Lithium

What is lithium supposed to do when it works? Even out your mood swings? I was on it for 15 yrs and it didn't do a thing for me. I begged every Dr. to take me off of it. I think the therapeutic level and the toxic level are close together making it hard to reach a good dose. I had lithium toxicity in 2017.

So sorry you suffered Lithium toxicity. That must have been really scary and awful. I was on Lithium for a while as an augmentor for my Tofranil but have never been on it alone. Hopefully others here with experience with Lithium for mood swings will see and respond to your post in kindly and helpful ways.

I remember when I was in the psychiatric unit for the first time back in 2007, the first medications I was offered were Lithium and Geodon. I declined to take either of them. And before I was hospitalized, a psychiatrist my parents brought me to prescribed 0.25mg Risperdal to me, but I refused to take it. Anyway, after I declined the Lithium and Geodon, along with everything else, another psychiatrist offered me Risperdal. I initially refused to take this drug. But after being told I would have to be court-evaluated and then forced onto the Risperdal, I finally succumbed and agreed to take the Risperdal. I started out on 2mg, and my dose was gradually increased to a daily dose of 9mg. After I was discharged from the hospital, my Risperidone dose was brought down to 3mg per day. Anyway, I am REALLY sick. I suffer from delusional grandiosity, and it has REALLY taken a toll on me. I have suffered from these delusions for years and years and years. And it has done nothing for me. All it has done is bring me terrible angst and agony. It's a curse.

I'm sorry to hear you have had a bad experience with the drug. I have heard great success stories of people with Bipolar Disorder taking Lithium. It's a mood stabilizer.

I am off of it. It did not help me, caused toxicity oncebad enough for me to be hospitalized, and gave me lifelong hypothyroidism for which now, years after stopping Lithium, O still have to take Levoxyl.

I was given a trial of Lithium to see if it stabilized my moods. It didn’t do anything. This led the doctor to tell me that I was not bipolar. Yet somehow this doctor still diagnosed me with a mood disorder.

I took lithium for a bit and hated it. It made my hair fall out amongst other things.