My 8 year old son has been on Depakote ER 500mg for about 1 year. He is also taking Concerta 36mg. He has been doing extremely well after trying a multitude of medications. He was diagnosed at the age of 5 with ADHD. I knew that something was wrong at the age of 2, but of course everyone said " oh, it's just the terrible two's". Well the terrible two's became the terrible three's, four's and five's. He was aggressive, defiant, hyper, couldn't relate to kids his age,he didn't want to share, he was generally "pissed off" all the time. He was that way from birth. Nothing ever made him happy. The car seat, the swing, bouncy chair, rocking chair, nothing! Let's just say he was difficult. Some people like to call it "strong willed". What are you going to do though? This is a little person that you love more than life itself! You see them struggle through situations in day care and preschool, then kindergarten and elementary school and it breaks your heart, As their parent of course you want them to fit in with their peers, but in the back of your mind you know that there is something different about them and they may never fit in or feel like they belong. My son began to feel and beleive that he " was a bad boy". So many of the daycares that he went through programed him to feel that way. He was kicked out for his behaviors from 10 daycares from the ages of 2-5 years of age. Mostly for biting, which he did off and on up until last year. And to throw another curve ball into the mix, my husband is active duty military. So that means that everytime we get settled and have a good support group of doctors, teachers, counselors, etc. we have to relocate and start all over agian in a new town, new school, new teachers, new IEP meetings, new kids, new doctors (with different opinions), etc, etc. Sometimes I feel like ripping my hair out! But when he is doing well and he's happy and he feels proud of himself, it all seems to be ok. As a parent there is always a part of you that just wants to "fix' your child. I think that is natural because you want them to fit in, not be teased or develop low self esteem. You want others to love them just as much as you do. You want to be able to go to the store or a birthday party or a friend from work's house for dinner without worrying what your child is going to do or say or destroy. And if it's in the evening when their medication as worn off, oh lord, there is no telling what might happen. Sometimes I feel very alone and that nobody around me understands what I go through from day to day with my ADHD child. I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. I just think that everyone hopes that their child will be a productive member of society when they grow up, and for parents of children with diablities, whether it be ADHD, ODD,OCD, Bipolar Disorder , Autism, Asperger's or any other disability, I feel like the pressure to be a good parent is a little bit harder on all of us. I just want to say to all of you. You are doing a good job and if you are reading this then you are obviously interested in learning more about your child's condition and you want to help them as much as you can. Let me just say, thank god for the internet!!! What we would have done years ago I will never know, but it brings everyone so much closer. My question, before I starting rambling on and on was, does anyone know or have they been through weaning your child off of Depakote while they were still on a stimulant and what were the side effects? My son like I said before is on Concerta and doing well. We just moved to the Dallas area and his new pediatrician suggested taking him off the Depakote that he was put on as a mood stabilizer. We were in agreement at first but all this week he has basically been acting like "a little snot". He has been extra sassy and has been getting into trouble at school. It's all minor stuff but this behavior has not surfaced for months. I am wondering if it is from stopping the Depakote. We did the whole "wean off" process but does it cause increased irritability for maybe a couple of weeks or is something we can expect long term. Now we are wondering if we shouldn't put him back on it. We are trying to stick it out, but if anyone has dealt with this before, any advice would be great.

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