Depakote Spr

My daughter took Depakote from about Feb 1- May 22. It never worked for us. Our Dr. said if she was still in Europe it would have been her 1st choice but here they like to go with Keppra first because it has much less side effects than other meds. Dr T also likes to use Depakote Sprinkles with the younger kids because it goes into their bloodstream at a much steadier rate (that's how I understood it anyway). Though I know they can give Depakote (not the sprinkles) intravenously to start. Sort of a jump start.
It seemed like the higher the dosage the worse the seizures got. At first it seemed like maybe they worked a little and might have made her focus a little more but every time her dosage went up eventually the seizures would get stronger. She also started looking out of the corner of her eyes like she couldn't focus. I took her to the eye Dr. and he said it could be the medicine. It must have been the meds because she stopped after she got off Depakote. It made her tremble, but she trembled along with her seizures and no other time, like a really really strong cold chill. She may have had more spells where she got angry or frustrated. She never had a seizure free day. As soon as we started decreasing the Depakote the seizures seemed better, we were introducing Topamax then too, so I'd hope her seizures would seem better she had 3 meds in her system. She didn't pick up any new words during this time, just seemed to be at a stand still. She picked up on physical things, climbing stairs etc... but no verbal. Also when she would seizure on Depakote I could watch her eyes dilate rapidly and when they'd get to a certain point BOOM there's go a seizure. On other meds I don't notice that or at least it's not so noticeable.
I also want to note again that when Dr T prescribed Depakote she also prescribed Carnitor ( http://www.carnitor.com/ ) or Levocarnitine. It's a nutritional supplement that helps protect the liver. It comes in tablet form you dissolve in water I believe but we got an oral solution. Both have a "fishy" smell. You could smell a dirty diaper from a mile away!!! But I'm sorry to say, once she went off Carnitor, her dirty diapers didn't magically start smelling like roses! I will add here a housekeeping tip: activated charcoal that they use in aquariums and you can buy in the pet dept. at Walmart, works 10,000 times better than baking soda at taking care of diaper pails!