[Katch70L]

My husband has been taking lithium for a little over 4 years now. About 2 years and 6 months into his treatment, he began having severe neck pain that begins at the base of his spine and makes his glands feel swollen. He has sought help from several doctors and pain management specialist that don't think the pain exists or don't know how to attribute it to a cause so basically they give up.

After watching a documentary about bipolar disorder I noticed that all of the patients interviewed were on lithium and that they mentioned lithium can be toxic. Upon reading further, side affects of lithium can be stiffness of the neck muscles but more in a way where you can't move your head at all and it is usually coupled with antipsychotic meds.

However, I did find on this site 2 people that said they had almost the exact same symptoms my husband has. Both posted their comments in 2014. And they haven't been on the site since 2015.

So, I thought I'd ask here. Has anyone experienced severe neck pain starting at base of spine/head and moving to sides of neck, swollen glands, jerking of the neck (almost involuntary, in order to relieve pain) or severe stiffness after taking lithium? How long before your symptoms showed up? Did you discontinue or reduce your lithium dosage? If lithium was effective to control bipolar symptoms but had to be discontinued, what are you taking now?

Thanks for the help. I too am in treatment for bipolar but have never been on lithium, Depakote was prescribed to me. Just curious if anyone switched from lithium to Depakote with psych dr support.