[exclamationpoint]

I recently started lithium and my doctor prescribed me what she said was an immediate release formulation, but that she might want to switch me to an extended release later on. Reading up on this, it seems like the extended release might have fewer side effects, but I'm wondering if anyone has taken different forms of lithium and if they noticed a difference between them.

Also, is there a difference between extended release and controlled release? The label on the bottle I have just says lithium carbonate.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Lithium carbonate is immediate release. Lithobid is extended release and eskalith (not used much) is continual release.

I was on all over time. For me eskalith was best at keeping me level and not getting toxic (I had a hard time with that balance). The immediate release was the hardest one for me.

I think some of it is convenience; the ER and CR you take once a day and immediate release I think is usually dosed more than once a day (? It's been a long time).

Sometimes it just takes trial and error to see what works best for you.

[Pookyl]

I was put onto immediate release Lithium Carbonate 3 years ago. After a year I was switched to slow release Lithium Carbonate.
I take the SR twice a day.
Sorry I can’t remember why I was switched to the SR version. Either way, to me they both have felt the same.

[Trippin2.0]

Immediate release meds are usually taken multiple times a day, I had to take it 4 time a day if I remember correctly.
Way too much work to keep it in my bloodstream

I’m now on an extended release med (depakote) which I was taking once a day for almost two years before adding a bed time dosage.

[Guiness187055]

I take immediate release lithium. I take 600mg in the morning and 300mg in the evening. Thinking about asking pdoc to change to extended release.

I remember during my first hospitalization I was put directly on 1200 mg of the immediate release. Something made the psychiatrist change it to extended release. It's been 12 year ago, so my memory on this is a little fuzzy, but I think it did have something to do with side effects, though I sure did have plenty of those on the extended release, too. Anyway, I kind of recall telling him I liked the extended release better than the immediate release.

I was taken off Lithium at one point and then put back on (again the extended release) about 4 years later. At that time I only took 900 mg (still a therapeutic dose), which I think was a bit more tolerable than the 1200 mg for me. I took the extended release twice per day. I believe I took 300 mg in the morning, and 600 mg at night. I won't go into what side effects I had (because you might not get them and I don't want to scare you), but with the extended release I know it was weight friendly for me at my 900 mg dose.