's already been found guilty and is currently on probation with court costs? In that case the only thing you can possibly do is hire an attorney in attempt to get the records expunged. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I thought the charges were pending.

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As a follow up to this there is one other option but it would only work if she was found guilty in a bench trial. I'm assuming it wasn't a jury trial. That would be an appeal. However if she plead guilty outright or as part of a plea deal there can be no appeal.

Hope the information I have provided is helpful.

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That is unbelievable that they treated you that way. The Dr. should of stood up for you and called the court or tried to reach the judge for you.
Is there a legal aid hotline # where you live? If not call a couple of lawyers, look in the yellow pages and see what they specialize in and see if someone will step in and help you and get there fees paid by the Dr. or the police drug unit, or the hospital for you. If a lawyer says they don't do that sort of thing ask if they know the name of 1 that would! Good luck, such a ordeal. Drugs can change a person' personality in a second. It has done it to me and a bad reaction can cause you to actually become a extremely rude person to a total stranger that did nothing to cause you to do it!

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You just got took all court cares about money,you pay to be on probation they put her on this make sure she pay

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Re: Jim (# 4)

If she's already on probation with court costs, as mentioned in the original post, she's been found guilty or took a plea deal (plead guilty). Not much a lawyer could do now but expunge or, appeal; if applicable.

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Re: Mason (# 6)

It is scary because this can happen to anyone and they did nothing wrong, unless the person Does want to press charges as if she did it to a total stranger! Are you on any anti-depressants or pain meds?

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You will need to get a letter from her doctor,stating side effect,then talk to the judge to get her record cleared, then make sure by doing a background check in a week- month. This happened to my son, it's going to be like hitting a brick wall! Request a legal representation or consult with a attorney that specializes in this area! Good luck!! Many blessings!

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Re: Jim (# 7)

I've been on pain medications (percocet/norco) recently for a broken elbow and kidney stones/staghorn. I take trazodone occasionally as a sleep aid. I also take xanax for PTSD/Panic disorder w/o agoraphobia. What does that have to do with anything?

I was merely offering legal advice as I am a lawyer. I got my J.D. (Doctor of Jurisprudence) in 2000 and am licensed to practice law in every U.S. state as I am employed by the federal government.

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Re: Mason (# 9)

I was just curious because I have trouble sleeping, trazodone did nothing for me. I take Xanax 1 mg. twice a day. Do you think 2mg. twice a day is too much? I was going to ask my Dr. I have neuropathy but am not a diabetic. Is Percocet effective and are there any long term effects or addiction problems?

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Re: Jim (# 10)

Trazodone works extremely well for me as a sleep aid. We're all different though. I only take it a few times a month when i'm really having bad insomnia.

I take 1mg 3x day PRN (as needed). 4mg a day is usually the highest dose recommended for general anxiety (GAD) where as up to 10mg/day is the ceiling for panic disorder. It's up to your doctor but generally 2mg twice a day (4mg/day) is therapeutically acceptable. Worst thing about xanax though, the more you take the harder the withdrawal will be. I've been thinking about increasing to 4mg/day myself as i've had issues recently with agitation, anger, and excessive worry/racing thoughts.

As far as percocet i'm not sure if it's the best pain medicine for neuropathy. I've only taken it in short term cases and have never been on it for longer than two week intervals. I've found that it greatly depends on what generic manufacturer you get as to how effective percocet is in dealing with pain. I've found lately that most percocet I get do work for the pain but have pretty miserable side effects (grogginess, confusion, anxiety, tinnitus, and even dysphoria). Percocet are definitely habit forming and your body will become dependent upon them if taken for a long period of time. There are probably many other, chronic, pain patients on here better suited to answer your questions about percocet though.

As far as long term effects xanax is the one to watch out for. It is known for having protracted withdrawal and some research claims that some withdrawal symptoms from xanax could last indefinitely. I've read the best way to avoid protracted withdrawals is to taper as slow as possible. That's a bridge I'll cross when I get to it but i'm not looking forward to it!

Best of luck to you and good health.

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Re: Jim (# 10)

To clarify on my previous post I was referring to xanax in the second paragraph. Taking 1mg 3x a day.

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Re: Ken (# 5)

First off I want to say sorry about your daughter. Hope she gets better. I'm also bipolar and allergic to lithium. I tried to commit suicide on them. 7 is lethal and I took 6. After that I won't take them. Good luck. Have her Depakote levels checked religiously EVERY THREE MONTHS. I HAD A STROKE CAUSE MINE GOT TOO HIGH.

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I was using DEPAKOTE for 32 years and I have no problem in using it in fact it helped me a lot regarding my seizures frequency and I am still using it beside other other medications for epilepsy so I am not sure what happen to you daughter but do not blame this medication.

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Re: MAZEN (# 14)

Depakote also known as Depakene or Valproic Acid have a very complex pharmacological reaction depending upon a persons brain chemistry.

There is no blanket instance as to where this drug works for everyone. It is known to work very well as an anticonvulsant, which is why you take it.

It is prescribed to other people as a mood stabilizer due to manic depression or being bipolar. In this instance it can be hit or miss. What is a small dosage for one person could cause an extreme adverse reaction in another. That is apparently what happened here.

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Re: Mason (# 1)

I am using Depakote for more than 20 years and have no side effect,I think the advise which attorney gave you is good so follow it.

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Am going to pain management in phoenix az. For over 2 years now .I've done everything they ask me to do went physical therapy. They cut my pain medicine way down. I don't know how that helps me when am in pain over half of the day because I don't have enough pain medication. My regular doctor says he can't give me that much any more. Am 65 years old. I just want to not have all this pain ever day . I have chronic pain. Can anybody tell me if thers any doctors in the Phoenix area where I can get enough pain meds. Thanks

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