Lithium and Nausea

Lithium has been making me super nauseous the last month or so. Anyone else have experiences like this? It's normally after I take it right away, but no always.

I remember when I was in the hospital & my pdoc still wasn't even sure what to dx me with. He actually tried lithium. My hands shook so bad I couldn't even hold a glass of water. I refused to take it after that first dose. Can't remember if I had nausea also as that overshadowed any other side effects I might have had. That was almost 21 years ago & memory not that clear about that time in my life but I do remember the horrible shaking

Hi Lillyleaf and eskielover, I have learned a lot since I've had these experiences with lithium. I was given it about 20 years ago, too, and the pdoc did not tell me I had to drink LOTS of water or it would become toxic. So I got terrible stomach cramps back then, vomiting, and diarrhea. So I got off the Li. After 20 years of jockeying around with meds, as well as several pdocs, the new pdoc asked if I'd try Lithium again. I was and still am hesitant, but have been titrating it up for about a month now. I pinned the doc down and asked him exactly how much water to drink. He said to drink 8 glasses a day. (One glass being 8 oz.). I love water anyway. I got diarrhea one day and he said not to drink more than 8 glasses. Now, I don't have diarrhea and sometimes drink more than 8 oz. The printout that came with the lithium says that "coarse" shaking is a very bad sign. Light trembling like I have is not a a major side effect. I wonder if Lillyleaf is drinking enough water. Did your pdoc advise you on that? I'm amazed that my first pdoc was so negligent that he did not tell me about that. I also wonder if maybe your dosages are/were too high to start off with. Lilly are you taking timed release? I am now. Maybe that would help you, Lilly, if your doc has not rx/d this. I started out at 300 mg; raised to 450 mg; now up to 600 mg. The first two times, I had gastric/intestinal side effects for a day or 2. This time, I don't have side effects. Still waiting to see if the lithium helps my mood. Oh, and the doc gets me to take a lab test for blood levels before he raises the dose. I'm sure you both know that regular Li blood level tests are an absolute requirement when one takes Li.

If you've been on it for a while and just started getting nausea you need your levels checked. Nausea can be a warning sign for toxicity.

If you are new to lithium some nausea is pretty normal at first an as others said changing to extended release can really help. (and you might still want a level just to be sure you aren't too high)

I was feeling alright on 600mg but when it was increased to 900mg I felt unbearably nauseous to the point I had to stop everything I was doing and lie down right away. I'm glad I didn't need to keep taking it!

I almost always take it with food and it has never bothers me. I take 600 at 7AM or so with a light breakfast and then 600 at 7PM with dinner.

The GI side effects for me are bad. Each time I titrated up, it lasted for about a month (stomach cramping, nausea, diarrhea, loss of appetite). Instead of separating my dose between AM & PM, I moved my full dose to PM, right before bed, so most of the nausea happens while I'm sleeping and doesn't affect me.

Honestly though, I hate it. I'm working with my pdoc to switch from Lithium to Lamictal because of the side effects & lack of results. I've been on a therapeutic dose for 2 1/2 months and I'm definitely not where I want to be. I would say if Lithium helps you get where you want to be, it's worth trying to tough through the side effects to see if your body adapts over time. Finding something that really works is the ultimate goal, right? Just talk with your pdoc about your levels and make sure all is on the up-&-up.