thoughts on lithium

im not too sure on how i feel about lithium....i have a feeling my treatment will be going that route soon after i see my psychiatrist on the 20th...ive never wanted to take it. it just seems so extreme to me. dont necessarily know why i guess i just need more info on it beside it being a salt and having to check my kidney or liver every so often....i dont know...any experience with lithium positive or negative will help. thanks!

I was very anti lithium initially. My pdoc wanted to prescribe it, and I wanted nothing to do with it. Eventually after 7 months of no success in stabilising me, we tried Lithium Carbonate. It has a reported benefit of being the only mood stabiliser proven to reduce suicidal actions. I haven't experienced side effects yet - no weight gain or significant trembling - but my blood levels are still low and we are working them up slowly. Lithium apparently isn't renowned for success in treating rapid cycling, and it hasn't fixed me yet. You will need to have regular blood tests done to keep an eye on the levels of lithium because the therapeutic blood level is quite close to the toxic level.
There are several articles on the web that will give you a more complete picture of Lithium.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/02...ned/23611.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/lithi...e-effects.html
http://www.healthyplace.com/other-in...on/menu-id-72/

I've had positive results. I take 900 mg a day (split) and its reduced the severity of my swings. I tend to get mixed states, and haven't had one for 2 months. It doesn't cure the self talk, or feelings of delusions, if you get those.

If you tell your pdoc you don't want to take it they can look into other alternatives and go back to that as a last resort. I'm pretty sure of that.

Now that you mention it, I do feel a lot less stressed and am less easily provoked to anger when I'm up these days, but the hallucinations and psychic experiences haven't completely gone (yet).

I've been on 900mg lithium for about 4 years now. It has kept my moods pretty stable. I did have a trembling side effect from it and take 120 mg of Propranolol and have no trembling now.

My dad was Bipolar, diagnosed at 25, and took Lithium and started taking it in it's infancy. My aunt is Bipolar, she wasn't diagnosed until she was 48 and she's 73 now and has always taken Lithium since she was diagnosed so it has been a successful drug for our family.

I was diagnosed at 38 but my husband and I were looking to have another child so I took drugs that had been proven to not have side effects with pregnancy. I honestly don't remember all the drugs but I was taking Geodon when I had the bad manic attack. So far I've had great success with Lithium.

I don't mind the blood tests. I actually kind of like the check up side of things to see if my level is stable. If it's not, I feel that the test may catch something before I was to have an episode or something. Just my two cents.

What a wonderfully positive perspective on testing. I'll remember that. Thanks.

Lithium has worked wonders for me although I also take wellbutrin sr. The testing doesn't bother me as long as the medication works and continues to work. it a small price to pay for effective treatment.

thank you all for your feed back. i definitely feel better about it. we've tried so many drugs that eventually it led to the lithium discussion with my last psychiatrist (even though she never told me i was bipolar) which is why i think thats where we are going with my new one. ive been VERY irritable since i woke up yesterday and have a feeling the mania is soon switching to the depression again. so much that i had to run out of my house today and go sit in the library just so i could get away from my mothers constant need for attention ( i think shes bipolar also ) Thankfully i see my new psychiatrist on the 20th. I'll let you all know where this goes. thanks again fpr your help!

the last article was scary to read....all the possible adverse reactions...

Yes, but what an article! Very descriptive.

I have Bipolar I and take lithium and tegretol and have for several years. I seem to tolerate them best. I do have the weight gain and hate that. I'm in weight watchers and even sticking to my diet I have a hard time losing and gain easily. Even with the lithium and tegretol sometimes I get manic. I have to take Zyprexa then to "come down". The labs are okay. I wish I could find a medication that was effective and didn't cause weight gain. I have been trying to read up on anything I can find about it.

i keep gaining weight also and am on Weight Watchers!!! I hate that side effect!!! Zyprexa is what triggered my current Mania so thats out. Wellbutrin triggered one 6 years ago.....well actually made the one i was going through worse even though it had worked wonders before...

im currently on Effexor 300mg, ativan for panic/anxiety attacks as needed, and they just started me on klonopin before bedtime again 2mg. which makes me sluggish but seeing as its 2am obviously not sluggish enough to make me go to sleep or keep me asleep.

I also take Soma 4 times a day and Mobic for a back problem, Gabapentin 4 times a day for nerve pain, fioricet and codeine for migraines as needed

All this stuff should knock a lumberjack out but here i am!

Lithium. Ah, lithium. Well, I guess it does what it is supposed to do for my bipolar, but I am one of those lucky ones that it messed with my thyroid. Headaches and they call it fatigue (I call it being hit by a Mack truck). Then there's the weight gain. My regular doc is putting me on hormone (in fact, I got blood drawn this morning to see if I have enough hormone yet). I haven't went manic, I haven't went depressed (I take lamatical Cymbalta 30mg. Klonipin 2& 1/2 but I usually end up with 2mg a day) but the side effects are killing me. I do like my sanity, though. I was on Haldol for 16 years. I've been off that since 2009 and still have side effects from it and from what I've researched, I will for the rest of my life. Every bipolar has their tale of hell to tell.

I am Bp 1 also. I take a med for my thyroid and try to keep migraines at bay. Lithium works much better than depakote.

I love my lithium. it keeps me stable, minimal side effects (except I get weight gain on it) and reduces my suicidal ideation. Wouldn't go off it except to have kids.

Lithium is working pretty well for me. It's been about five months. Side-effects went away after two months (shakiness/dry mouth). I gained ten pounds that has been really hard to lose. Way harder than usual. Otherwise, groovy.

My psych has just told me to consider lithium, this post has been very informative.

Many Thanks

hello everyone!!

i wasnt prescribed lithium i was given abilify. so far so good although it has only been about months. we'll see how i feel in another month. i have a new twitch in my right eye thats VERY annoying but not as annoying. as being out of control

ive been sleeping the day away mostly. my mom suggested we go to neurotics anonymous?????is that even a thing? i dont know.

then ive was thinking that it would be nice to be in a group that is going through the same thing as i am and wont judge me.....and then i though DUH!!!! i have a group like that on PC. lol!!!!so thats why im on heretrying to see who is around.

Lithium has been amazing in my life my moods are so stable, I do take an antidepressant too prozac , I am supposed to get blood work but honestly I havent mainly because I currently have no insurance and no doctor to order it, long complicated story lol, I had to start something for an underactive thyroid too and I think lithium had something to do with that. I love lithium and would not want to be on any other mood stabilizer it really works, it does make u very thirsty and because u do or SHOULD drink a lot of water, you will have to use the bathroom a lot but you get used to it.

I've been on lithium for two years at one dose or another. I can only tolerate 450mg before I have tremors and various other side effects. I guess it is one of those things where you have to try a little bit at a time and see how it effects you.

I am bipolar 2. Lithium seemed to make me too flat and didn't work that well. I am on zyprexa and celexa now. It seems to work better for me but have gained alot of weight that I have to find a way to get back off. Different meds work differently for different people.

I have been on it about 2 months and am getting off as soon as possible. I have too many side effects like profuse sweating, heat intolerance, hand tremors, thirst and a general feeling of being slow to respond.
I don't know what else is out there, but this is not the answer for me!

I've been on Lithium for five years. The tremors subsided after about 6 months, tremors return every now and again but are short lived, guessing when lithium levels rise a bit. I did receive a toxic dose when I first went on it, but decreased my dose and I was fine.

Lithium for me has been one of the easiest drugs for me to take for Bipolar. I can't feel it in my body, it has a subtle effect. I still cycle every month or two so it is not working as well as I hoped it would. I have had problems with memory loss and large creativity blanks. But to me it kind of feels like taking water, unlike ssri's which I can feel or anti-psychotics.