What works better for bipolar disorder: Lithium or Depakote ER?
Lithium works well for my manic type symptoms. Depakote quelled the cycling. It’s possible that I could take more Depakote and stop the Lithium, but Li gives me no appreciable side effects whereas Depakote does. What works best is what works for you. Lithium is the best at protecting your brain, so from that perspective it definitely is the best med to be on if it works for you. Since it’s been used for so long, how to manage it is well known and it is one of the safest. However, Lithium is not known as being the best at rapid cycling. Long-term (i.e. 20 years) kidney problems can crop up. Since you have rapid cycling and are already on it, I’d up on the Depakote until you have side effect problems or are near the max w/o adequate efficacy. You do have a ways to go since 500mg is a baby dose, and you can always add on Lithium or another med. Dep, however, messes with your liver (I think) and other body systems. It’s not the nicests of the stabilizers in that regard, particularly for wo
