Recovering from Drug induced Parkinson's Disease

Do not stop taking Depakote without talking to your Doctor. It can be a lifesaving medication, Monitor Free levels of this medication to insure safety.This site is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. It is important to always consult a physician before making medical decisions. My Dad's Depakote story started in 2009 with a Depakote dose of 250mg twice a day, then a Parkinson's diagnosis in 2011. I stayed with my dad this spring while my mom was in the hospital and became more involved with his care. I started to read about his medications and question some of them because of things that I had read. He takes mestinon for MG, which is mandatory, prednisone which I wish he didn't need, and want him to taper off of, and he also took Depakote, Prozac, and simvastatin which are the three meds that I was questioning based on articles on Pub Med and side effects that I had seen on Drugs.com that matched my dad's symptoms. Throughout the last 4 years he has gradually become weaker. He was admitted to the university hospital 3 weeks ago, after an ER visit to another hospital where he was sent home the same night. While at the university I asked them to draw a Valproic acid level and it came back normal. The nurse continued to tell me that the rest of the Valproic Values and the Free Valproic came back at 42. His neurologist checked his Valproic Acid levels often in her clinic and they had always been normal. I looked back through his medical records and noticed that he did have a Free Valproic level drawn only once before, on the same visit to the hospital in 2011 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's. His free level was also high on that visit. I read about the Free Valproic level, and then I understood. His neurologist had never looked at that level. The neurologist at the university hadn't looked either. No one had, and no one knew what a Free Valproic level was, at least none of the people I was talking to. And they didn't understand what a high free level meant, or what the consequences were. NO ONE KNEW! Including Utah poison control! Utah poison control did understand that a free level was the unbound portion of Depakote but they did not think it was at a toxic level. When I called Abbott Laboratories (the manufacturer of Depakote), they knew the free level was the unbound portion of Depakote but said that they had no information on normal ranges, and that they didn't include that information in their prescribing information! I did find information with normal and toxic ranges on ARUPs site. My dad's Level was toxic! Above 15 is Toxic! My Dads Medications, Prozac, Simvastatin, Prednisone (throughout the years he also took (aspirin {which is a whole other story} ibuprofen and naproxen) are all highly protein bound and fighting for Albumin and increasing Free Depakote levels. It's true that over the years my Dad's Depakote level had been normal, but, if his free level had been checked its probable they would have been high. I explained this to the doctors who said that I was wrong, and one of them said he would read about it. I had to explain this to my mom. I told her to stop the Depakote but she wouldn't listen to me, it had to come from a doctor. After all, doctors are there to protect you. And honestly, I doubted myself. They were "tapering him off" of Depakote by decreasing his dose, but they were actually putting more into his system. My Dad could not move very well anymore, or think or remember anything. Rod helped me be brave, and a phone call to a good friend who firmly said "STOP THE DEPAKOTE," gave me the power to do what I needed to do. I threw a fit, I didn't want to, but I had to, to get people to listen. I told the nurses no more Depakote. Then my mom told my dad to refuse it. The rehab doctor started to read about free levels and protein binding and told my mom that it was ok to refuse it ( I guess he couldn't discontinue because neurology ordered it, I'm not really sure.) This same doctor said, "I know that my practice is forever changed, but I can't speak for others... Thank you." It was nice to hear him say that. I have felt crazy for a while; it was nice to be acknowledged by one of them. There is a lot more to the story, so much more that I am writing a case study hopefully to try and change things and help with awareness of protein bound drug interactions. Apparently this problem is being GREATLY MINIMIZED! And to all the neurologists out there CHECK FREE LEVELS but, the important thing is that my dad is getting better, he is walking and moving and thinking better. It is amazing! I am seeing him do things that I haven't seen him do for over 2 years!!!!!!!! It is very probable that my Dads Parkinson's Disease is not PD but was caused by Depakote toxicity; he should continue to improve over the next three months or so, hopefully a full recovery   / 169088816613730