Any luck with Lithium?

Hi all,
So I've been on Lithium ( fairly high dose according to blood results) for about four months and it hanst been helping any for the "lows". It seems to have cut off the highs, but now i'm just stuck with the lows, which is like saying "i'm taking away your happiness and leaving you with sadness". Its a real struggle as my lows are a very dark place I wouldn't wish on anyone.
Been on Remeron for about six months as well, has only helped with sleep.
Anyone had lithium kick in later? maybe six months or thereabouts?

In my case Lithium took effort pretty quickly: 2-4 weeks I think.
What’s your blood level? The quickest way to lower your levels is to drink more. I drink 2-3 litres per day.

Lithium worked pretty well for my mood swings, but it didn't help with the psychosis stuff so I switched to an antipsychotic. The lithium kicked in within a month or so.

It worked fine for my depression. Got me out of it and put me in limbo.
Which is way better than depression.
Got the shakes and the doctorette got me out of it.

I still shake a little. And have butterfingers. A year later.
But it was a good med for me.

I would take it again if necessary.

I have been on it for 2 months and have found the same thing so far. The highs have calmed down but the lows are definitely still there and extremely bad. I was also put on wellbutrin then and have been on depakote for a year.

I was on lithium for 9 months and I suffer from depression mostly.

It didn't help me at all even though my blood level was ok. I just experienced the side effects and had bad constipation.

Lithium is maninly used to cut out manic episodes

It worked okay while I was on it years ago but went borderline toxic one day and quit right then.

I need /want my kidneys and thyroid to stay healthy... not worth the risk for me.

Plus the cystic acne ? No thanks I’m not a teenager. I was lucky it didn’t leave any scaring.

Last level was .97, normal range is .5-1.20 I believe?

Yeah i was afraid of that. I've been tempted to ask about Lamictal instead, heard many good things about it.

Aw man this describes everything in life right now. I feel you.

Lithium didn't work for me because I got dehydrated. It can make you really sick. Has this happened to you? Also, have you tried Lamictal?

I have been on lithium, lamictal, paxil for about 5+ years now. Lithium saved my life. Took away depression. The tremmors get pretty bad but it is worth not being depressed. I am now seeing depression come back slowly. I am still trying to work very part time and babysit my 2 yr old grandson. It feels like I am climbing a very high and rugged mountain but i keep slipping and cannot make progress

Havent gotten sick on it, yet. But i have a feeling that next summer i might. I've had heat exhaustion several times before, prone to it, and that was before most of my current meds.
Havent tried Lamictal yet, thinking about asking my psych about it though

Lithium was really not my medication, despite taking it 6 to 6.5 years total (1 + 5.5). I experienced about 10 side effects from it (oddly, not weight gain) and it would never have worked sufficiently for me for either mania or depression alone. Actually, I think if it did do anything, it was more helpful for my depression. It didn't cause mania, but it didn't curb/extinguish it for me. I think I took Lithium alone (monotherapy) for about 1 day before I was put on an antipsychotic, too. I've been on an antipsychotic ever since (14 years).

For some people Lithium is a miracle worker.

A good combo to consider for depression relief could be Lithium plus Lamictal, or Lithium plus an antipsychotic that is known for depression relief (Abilify, Seroquel, Seroquel XR, Latuda...) Or some people can tolerate an antidepressant with Lithium. Do talk to your psychiatrist about options. Or maybe a little bit more time will bring relief.

I was on lithium for 7 years. I thought it worked but it really didn’t. When I first went on it I was 14. I was put on a pretty high dose. I was drinking a ton of water and I ended up wetting the bed. I was throwing up too. The doctor then lowered it too much and I ended up in the hospital because of a manic episode. After that it was just 7 years of bad side effects. I was really thirsty the whole time I was on it. My hair was falling out in clumps. I would be drenched in sweat just walking from class to class. I didn’t really notice much weight gain. Maybe only like 10-15 pounds.

I went off it after 7 years because it started messing with my kidney levels. I was drinking 100oz of water a night and probably another 100-150oz during the day. I’m really glad I went off it. Now I’m on lamictal.

The kidney thing is supposedly pretty rare. My doctor told me it usually happens after being on it after 20 years.

Just keep a water bottle with you! I made the mistake of only having a small bottle of carbonated water in a hot room...

Lamictal doesn't help for my own depression, just the mania in combo with seroquel, but some people have said that it works well for them.

Lithium isnt enough on it's own for me. I have to take an antidepressant too. I actually take lithium to stop me from going manic on the antidepressant. The combination works fairly well. I do agree with lots of fluids on lithium. I cant go anywhere without water in hand or I feel like I'm in the dessert dehydrating.

Cool thanks for the heads up.
I emailed my psych this morning and when he got back to me he actually confirmed that he’s got me on the lithium only to prevent hypomania. So that answers that. He suggested i start on wellbutrin now that i’ve been stable on the highs. A little nervous though. Almost a year ago with my old(sucky) psych he put me on that (without any mood stabilizer) and i LAUNCHED into hyperspace. Just hypomania but it was big one. Anyhow gonna give it another go as im desperate to get the lows addressed. Wish me luck!

You can take Lamictal and lithium together, if you think you can handle the excitement.

I went extremely manic on wellbutrin alone as well last year to the point that I almost killed myself because I was so happy? Lol Anyways Im on 150mg now instead of 300 plus the lithium and depakote and have had no manic symptoms at all. Last time they cut the dose to 150 and put me on depakote and risperidone as well to try to stop the mania first but had to take me off the wellbutrin completely so I believe the lithium must be helping more with that this time.

I forgot to say I’ve been on Lithium for 4 years.
My pdoc did try me on Lamictal and some other things but nothing was even close to controlling my mania.
Epilim (Depakote) is the only thing that controls the mixed mood and somewhat slows down the rapid cycling.
Add an AP etc and that’s my mix.

Last time I was IP I met a man who was visiting someone and had been on Lithium for 35 years. He was so normal. It gave me considerable hope.