[hly_strdz]

Hello everyone! I am contemplating taking Lithium for my bipolar manic episodes as well as to level out my bipolar tendencies. . I have been researching it for quite a while now and I think that it would really help my bipolar side effects. It is not a benzodiazapine so it will not make me as lethargic as that class of drug and it is not addictive like Klonopin which gave me an addictive personality. . I have met several people in support groups that have taken Lithium and they have suggested it. . Anyone with any advice or suggestions? Discouragements or encouragements?

[~Christina]

I take Lithium and Lamictal .. thats it no AD"s or AP.. As long as I use my coping skills I am doing very stable and Happy. I refuse AP's and all the AD's flipe me ringnt into a ugly hean Mania.

Lithium and Lamictal works for me , also both for "weight nuetral" a must for me .

Good luck

[faerie_moon_x]

For me at low doses lithium kind of mutes everything in me. So, I still feel my emotions but they aren't as intense. At higher doses I start to get the hand tremors and thirst. At "theraputic" level which is like 1200 mg I don't feel like it helps me and actually makes me feel really jittery.

It didn't make me sleepy but it did make me drink a lot more which caused me to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom....

[realityocean]

i am taking lithium for the last 13 years, a blessing. i am stable now for the best part of 11 years, i swear by it. definately the gold standard as far as i am concerned.
the very best of luck to you.

[rossiv46]

I've been taking for a little over a year and believe it has helped mellow me out.

[Odee]

I am considering this myself and was also meaning to make a topic about it!

I'm beginning to believe that lithium may mean hope for me, however, I know that I will not be able to afford the blood tests. Does anyone know if I would have to take blood tests if I were starting out on a low dose?

[Confusedinomicon]

You have to once a year so they can tell if your at the right dose for lithium to be effective.

I take lithium alone now. I use seroquel as a prn now. Drink lots of fluids without sugar in it.

[Confusedinomicon]

You'll gain water weight but that's easy to maintain with exercise.

[hmbfam]

I had taken ssri's for ocd, and put through hell for years as they made me more manic. After being diagnosed bipolar 2, I was taken off of seroquil and put on lithium. I went from suicidal to seeing a bright future, it's the most stable of all drugs I have ever been on, and I don't feel medicated at all. It's amazing really.

[Odee]

But don't you have to take a bunch of blood tests when you begin?

[Cocosurviving]

I take lithium and it has helped me

[Confusedinomicon]

I had to get a few, but don't remember having to do a lot. They check the same stuff each time they do blood tests unless they are concerned about something in particular.

You can talk to the doc about the costs for blood tests and see if the doc can recommend something cheaper/a sliding scale)

[Odee]

Originally Posted by Confusedinomicon

I had to get a few, but don't remember having to do a lot. They check the same stuff each time they do blood tests unless they are concerned about something in particular.

You can talk to the doc about the costs for blood tests and see if the doc can recommend something cheaper/a sliding scale)

That's a great idea. We'll see. I'm interested in Lithium, I'm just struggling under bills right now, and I am actually in debt from a blood test taken nearly a year ago....went to collection and my credit must already be shot.

When I first starting seeing my current psychiatrist she wrote a list of possible medications for me to research, and one of them was lithium. Of course, at the time I just perceived myself as depressed and I threw that suggestion away. But now I know more about its antidepressant property....and, obviously, was diagnosed bipolar.

If it's possible to take a low enough dose for blood tests to be necessary that would be great.

[Trippin2.0]

I loved being muted at first. For the first time in my life my mind wasn't chaotic, my emotions weren't over the top. I was so impressed my needle phobia didn't even keep me away from my scheduled blood tests every 6 weeks!

But I soon started hating those very things. Muted turned into emotional castration, I just could not identify with myself any longer. I felt lost, unhappy and trapped being muted. Then if that wasn't bad enough, my beautiful brain turned to mush, lost who knows how many memories (some recovered, some lost forever) and words from my prized vocabulary. The perpetual hunger refused to grant me any kind of reprieve, and the hand tremors started looking like seizures, (embarassing much?) and bloody pdoc just wanted to add side effect meds instead of get me off the shyt!

My lithium heaven turned to hell in a matter of months, but most tolerate it just fine, or dont have hang-ups about side effect meds. But that's where I draw the line. A permanent line. I will go back on meds if I feel they are neccessary at that time, but NEVER side effect meds, or ones that make me stupid!

I hope your experience is a more positive one

[hmbfam]

my pscy did write me up for a blood panel, don't know where that's going to go. But he had me on 450mg of Lithium for a month before requesting it.