Quote:
Originally Posted by loophole
What's the typical med increase on these meds my dr started me out at 300 MG then said would increase it to 600 MG a day soon after.. what's most people's dosage change.time frame? And how was it administered? 1 pill every 12 hours roughly?
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With no history of mania or hypomania, Princess was started on 900 mg (2 x 450mg doses, 12 hrs apart) and was upped to 1200 mg (600mg twice daily) --- and mind you,
no regular lithium blood levels checked thereafter.
I recall but two blood level checks ... One after 3 months ... Another after 4 months (the lab lost the results. Go figure.). I was not at all well monitored on this drug that was never appropriately prescribed for me at a time during which I had never been bipolar before and was not in depression at the time.
However I was being 'maintained' prophylactically against recurrence of depression on
Cymblata which was working well for me. At the same time that I was put on the high dose lithium (Princess is petite, btw, and highly-sensitive to psych meds) ---
Cymbalta was immediately removed, cold-turkey --- and in addition to lithium 1200 mg, I was put on
an antipsychotic med (!?!), Zyprexa --- again with no history of ever being even close to psychotic.
Deeply, totally debilitating depression, yes; never SI, nor any self harm nor harm to others; just compeletely shutdown.
I cannot stress enough the vital importance of
regular lithium blood level checks; and
double-check that the lab results were actually
received and read by your rx'ing doctor and your PCP as well, as part of your treatment team.
It was in fact my PCP who caught that the lab results were not sent to her and in fact lost by the lab. As well it is my PCP who suspected that much of my physical ills might be in fact high-dose lithium related.
A subsequent lithium blood level taken 4 months later ordered by my new pdoc here where I am relocated, showed overly-high lithium blood levels; he phoned me promptly at 6pm on a Friday upon receipt of the results and initiated a tapering of the lithium, calling in a new 450 mg. rx of time-released lithium to be taken twice daily; also reinstated
Cymbalta as I was in deep, debilitating depression.
Princess is now some 3 months later ever so much better as a result of now being off lithium and back on
Cymbalta. My physical health I am slowly regaining. Restoring the health of my hair, skin, nails, teeth is a long, hard, everyday ongoing process.
Mind you, I am in no way saying that lithium is a 'bad med'. Not at all.
Rather mine was a case of it simply being inappropriately rxd for me and not well monitored properly with blood lithium level checks.
Good luck to you. I hope that it works well for you.
__________________
Traveling west back toward Eden (interestingly the wise men in the Gospel account of Jesus' birth came from the East), has been full of confrontation with
the trials and tribulations of living outside the Garden.
She is an artist without doubt disappointed that paradise was not as close in 1969 as she and so many others hoped it was. Her work is now filled with the reality of humanity's failure to achieve the prophetic dream of her song, but never without the hope that that day will yet come.