Bi polar medication

Greetings,
I am new to this board and am still trying to find my footing. Hope everyone is having a good day. I am also new to bi polar, I was very recently diagnosed. I was perscribed lithium. I am severly alergic to all ssr's (aka anti depressants). I had awful side effects from lithium up to a point where I was no longer able to walk. I stopped taking it right away and then was able to walk again. Has anyone had any issues with lithium? I am trying to learn more about this disorder and what medications work.

I wish doctors would actually listen and not push random meds on you that dont work. I could use some help in this area. I wish my diagnosis was wrong, this has thrown my life into chaos and am looking for a life line.

I hope when you stopped lithium you notified your doctor right away. No one knows exactly how these drugs work. All of us have had to go through trial and error to find ones we can both tolerate and that work. Doctors actually do try drugs randomly, i.e. they may judge by prior experiences with a drug or by what they've read about it or by what side effects it's been know to have--what you can deal with and which you can't--but they can't know how it works for you until you've tried it.

Welcome to PC, infinity2017!

I'm sorry you didn't react well to the lithium (and echo Wonderfalls concern that you consult with your Pdoc about it.) It usually does take awhile to figure out what will work. Lithium works great for some and there wasn't really any way he could have known it wouldn't for you. There's just no getting around trial and error in the process. (We all wish there were(!) )

Do you have another appointment set up to explore other options?

Welcome! Lots of support here. =]

Lithium was awful for me. It's a tricky medication and easy to go into toxicity on. I was very small when I took it (about 100 pounds) and could only tolerate 600. I went toxic on 900, but my doctor said that was impossible and didn't believe me. My hands were shaking so bad I couldn't even read my handwriting. And I was so zoned out I rear ended someone at a red light. Just tapped the car, no damage, but she was furious and jumped out of her car to yell at me. I could barely even respond to her. I stopped taking it then and told the doctor (in a nice way) to **** off with that med.

Lithium works well for some but for me the side effects were so intolerable I would never take it again. You have to listen to your own body and be assertive with the doctor.

Hi infinity, and welcome!

I am so sorry to hear how Lithium made you so sick. It's those type of experiences that make some people swear off taking meds. I will tell you based on my experience though that it takes time. Besides the AD's and Lithium, have your doctors tried anything else as far as meds for mood stability?

There's a lot of trial-and-error, as others have said, but I will say that there are some medications out there that do not require the same kind of monitoring as Lithium (i.e. all the blood tests). My new pdoc really does not like to use it at all these days, unless someone has been on it for a while and when most other options have been exhausted (since there's a lot newer meds out there).

I definitely know the struggles of trying to find the right combo as far as it being effective and well-tolerated in terms of side effects, but hang in there! There's lots of options out there, it's a process.

Lithium wasn`t good for me either.It had some bad side effects for me.It made my hair fall out.So lithium was bad for me.It sometimes can take a while and trial and error to find the right medications for you.It really stinks I know.I wish you luck though and hope you get through this ok.

Hi there. I too am Bipolar. I have been put on lithium 2 different times. This last time it made me throw up every time i took it and it never did seem to help my symptoms. I have tried just about every Psych Medication there is and just recently got put on Risperidone for the first time and it's like a miracle. It actually is working and i feel about 85% better than I did. Good luck to you and do plenty of research on bipolar. I know it sure helped me to do this.

Lithium works wonders for me with few side effects. Sorry it didn't work for you but there are plenty of other options. Hopefully, you and your pdoc can find a med(s) that help control your symptoms soon. Keep posting. We are here to support you. Depending on what type of Bipolar you are most people end up on a mood stabiliser and anti-psychotic if needed. Anti-depressants can help some people but others find it induced mania and/or severe agitation and other symptoms.