Lithium, side effects and PREGNANCY?!?!?!

This is tl;dr, I know BUT If anyone can help and just skip the story to the last 2 paragraphs for the main point, that would be great!

OKAY SO! I just sort of lost my job (technically my hours were cut to 4 hours a week and I only make $8 an hour) so a doctor is kind of out of the question until i have a little more money to pay the copay and stuff...Anyway, I'm on Lithium 450mg ER..I don't know too much about it but I was put on it because I had a manic episode, which lasted 2 weeks...i thought i was going to be a famous singer/song-writer and didnt sleep for days playing the guitar and sining/writing. then i ended up going on a furniture shopping spree at walmart...i returned everything the next morning to buy myself a plane ticket to california to see my long distance boyfriend of 6 years. i stayed with him for a week and he forced me to get help back home and go back to school.
as soon as i got off the plane I went to my pdoc that i hadn't seen since april and she prescribed my with lithium. this is the first time I've been on it and TBH I notice no difference in my mania/depression/bipolar...


the reason I am here posting is because I think I might be pregnant and having pregnancy symptoms BUT the thing is A LOT of the symptoms I'm having could also be due to the side-effects of Lithium and/or stress related...I started lithium on October 8. I was active sexually from oct 2-7.
I don't get my pay check until the 17th of this month...and because my hours were cut...i'll barely be able to pay the copay plus my monthly bills D: D: D: ARGH!!! I'm looking for another job but it's so difficult with all the stress and my school schedule. If I'm pregnant then I know I need medical attention immediately and if it's because my lithium levels are high, i also need to seek medical attention asap. but if it's stress....then i really need to just chill out and i feel like if there's someone out here who has experienced something similar a great weight will be lifted from me!

Am I pregnant OR is this from Lithium?
so these are symptoms I'm having:
~digital pregnancy test said Not Pregnant. 2 cheapy pregnancy test had faint positive lines
~(started oct 30 expected nov 4) I bled a week before my period was supposed to come for about 2 hours and it was VERY light bleeding, barely noticeable. It went away for 24 hours and came back a day later but was brown. It stopped and again 2 days later it was a light pinkish bleeding that lasted 3-4 hours. then was done. (I read that lithium can change your menstrual cycles but I'm afraid this is implantation bleeding)
~Nausea without vomiting beginning oct 16
~sore throat/nasal congestion oct 16-today
~food cravings/aversion (was told that lithium also causes these)
~light stomach cramps
~pain in lower back
~tender breast
~feeling apathetic
~feeling anxious
~feeling suicidal
~feeling depressed

Did you miss your period. You can always go to the ER and ask for a pregnancy blood test.

Can you do hCG test at lab? I've never had any lightly coloured tests if not pregnant.

Light bleeding could be ovulation or implementation bleeding...
Weird that symptoms started to appear weak after starting lithium, I've never taken lithium but from all the other drugs the side effects started immediately

It sounds like a combination of hormones and lithium side effects. You're on a pretty low dose, but have you had your lithium level checked? And are you drinking enough water to flush out the lithium from your kidneys? Lithium can cause upset stomach.

The bleeding and other symptoms could be anything--pregnancy, stress, pms.

Moods could be part of the bipolar and may mean you need anti-depressant. It's really hard to know. Definitely see your pdoc and primary care doc to assess the symptoms.

I wasn't going to guess pregnancy until you mentioned the sire breasts. Would this be your first pregnancy? I know this may be a bit personal, but it may help you. If you are truly pregnant, your areolas (sp?) will turn darker pretty early in pregnancy if i remember right. That could b your final clue until you get a good test.

Err.. Sire breasts? Im giggling like a 12 year old boy now. I meant sore breasts..

Okay.. Not much better.. Still giggling.

I would take a pregnancy test. There are ones that can tell within days of being pregnant.

Take a pregnancy test.. easiest way to figure out if you do indeed need to be concerned about taking your lithium.

You can go to a Planned pregnancy office for a free test.

Take care and Welcome to PC

UPDATE: I've made appointments, but won't be able to see anyone till Thursday! I'm keeping my fingers crossed! ~wish me luck~

I'll update when I get news from my doctors.

Question: Are we hoping for a pregnancy? or are we hoping not pregnant?

I'm definitely hoping that I am pregnant, and I know that there's also a possibility that I'm just creating a lot of these symptoms in my head. I have an appointment Thursday with pdoc, obgyn, and my regular primary care phys... Haven't been to a doctor in a little over a year so, I'm going to make sure everything is functioning properly and whatnot. If I'm not, then that's totally fine too. I just need to know what the dealio is with my body! so I can either stop taking the meds or get on something else, you know? Or if it's all hormonal...than I'd like to take care of that too because all of these symptoms are just really annoying when I have things to do. hehe

Sorry for such a long answer! but YES! I DO hope I am pregnant! but if not, life goes on! And I'm still fairly young, so there's time

If you are wanting to have a child , tell your Pdoc now , so that you can flip over to that treatment plan now, so you will have time to find one that is good for you Bp and healthy for you child.

Take time to prepare your body to become pregnant if your not already.

Good luck

Let us know how you go with your appointment strawberry bunny.

Hope everything works out well for you. The sooner you know, the better.

I don't trust pregnancy tests, my urine is an expert liar, a master concealer of babies...


Took tests until I was 6 months pregnant and clearly showing, just for kicks. They were alllll negative.


Hope you get to the bottom of this soon.

that's what I'm afraid of! I've seen way too many "I didn't know I was pregnant." episodes lol (:

Don't let this worry you too much - "I didn't know I was pregnant until the baby popped out story" is really so uncommon - it's the only reason you hear about it.

Hugs... You mentioned you had two faint lines on a pregnancy test - I would say your pregnant. You generally don't get false negatives... However it is really early days so keep an open mind xo

Hope it all works our Thursday.

On a side note - where do you work/live that on,y give you $8 an hour for work - just because I'm nosey....

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Hee hee I was wondering the same thing because over here it would be illegal and below the minimum wage ...

US federal min. is $7.25 unless you aren't covered like waitresses.

hugs (: thanks, hope so too

I live in Hawaii, minimum wage is $7.25

Wow... Ours is $16 something. In Australia.

That's crazy.

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Yeah but stuff in Australia is much more expensive to get. And its heaps more expensive to live in oz in regards to property prices/rentals etc. We also do NOT tip.

Strawberry bunny, all the best. I hope you get the outcome you are hoping for and that you work out a good plan with your pdoc. How will you support bub with almost no job?

We don't give tip either.

I like learning where everyone lives and their different costing ect

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Strawberry - you go to your doctor today don't you?

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