[boldchexmix]

I saw the psychiatrist today and my meds have been increased, previously Seroquel 100mg with 300mg Lithium ER. Now I am on Seroquel 200mg and 600mg Lithium ER (once in the morning/once at night). I also have to get lab work done once a week for the next 4 weeks (no real point in mentioning just wanted to make note of it ).

I've never taken Lithium ER in the morning, does this make you sleepy or foggy minded? I plan on starting it tomorrow so I have the weekend to sort of feel out whether it will be good in the morning for me or not. My doctor said if it doesn't work out then it's fine to dose all at night but he'd prefer I try a morning dose first.

I am still on the fence with the recent DX of BP2, I have always known it to be ADHD with Major depression (my DX for 10+ years). I'm not against it, the Lithium/Seroquel combo are doing better for me than the SSRI's ever did, but it's new territory for me. No real point in mentioning this either, just feel like writing it down.

TLDR; Does Lithium make you sleepy in the morning?

Hi boldchexmix. I have to say that I don't quite remember. The first time I was on Lithium ER I took 1200 mg per day (600 mg morning and 600 mg night), along with maybe 50 then up up up mg of Seroquel. I don't recall being sleepy from it at that dose.

A handful of years later I was on a huge cocktail, including 900 mg of Lithium ER. I think I took 300 mg in the morning and 600 mg at night. I have to admit that initially I was depressed so was tired, but then later I was hypomanic/manic for months on end, with no fatigue in the morning at all.

Sometimes it's difficult to know whether a medication is making you tired or the illness itself, but other times it's obvious. I wouldn't say that Lithium ER is a major sedating med. Antipsychotics like Seroquel are much more notorious for that.

I can say with certainty that Seroquel can cause a "hangover" in the morning, especially at doses like you're on. My advice is to not take it too late in the evening, and to get a lot of sleep. Sleeping only 6 hours per night is just not enough for me on Seroquel.

As an FYI, for me, larger doses of Seroquel XR (which I currently take) do not sedate me much more than lower doses like 200 mg. I do think that when I took up to 600 mg of the regular Seroquel that it gave me a hangover in the morning. The regular affected me a bit differently than the XR in terms of sedation. The regular's "spike" as I call it can be especially rough. While I don't think the XR has such a spike, it is more even throughout the whole day, while I did find the regular to wear off more quickly, but obviously at large doses of 600 mg not so fast.

I'm betting that over time you will adapt to the meds and you won't be as tired in the morning, as long as you're not experiencing depression fatigue.

[Pookyl]

I take a Lithium/Seroquel combo. Lithium twice a day. Seroquel four times a day. It's the only combo that has worked for me.
Lithium doesn't make me sleepy at all. I know many people don't like Lithium. I am very thankful for it.
However with Seroquel I feel hungover in the morning. I need to sleep 8-9hrs to feel awake. I also don't function without caffeine in the morning.

[richeyd80]

I take 900mg of Lithium in the morning and 900mg of Lithium at night. I don't have any real issues with it now. When I first started it, I had brain fog and tremors, but that didn't last long.