Lithium

dncr07: This is what NAMI says about salt and lithium:

"The level of salt in your body affects the action of lithium. Once lithium reaches therapeutic range, it can be altered by small changes in daily salt intake. If you normally don't eat much salt and then sit down one night and eat a bag of potato chips or a pizza or canned soup, your lithium level will likely decrease. If you've been diligent with your lithium medicine routine but have changed your salt-eating pattern, it may significantly interrupt your medication treatment outcome. Keeping your sodium intake fairly consistent is very important for people who take lithium.

"If you are very active and sweating a lot, or have diarrhea or are vomiting, you could lose a lot of sodium and then your body may end up with too much lithium. Never take salt tablets or go on a salt-restricted diet without talking to your doctor if you are taking lithium. Lithium has predictable blood levels, and to understand what is too high or too low, talk with your health care provider about adjusting your lithium dosage if you are lowering your sodium intake."

Lithium can cause GI upset when first starting , Its always best to take it with food ,Worst case your Pdoc can give you a script for anti nausea meds.. It does usually go away after a couple weeks for "most people"

I no longer take Lithium. I'm only on Lamictal and will be going off that soon. I'm going med free for a variety of reasons.

I hope your side effects lessen and you get the benefits of lithium.

Licketsplit is correct regarding salt intake and the effect on lithium levels.

I has gi issues starting lithium too. it eased up. my dr said I could immodium if I needed to starting out...but she also gave me anti-nausea meds to help!