Best Time of Day to Take Effexor XR & Depakote ER?

Hello everyone. I am new to taking Effexor XR and Depakote ER and have been experimenting a little with the time of day I take my doses. I have only been on these meds for about a week now.

I am currently only taking 37.5mg of Effexor XR with breakfast and 750mg Depakote ER about 2 hours before bed. I originally took the Effexor with dinner but found myself awake in the middle of the night.

I find myself being tired and wanting to sleep 12 hours a day. And this seems to be increasing with each passing day. I attribute this to the fact that the medicine is getting more into my body.

So I am wondering if there's a better time (or way) to take these meds. Should I take 250mg of Depakote ER at a different time instead of all 750mg at 1 time? Do I need to take Effexor XR with food? Should I take the Effexor right at bedtime even without food? That is what I'd like to do. In order to sleep through the side effects and also do the same with my Depakote, if possible.

I already take 3mg of Lunesta and 75mg of Seroquel to help me sleep at night as it is. I would love to cut out the Seroquel (or cut it back down to 25mg) as I feel this also makes me tired the next day.

If anyone has any suggestions or experiences they would like to share, I would really appreciate it because I find myself wanting to sleep almost all the time! And I am beginning to think I should take the Effexor at night even if it does wake me because at least then I wasn't as tired during the day.

Thanks everyone. And please don't be shy as I really could use some help. Take care!

Hugs,
CA 2 NJ

Hi there, I just began taking Effexor XR as well about a month ago in addition to my other meds. I found right away also that it was keeping me awake too when I took it before bed, so I now take it first thing when I wake up.

Another thing I've done to make it easier to take my meds every day is I ask both my doctor and my pharmacist just to double check if it's ok to take them all at once. Right now I take three different meds at the same time in the morning and have no upset stomach as long as I drink a tall glass of water, which I don't get enough of anyway.

I sleep much better now and this way I don't have to worry about taking any more for the rest of the day. I'm guessing though you would need to take some in the morning some at night for sleeping.

Also, just to let you know in case you didn't already, Effexor can have some very serious withdrawl side effects when you're ready to get off of it once you get to a theraputic dose. If you didn't know about that already you may want to talk with your doctor or pharmacist about that. You just have to taper off slowly with your docter's direction. This is an excellent website to check out psych meds: http://crazymeds.org

Even knowing that I've decided that it was worth it anyhow as I was been going through the worst depression ever and it pulled me right out. I'm very happy with Effexor XR, you just want to have some spare doses with you in case you forget to take it before you leave the house because you don't want to miss any is all. I keep a few in a little ziploc bag in my car in a cool spot.

Also after a couple of weeks your body does get a little better adjusted to it and sleeping gets much easier. Good luck!

Did you get this worked out? I take the Effexor in the a.m. and that is no problem. I do sometimes stay up too late if I take some adderall later in the evening...but I've got kids and it's the only time I can get anything done.

But the Depakote XR..not unusual for me to take a short nap when my son does and then go pick up my daughter at the bus stop..slept right through the alarm. The kids have come in to ask me questions and I can hear myself and I sound like someone on hard core narcotics. Once I get myself up, I'm usually fine; but she has been late to school 2 times because I hit snooze from 5:30 to 8:30 and have no memory of it.

It worked well one day when I took it around 3 and then went to bed at 11 and woke up at 5:30 without a problem and had good energy that day. But 3 is a tough time to remember..I just now remembered so now I've taken it at almost midnight.

I'm not sure if it's the drug itself. It interacting with the valium I take on occassion or the adderall that I take fairly large dose of (30 mgs 3 x's a day....still puts me to sleep)

I have been through all the ssri's over time and they weren't doing it anymore. How about a sertonin patch? and I was having major rage/anger episodes and it's doing it's job in those areas. It's just the scary deep sleep.

I take 75 mgs of exffexor xr at night, and 250 Depakote before bed, and sleep like a baby ! Have been doing this for 7 years, so no problem there :) Never gained a pound either.

Carol wrote:

Did you get this worked out? I take the Effexor in the a.m. and that is no problem. I do sometimes stay up too late if I take some adderall later in the evening...but I've got kids and it's the only time I can get anything done.
But the Depakote XR..not unusual for me to take a short nap when my son does and then go pick up my daughter at the bus stop..slept right through the alarm. The kids have come in to ask me questions and I can hear myself and I sound like someone on hard core narcotics. Once I get myself up, I'm usually fine; but she has been late to school 2 times because I hit snooze from 5:30 to 8:30 and have no memory of it.
It worked well one day when I took it around 3 and then went to bed at 11 and woke up at 5:30 without a problem and had good energy that day. But 3 is a tough time to remember..I just now remembered so now I've taken it at almost midnight.
I'm not sure if it's the drug itself. It interacting with the valium I take on occassion or the adderall that I take fairly large dose of (30 mgs 3 x's a day....still puts me to sleep)
I have been through all the ssri's over time and they weren't doing it anymore. How about a sertonin patch? and I was having major rage/anger episodes and it's doing it's job in those areas. It's just the scary deep sleep.

Carol,

I've been wondering why I'm so tired the next morning after taking Depakote 500. I can barely get up and it's been two months. I used to beable to get up after 6-7 hours of sleep. I can't stand it. I saw that you tried taking it at 3pm for bedtime at 11pm. Did your pharmacist or doctor say that was okay?

Thanks for any advice.
Blessings
Sheree

Effexor XR Makes me shit all over myself. 4 or 5 times a day. And once or twice a night. I am so imbarrased.

I would like to know. I have been taking the effexsor 100 mg and now am going up to 150mg. How long does it take to take effect since I have already been taking the 100 mg. I also took it at night and could not sleep so, I just switched to the am with the advice of the pharmacy so, I will see if that works. Really hope this helps, trying not to take the lorazepam in between, my doctor told me to only use it for severe panic attacks. That's why I want to know how long it takes to get the rest of the effexsor to take effect. Thank you very much. Would appreciate any response to this.

ohhh, those are the worst meds. Effexor is also an antidepressent, anitdepressents+bipolar=watch out. when i was first diagnosed with bipolar at age 12, they put me on effexor and saraquil..it made me lose my mind. i was more depressed then ever before, i started running away almost everyday, and i stole my dads car and drove it all the way to Davis, CA from Elk Grove, CA [2 hour drive] at 1 AM until i crashed into the median of the freeway. &&& depakote, gave me HORRIBLE stomach problems, i was always throwing up and it gave me the worst stomach aches of my life. To this day if i even look at a depakote pill i want to puke. i DO NOT reccommend these meds.

i take topamax, lamictal, and lithium. lithium works very well, but it might cause some acne if you dont wash your face, i think it causes acne worse for younger teens. these are good meds for bipolar though

Just went up to 225mg of Effexor...took it this morning and i can barely keep myself awake..is this normal? I used to take 150mg in the morning but i did find it hard to go to sleep at night and i get really bad migraine 2-3x a week.....im wondering if i should take it at night...??

I have been taking effexor xr 75 mg for about 3 years now. It has really cured my social anxiety. Also I feel like it has made my relationship with my family better. I don't feel the need to have childish arguments with them anymore. Also my eating disorder has gone away for the most part. It makes me feel anxious when I am alone, that's not a problem though. The problem is that I always want to sleep. I can sleep a 12 hour night, and take naps during the day. I've tried taking it in the morning and at night, it does not make a difference. I can take all the caffeine in the world, but it does not help. I'm afraid to switch off of the drug because it has changed me for the better. Anyone out there in the same situation that might have a solution to this problem?

Hello,

I just started taking Depakote ER. I've been on it about a month now. My doctor diagnosed me with a mental disorder/bipolar tendencies. I must say this medicine has decreased my negative thoughts and manic episodes. It even alleviates my stress and PMS symptoms.

I have noticed an increase in appetite and I've gained at least 5 pounds. I currently weight 140 and I'm afraid I will continue to gain weight. I would love to exercise, but I am so tired from taking the medicine. After working 9-12 hour days, I can't commit to running/exercising. On the weekends, I will sleep anywhere from 12-14 hours a night AND take a nap during the day...my naps range from 30 minutes- 2 hours. I am groggy and have severe headaches once I wake up and of course I wake up several times during the night.

I can't discern whether this medicine is worth taking yet.

i am taking 750 mgs of depokote er. im supposed to take one in the morning and 2 at night but it is killing me i am so sleepy ALL the time . i have to sleep or i can't do nething . i will even fall asleep driveing . someone said something about taking it at 3 in the after noon what did your doc say about this???

i take depakote 500 mg before bed

this is in addition to 50 mg of topomax and 20mg of lexapro. I take them all at bedtime.

I tend to be sleepy all day if i take he meds in the morning. If I take them at night I have crazy dreams

I also take 225 of effexor xr, and I have been sleeping so much that my husband is really concerned. I sleep 9 hours a night and generally take 1 1/2 hour nap the next day. Ive never taken this at night before so I don't know about that. I have also noticed retaining mass amounts of water..anyone else? I can push indents into my legs.

I take 2000 mg depakote ER before bed. My psychiatrist told me that the depakote can make you tired and that's the reason to take it at night. The Depakote levels stay in your system though so taking it at several different times during the day will not make a difference in the effect. In the morning (8 AM) I take 100 mg lamictal and 20 mg adderal XR, then around 3 pm I take another 20 mg adderall xr... The timing works really well.
I think I need to move up to 30 mg Adderall XR though. I tried one from a friend and it had a much better effect on me, sometimes I find the 20 mg to make me hot and my hands will get red. I would think it would be the opposite. Anyone else have that same effect?