Zoloft and Lithium

I'm trying my best to take my meds and get better but for some reason I'm getting sick. First the doctor had me taking 900mg of Lithium at night. That was making me very sick so we had to change it up to 300mg in the morning and 600mg at night. NOW the zoloft made me sick today, I dont know if my body is not used to it cause I havent taken it right or what?!? All day I was well kinda like in another world, It was hard for me to eat and my stomach was all messed up. Is that ever going to pass, or should I go ahead and toss the meds for good??

"Death is my only hope!!"

Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
Drugs cause cramp
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful...
You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker

Maybe I'm wrong, but that seems to be an awful lot of Lithium. How much Zoloft are you taking with it? How long have you been taking the Lithium?

No wonder you were "in another world"............geez I'm concerned about you. Can you get another doctor's opinion here?

Mary Alice

I'm taking 100mg of Zoloft once a day, I have been taking the Lithium for about 3 months now off and on... I take it for a couple of weeks then quit...The doctor I see is at a MHMR...Basically I get what they give me cause I dont have insurance to pay for it...The doctor that put me on the Lithium no longer works there for overmedicating the patients....The new doctor just wrote me another prescription for the same thing...

~Sweet

"Death is my only hope!!"

Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
Drugs cause cramp
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful...
You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker

Can you suggest to the Dr., and alternative mood stabilizer such as dapakote/depakene - it is known to have fewer side effects for many people.

<font color=blue>HI FROM PEANUT </font color=blue>

I kinda agree with Penut.. Get a second opion..
Something just does not sound right.

<font color=purple>The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.
- G.K. Chesterton
<font color=purple>

Hi SAS,

The others are right. Lithium is an extremely toxic medication, and doesn't play well with a lot of other meds. Now, that's not to say that it might not work for you after you've had a chance to get past the start-up side-effects. But your doctor should be testing your blood every two weeks to check your toxicity levels. There's a real fine line between enough and too much. If you're not comfortable with this med combo, don't hesitate to mention it to your doc, and if you don't get the response you want, get a second opinion right away. Lithium is not a med that you want to take chances with.

I hope everything works out OK for you.

bp

I will sail my vessel,
Til the river runs dry,
Like a bird upon the wind,
These waters are my sky,
I'll never reach my destination,
If I never try,
So I will sail my vessel,
Til the river runs dry.

Hi All!

SAS - How long have you been taking the lithium? The symptoms that you are describing sound like "start-up" side effects. The G.I. upset usually does fade by 3 to 4 weeks. Still, you may need to take the lithium with food to minimize the nausea.

Are you drinking enough water; one has to keep well hydrated so that the lithium doesn't concentrate in your body.

Are you taking the regular lithium carbonate capsules/tablets or are you taking the long-acting lithium? If the G.I. problems persist, a different dosage form may be in order. There is a lithium citrate formulation in the U.S., I believe (it was discontinued in Canada) that is supposed to be easier on the tummy, but it is more expensive.

It is best to ride out the nausea (for 2 to 4 weeks) or ask your doc if he/she thinks that if raising the dose more slowly would help minimize our discomfort.

Hope this helps some - Cam

Cam!!! : )

It was *such* a nice surprise to see you this morning. You have been sorely missed. And heck, a little Cam is better than no Cam at all. : )

Welcome back!
*hugs*
mj

Hi Cam,
You left no to soon after I started coming here. I am glad your back. You will once again be a great asset to alot of people.
Heidu

Every path to a new understanding begins in confusion- Mason Cooley

Why didn't he stretch out your Lithium dosage? Sounds strange that he or she would do that, I use to take Lithobid (Lithium) but 300mgs 3 times a day. Maybe you need to question him about this? Lithium is a terrific and long used med for Bipolar disorder, I switched to Lamictal cause it had a better antidepressant quality besides it's it's antimanic qualities, Celaxa with Lithium and the other SSRI's given when I was first on Depakote (I stopped the Depakote, too zombifying) pooped out so instead of increasing the ADs the doc suggested going to Lamictal, and I believe it was a good choice, I have more deep depressive episodes vs. manic ones, so it is a great drug to consider if the Lithium isn't for you. I started at 900mgs but split during the course of the day, then gradually was down to 600mgs and then 300mgs till nothing then made the swithc by the pdoc's suggestion to go for the Lamictal. Just my 2 cents BTW I found Zoloft robbed me of my empathy towards others and gave me nerve jerks in the brain (best I can describe) as I weaned off, nasty experience. I wish you luck with this, if you are not pleased with this pdoc do not feel strange to find a new one
DE

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

Cam, welcome back. We haven't "officially" met yet, but I am glad to meet you..............

Mary Alice

Quick question, if you don't mind...............good anti-depressant med other than the normal SRI's......something stronger?

Hi Mary Alice - I really like the track record of Effexor XR™ (venlafaxine). This antidepressant seldom "poops-out", it's dose/response curve is more or less linear (ie. increasing the dose results in increased action, whereas with the with the SSRIs there is a plateau dose, above which any increase in dose will not result in any more activity.

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is by far the safest and most effective antidepressant we have. It is grossly underused. It is the antidepressant of choice in pregnant women and the old-old (>90 yrs).

The MAOIs and to a lesser extent the TCAs are still decent antidepressant. It is their side effect profile that is their failing. The SSRIs were supposed to be non-toxic TCAs, but with the increase in safety came a decrease in efficacy. Again showing that the better treatments always seem to be the most toxic.

If you have any specific questions I will try to answer them.

- Cam

OMG!

"Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is by far the safest and most effective antidepressant we have. It is grossly underused. It is the antidepressant of choice in pregnant women and the old-old (>90 yrs)."

You are scaring me!!!!

I read a couple years ago that the same effect could be obtained by 24 hours of sleep deprivation. That has got to be MUCH safer than sending electric shock throught the brain.

Bumper sticker: Wherever you go, there you are

Ty Cam {{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}

I am waiting to see what my pdoc prescribes and I'll check back with you. Thanks again.

Mary Alice

He's a great guy

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

Sleep deprivation has worked for me, but my sister says that isn't a good idea.

<font color=blue>Life is filled with tragedy; if you let it overwhelm you, you cannot enjoy life's innocent pleasures. -Robert Heinlein</font color=blue>

ECT of all that I read and spoke to pdocs about is usually the very last resort, I have a cousin who has had several treatments and has never been herself, something is very absent in her, perhaps too many "volts"?

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

You know what! I have only read about sleep deprivation as a "cure" but never intentionally applied it to myself. I just realized that maybe the sleep deprivation experienced as a part of jet lag when visiting a foriegn country is part of why I feel so incredibly well when traveling. Hmmm. I'll be darned.

Bumper sticker: Wherever you go, there you are

Well, there you go. Trying to remember why she said it wasn't a good idea to use sleep deprivation, after I had been depressed for a week then stayed up all night doing something and told her that I felt better. She said she was not surprised, because sleep deprivation has been known to work, but that it could induce manic states.

<font color=blue>Life is filled with tragedy; if you let it overwhelm you, you cannot enjoy life's innocent pleasures. -Robert Heinlein</font color=blue>

Many of the anti-depressant drugs also risk inducing mania.

Bumper sticker: Wherever you go, there you are

Many of the newer ones don't but need care with Bipolars in regards to producing mania, but that would mostly be in Bipolar-I cases where the manic end (manic episodes) tend to be more volitile than Bipolar-II's.
Some of the SSRI's are used with some success in adjunct with talk therapy. It is best to let your pdoc decide and try different meds if after 3-4 weeks (maybe less) you aren't seeing any positive changes. Sleep deprivation is not a good thing to play with, it can and eventually does induce mania in Bipolars, and if not Bipolar it still isn't good to do unless you are in the process of resetting your sleep/wake cycle, check with the "doc" rather than put yourself through any unnecessary stress. Just my 2 cents
Take care,
"darkeyes"

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

Cam, he prescribed the same silly SRI that I used to be on, only a higher dosage, Zoloft at 100mg once a day. Is that really going to make a difference with my depression more than the 40mg of Prozac?

Thanks for your help.

Mary Alice

Sorry it took so long to respond... "Are you taking the regular lithium carbonate capsules/tablets or are you taking the long-acting lithium?" I am taking Lithium Carb... After taking my meds for two weeks every day, all of the nasty side effects seem to have gone away...Thank you everyone for responding...

"Death is my only hope!!"

Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
Drugs cause cramp
Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful...
You might as well live.

-Dorothy Parker

900mg is not an awful lot of Lithium, it actually is used as a maintainance (sp?) level. My concern is the use of the Zoloft and that dosage. If you can have the pdoc try Lithobid instead of the Lithium carb., it may help. If you are a Bipolar-II, maybe Lamictal may be a better alternative, it has an
antidepresant property even though it isn't an AD, it is an antileptic drug but used as an antimanic for Bipolars, with mild manic episodes (hypomanic). Lithium (which I had been on) is fantastic for the agitation from manic episode or the approach of a manic episode, but doesn't quite do too much for depression. I had been on the Depakote/remeron/ celexa combo, dropped the depakote (nast stuff) opted for the Lithium and kept the celexa, celexa pooped out after so we switched to Lamictal, did great but with existing life problems I may be put on 3 tabs a day instead of the 2 that I presently take, no blodd tests required as in Depakote and Lithium use.
If I need in the future to return to Lihobid, I gladly will, it allowed me to still drive unlike the Depakote (zomby med) like anything you have to work and try different approachs, diferent combos till you feel most comfortable, like trying on new shoes till you find the most comfortable to walk the distance with.
Good luck to all
** hugs **

In giving advice seek to help, not please your friend
SOLON

DE - One of the main reasons ECT is not used more is because of the movies "One Flew ...." and "Snake Pit" (even some of those cheesy '70s prison flicks where they tortured people by using the electric current generated by an antique telephone crank) These films not only showed ECT as horrifying, but also entrenched a stigma of the mentally ill as dangerous. Fear of the "different" is innate; it is probably a selected-for, evolutionary trait, but helping to encourage the stigma via mass media is like a nail in an already sick person's coffin).

Anyway, another reason that ECT is frowned upon is because it does "look" frightening. One guy I talked to who underwent ECT for treatment-refractory depression described it as a "kick-start", allowing him to function again. He said he had no memory problems (but then again .... how would he know?).

One final possible reason for the abhorance of ECT is that many of those in the psychiatry field who are now in power, and are the ones deciding on treatment regimens, were educated in the 1970's. At the time there was a big backlash against ECT, possibly because of the coldwar/mindcontrol/LSD mindset of the era.

I dunno, I'd have it done, yes, the possiblity of short-term memory loss does kinda bother me.

- Cam