"i have been on depakote er for 4 months. my dosage is 1500mg a day. i went untreated for many years (18yrs) because i didn&#039;t have health care and failure to accept something was wrong even though i was a lot off the wall. after 3 weeks of depakote my moods were pretty even and stable. i also felt a little numb, i missed my highs, but it was better than being psychotic one minute and crying in another. but at the 4 month mark my hair has started falling out in clumps, that was my only side effect. so i&#039;m now transitioning to lithium. fingers crossed."