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hazeldazel · 06-23-2009, 08:16 PM

I have epilepsy and I've been taking Depakote (valproic acid) for the last 20 years or so as my anti-seizure medication. Works great - yay for 100% controlled seizures! My neurologist had mentioned weight gain was one of the side-effects but I read in an article that Depakote is one of the worst medications for weight gain - as much as 60 pounds!

Now there's no way I'm going to change meds because NOT having seizures is teh awesum, but I'm wondering as someone who has ALWAYS been fat (even before being diagnosed), how I should tweak my diet and activity to account for this? Or if I even need to? I have been doing NROLFW three days a week since June 1st and taking in 2100 calories, at 40/30/30 (P/C/F). On the off days, I usually do LISS walking on the treadmill for 30-50 minutes.

I decided to start this program because I had plateau'd reaaaaally bad for about 6 months at 215ish, after losing nearly 50 pounds (started at 260). I'm really tracking everything I eat on Fitday, I'm excited about NROLFW and I know I'm not going to see definitive results for awhile but I'm wondering if I should be adjusting things when doing the calculations for cals or macros, or even what my expectations should be.

06-23-2009, 08:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
hazeldazel Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: San Jose, California Posts: 366	Factoring in Medication into Diet Plan? I have epilepsy and I've been taking Depakote (valproic acid) for the last 20 years or so as my anti-seizure medication. Works great - yay for 100% controlled seizures! My neurologist had mentioned weight gain was one of the side-effects but I read in an article that Depakote is one of the worst medications for weight gain - as much as 60 pounds! Now there's no way I'm going to change meds because NOT having seizures is teh awesum, but I'm wondering as someone who has ALWAYS been fat (even before being diagnosed), how I should tweak my diet and activity to account for this? Or if I even need to? I have been doing NROLFW three days a week since June 1st and taking in 2100 calories, at 40/30/30 (P/C/F). On the off days, I usually do LISS walking on the treadmill for 30-50 minutes. I decided to start this program because I had plateau'd reaaaaally bad for about 6 months at 215ish, after losing nearly 50 pounds (started at 260). I'm really tracking everything I eat on Fitday, I'm excited about NROLFW and I know I'm not going to see definitive results for awhile but I'm wondering if I should be adjusting things when doing the calculations for cals or macros, or even what my expectations should be.