Lithium side effect (sorry if this has been posted before)

So I am sitting here with an extra giddiness, albeit perhaps just excitement, and I am feeling like I may get off the couch tonight and actually do something...like dance or sing or nag the hell out of my sleeping husband. I've had my bottom glued to the couch for some time now, not out of depression, but rather out of Lithium's side effects (at least I believe that is the culprit of my near chronic fatigue--another reason I have considered stopping my meds...but at least it keeps me from becoming psychotic). Anyone else know of Lithium causing that kind of fatigue? It's dreadful! But, I feel like tonight will be different and tomorrow will be different and perhaps this fatigue will leave altogether. I don't long for insomnia but I do miss it compared to what I have been experiencing. Anyway, I better stop writing before I start writing about sunshine and roses. Lol, just kidding. Have a good night everyone.

A couple of meds have caused something that seemed like chronic fatigue for me. Lithium did it for maybe a week or two, and Abilify did it initially for about 2 weeks.

Thank you TheatreKid. I have been on Lithium for over a year and the other meds I am taking for even longer than that. It's just that I was either manic or experiencing long depressions (during my pregnancy and postpartum) so I couldn't attribute much of anything to side effects. However, I've been stable now for several months and have the fatigue. Strange you only experienced it for a couple of weeks and I have experienced it for so long.

That is strange. I'm not sure why it's happening, then. What does your doc say? Could it be a physical reason, like your thyroid? Lithium can exacerbate thyroid problems. It didn't do it to me, but after being on Lithium for just over a year my kidneys quit filtering it and I kept getting toxic, so I was taken off the lithium quickly and put on Abilify. That probably made the fatigue worse in my case.

I hated the drug myself and just as you it cause extreme fatigue and did absolutely nothing for my depression but helped with the mania. I wasn't manic for 3 years. Went off of it and was stable for 6 months then went into a mixed episode. It wasn't enough to go back on though, I was switched to Latuda and is working well.

My son takes lithium and there are days when I'll find him dead asleep in the middle of the floor. His principle called because he was falling asleep in class. But it's the only thing we have tried that helps. It's not everyday that this happens though. It's sporadic.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk