<s>[INST] my husband had been put on lexapro which caused him to becme hyper and eventually manic due to lack of sleep.  He is 58 and has never shown bi polar tendencies before. They have diagnosed him as bi polar and put him on depakote. He has been on it for 4 days now and has been stable all four days, he seems like his normal self. They have decided to increase his night time dose to 1000 mg not sure why and they are not answering my questions. So he is on a total of 1500 mg's total a day. What is the normal dosage for this type of medication. Why would they increase his medicaton when he seems level and fine? He is a new patient to them so they don't know what is normal for him. His personal care physician wants me to get a 2nd opinion when he is released from the psych unit he is at right now. [/INST] Hello,The standard dosing for depakote is decided on basis of weight of patient. Its dose is in the range of 20-30mg per kg of body weight and average being 25mg/kg.The higher the dose, the more monitoring of side effects would be required.Thanks. </s>