HELP! (Lithium)

Hey all,

I have been taking Lithium for a year, at an eventual dose of 1200mg (probably been on 1200mg for at least 9 months). I stopped taking Lithium suddenly on 1/23 because I was afraid that I was toxic on lithium, and then when I went to the ER and they said I wasn't toxic, I was afraid I was pregnant. Today I know for sure I'm not pregnant.

I need to be on lithium. It is the only medication that has worked properly for me, and I am manic, and the only way I'm not thinking I am a faerie princess or a unicorn right now is that I have some left over Seroquel from a while ago, which for reasons I don't want to go in to, I'd rather not take unless it's absolutely necessary. Which it is right now. Because words are spilling out of my mouth and causing harm as it is.

Before every single person says that I should talk to my pdoc, I KNOW, and I WILL. However, I don't have an emergency number for her, or an email, and she only works at my clinic on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I am NOT willing to talk to the "on call" psychiatrist for her patients or whatever. Tomorrow I am planning to go in to the clinic and see if I can twist the arm of the office people to send her an email or a call or something that will tell her to call me so I can talk to her. (since I sincerely doubt that they would just give me an email or a phone number without some sort of consent from her)

So for all of your posts, I am assuming an addendum of "I'm not a pdoc and you should talk to yours" so feel free to leave that off.

OK. So. I thought it would be fine to just start taking it again, taper up. My initial plan was to ask you all how to taper it up properly so I could just conceal this from my pdoc and never tell anyone it happened and everyone would be happy. Then I searched on the internets and found out that if you stop suddenly IT MAY NOT WORK ANY MORE.

I'M FREAKING OUT.

HELP ME.

I took 300mg a few hours ago when my plan was just to taper up.

What do I do? (BESIDES HUNTING DOWN PDOC)

If I can't find my pdoc tomorrow, or get in contact with her, can I take 600mg? Can I take 1200mg (my old normal dose)? Should I not take any lithium at all?

I called my previous pdoc, because I still have an emergency number for him from before I moved, and he told me he wouldn't answer any questions because I needed to talk to my own pdoc. When I told him that she was only in on Mondays and Tuesdays and I didn't have an emergency contact, he said to talk to the pdoc on call.

Here's why I can't talk to the pdoc on call: I HATE ANSWERING ENDLESS QUESTIONS and I know from experience that talking to the pdoc on call requires lots and lots of explaining things that your normal pdoc already knows without even thinking about it. If I talked to the pdoc on call, I would yell at them. If I was in the same physical space with them, I would probably physically hurt them. I can't do that.

Can you help me?

I'm cross posting this on Psychiatric Medications and Bipolar forums.

I answered you on this in the med forum

Sounds like you are in a tough spot and I really feel for you. As for going back on Lithium I can say that when I had ECT last year I was taken off Lithium suddenly and put back on the original dose (it was 750mg back then) two weeks later with no tapering. I had no ill effects from this so I guess Lithium is one of those meds you can do it with. Since Lithium has been so useful for you in the past I would suggest you go back on it, even at a much lower dose, while you wait to see your pdoc. I will annoy you by saying I am not a doctor so I am only going on what worked for me. Please ask for the on-call pdoc if you become unsafe though. You are worth it, and the inconvenience of going through everything again is nothing compared to your life. Take care

I once stopped lithium cold turkey & didn't tell pdoc. I then ended up tapering up as I had when starting it. I don't remember the exact dosages right now but went up some amount every week. I didn't have any ill effects. Eventually I quit it for good & told pdoc I wasn't down with the gaining 50 lbs. and she put me on latuda.
Just my own experience. Hope u get some relief soon.

I can understand the wait for the clinic. I'm desperately waiting to see my doctor on the 9th. I'm dealing with no motivation and suicidal thoughts at the moment. I wish clinics were more openly available. It's been over a month with no adequate meds. The meds I'm taking are not working what-so-ever.

Oh, that's so great to hear~!

Don't worry, I'm fully intending to restart Lithium at 1200mg/day (my normal/maintenance dose) and am prepared to continue on it indefinitely, since my mania upon stopping is this bad. Looking back on my behavior in middle school/high school/college and comparing it with how I feel now, I was probably manic 50-70% of the time, which is ridiculous! Lithium turns me into a normal person which is amazing. The only reason I took just 300 mg this evening (which is 1/4 my normal dose) is because I was worried that I would be told later I should have tapered it, or I would have found some weird effects or danger from starting suddenly back at 1200 mg (my normal dose).

You're actually not annoying me. And that's a good point about the inconvenience being small in compared to the importance of my life. My self-preservation instinct is just fine right now, I'm just not comparing things well or thinking clearly.

Thanks Wander.

I don't think you have been off of it long enough to have to taper back up. You did good by being tested when you thought you were getting toxic. Easy test. A lot of ppl on L have their blood tested often, like 4x/yr.

Take good care of you.