Weaning off Lithium, it has affected my thyroid

I know I don't post much, mainly b/c I'm newly dx & am still sorting this out.

I value your experience & expertise in these things.
I first tried Lamictal but got a rash, had to stop.
I have been on LIthium for about 4 months or so?

It wasn't working so I had to keep going up. Got to 1200mg. I've had a whole lot of side effects but was somewhat stable. I wasn't pleased with my behavior, it's made me a bit arrogant & loud. I'm usually meek & mild. But I was finally....Not suicidally depressed.
I was still having mixed episodes, anxiety, agitation.
So I guess I was better than I was to begin with but nowhere near great.

After going up to 1200mg, 3 weeks ago I had my bloodwork checked.
My doc wants me to take a thryoid pill bc mine is too high, my calcium is high, which means the Lithium is messing with my parathyroid, too.
I researched the thyroid pill & it seems like once you start on thyroid meds, your thyroid will shut down all together.
Lithium can permanently damage your thyroid (which I knew) I wanted to give it a chance.
My doc called in the meds but I don't want to continue on Li. I think I want to wean myself off & pray that the couple of months I've been on it haven't damaged my thyroid permanently. I hope it will fix itself once I stop the Li.

Has anyone had a similar experience w Li? Withdrawal?

I know my doc is fine with my decision, he had already suggested other meds if this didn't work like Saphris & Latuda. We have a very open trusting relationship.

I guess part of me wanted this to work so bad that I don't want to give up too soon but I don't want to damage my health permanently & have to take another med the rest of my life.

What do you think?

I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. Hoping you find the right med.

Since I've started Lithium myself, I wish to ask you a few questions.
Did you have blood tests before starting the Lithium.
What side effects are you having.
How frecuently have you had blood tests.
What was the blood serum target to take it to 1200mg.
What other meds are you taking.
Your replies will help me inmensely in my journey with lithium.

I had bloodwork a few months before starting Li, all was normal then.
Had more bloodwork in Dec when I was at 750mg, was still good Li was still too low. .5
So went up to 900 but wasn't stable enough, still cycling.
Went up to 1200mg, I don't know my exact serum level but my doc said it was not toxic.

Side effects I have had crazy thirst, urinating more(obviously) ravenous appetite, bloating, constipation, weight gain about 5 lbs while working hard to not, difficulty concentrating, forgetting words, feeling detached. Some other things that started are from my thyroid damage..my period stopped. Sorry if you are a guy.

It seemed to prolong my cycling ( I rapid cycle) but blunt the extremes. So I still had my episodes but they weren't as bad but lasted longer. Which still kinda stinks.

Hope this helps.

I did take synthroid while on lithium and worried that would have to be a permanent thing, but fortunately, after I stopped taking lithium my thyroid seemed to recover and has tested quite normal ever since. Your thyroid issue may be more involved than mine was though. That would be something to maybe talk to an endocrinologist about.

Thank you so much for your replies and your honesty.

I'm taking 600mg all at night. Blood at .5 which is not ideal, but that's all I can take.
Thirst hasn't been a problem for me because I vape. So I'm costantly sipping.
I had the opposite of constipation at 900mg. Gained 10lbs in a month too.
I'm out of my deep depression, but, yeah, detached. Like I don't care about anything.
This may be unique to me. I notice some kind of cramps in my arms/shoulders if I'm awake too long after taking it.

Thank you very much for your help. I sincerely wish you the very best in your quest.

Hi Cyclo! Don't give up on Lithium just yet. I am on 1200mg as well and didn't do well on my thyroid labs. My numbers were too high so my doc put me on Selenium, which is an over-the-counter supplement. I too one pill a day for three weeks and went in today for my follow-up. He said my numbers are right where they need to be. Give it a shot, it worked for me.

Pirilin,
I get muscle aches, too.
Along with more minor side effects like dry, rough skin, funky taste in my mouth, but when I add them all together. It seems like too much.
My main issue is being detached, not caring. I have been mouthy at work, uncaring toward my spouse...really selfish.
Very unlike me.
I have a ton of anger now, cursing more than ever. And I do not like to curse.

I gave it a shot but I think I'm ready to get off the particular ride & try a new one.

Dont give up too soon Pirilin, it may work for you.
Nobody knows until you try.

It did have some positive aspects for me that I really liked but more negative than good.

I get the funky taste. And the dry skin. No muscle pain.
The detachment is probably the worst part. Like I don't care.
But it got me out of a months long super deep depression.
I'll keep it for now and will add an antidepressant.
Thank you for your reply. Keep looking. There are many things out there.

For me, lithium actually worked really well. I had very little side effects other than the most common ones (excessive thirst). It didn't affect my appetite, and I didn't gain weight on it. I also didn't lose weight on it. It was one of the few that I found that was weight neutral for me.

The problem I had with it was that my blood levels were never high enough. It also would stop helping about a month after upping the dose. But my psychiatrist didn't want to put me on a dose any higher than what I was on because he felt it was "too dangerous" and "too high of a dose". Because of that, the effects from my taking it seemed to wear off quickly. Add to that the comments of an idiot therapist I was seeing at the time, and I wound up just stopping it without weaning off it.

I didn't really have any side effects or withdrawal symptoms from stopping it the way that I did, but I am wondering if that is because of how it was affecting me when I was taking it.

My doctor had me try a lot of other meds after lithium - all of them atypical antipsychotics, and I kept getting bad reactions and bad side effects from all of them within one to two weeks. My advice would be that if you know it isn't working, talk to your doctor about stopping it and trying something else. If you've tried a lot of other meds in the same class as the new one though, and they haven't helped, I personally would be a bit wary of it

Just my experience and my thoughts.

Healing

^^^ Healing,
What was your highest dose?.
And what are you on now, if I may ask.

1200mg a day. Two 300mg extended release tablets in the morning and two 300mg extended release tablets in the evening.

I am now on Topomax. My psychiatrist has been having me go up to a "normal" dose very slowly though, to avoid any side effects. I am now taking 100mg a day of it, and I've been taking it for over two months now. She wants me to get up to 200mg a day, but will probably only go up to 150mg a day when we increase the dose next. The biggest problem with that is that until I get to a high enough dose, it isn't really helping that much yet. However, I did notice some issues when I missed a couple of doses this weekend, so I think it may be doing something, even if it isn't that obvious to me!

Lithium messed up my thyroid ... it made it underactive

I'm on a hormone replacement therapy for it for life. It's okay - just one extra pill I pop in the morning