"i am shocked to read the high amount of mg&#039;s that people are being started on. every review i have read about depakote it&#039;s been mainly 1000mg also 500mg. that just blows my mind! with any medicine you have to be eased into things and adjust from there! i began with 250mg, my doctor told me that after a few weeks i could adjust it to taking 2 doses (500mg). just to play around with it to see if i in fact needed to go higher. so i did, when changed to 500mg it made me crazy, nutty, mean and intolerable. i backed off and on 250mg again. i have been normal and perfectly stable ever since. i have yet to read a person taking the lowest dosage as a starting point. start slow and work your way up (if needed). this medicine has been a lifesaver!"