[tipper1492]

Someone help me understand. My psychiatrist has another clinic (they fax it to her) in my home town do the blood test. I assume they make sure your "kidneys" are preforming correctly. Then I see people talk about their "thyroid" and what medications might effect it. Like I saw one guy posted he only had something like 30% functioning thyroid due to doctor waiting too long to test. When they test my blood, are they also checking thyroid function? Someone explain to me what are the test looking for?

[Justugh]

lithium is a toxic salt to us

they are testing your functions kindeny liver thyroid all that stuff to make sure the lithium is not making them react to it
lithium (lithium carbonate): A Synopsis for the Educated Consumer | The Good, the Bad & the Funny of these Crazy Meds

i personally do not react well to this drug .......i was on it for years with weekly blood test ordered in my teen years ........if it working for u i am happy .....but u should keep a list of dates and effects u notice so if u get to a set limit u decided on u can ask the doctor to be changed off this

my ending dose was 3600 mgs total 1200mg breakfast lunch before bed

[czarina1984]

My doctor ran the serum levels once a week at first and with dose changes. They would run about every 3 months in between those. He only ran the thyroid and kidney tests about every 6 months. The lithium can cause a strain on your kidneys because that is what filters it out of your system not your liver like most meds. Not sure about thyroid as much because its been a couple years since I was on lithium.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I already have hypothyroidisim (underactive) because of taking lithium once. I am taking lithium again and my thyroid function is not well. Its important to get your TSH tested while taking lithium. TSH is a hormone your pituitary gland makes to stimulate your thyroid to do its job=thyroid stimulating hormone.

[jesusplay]

drink a lot of water to flush the lithium out of your system.

I do about a glass an hour, urine always clear. level never above 1.0 and kidneys function at 120%

[tipper1492]

Thanks so much for all your feed backs concerning these matters!

There are two tests. One looks at kidney function, the other measures the level of lithium in your blood. People can have lithium toxicity even if their lithium levels are within range, so that's why they also look at kidney function.