[iamtwilight]

hey guys,

i was diagnosed with bipolar disorder on august 8th, 2007 and was put on lithium carbonate that day. well, i guess it's been working ok, i haven't gotten manic, but i have gotten severely depressed (to the point where psychotic symptoms emerge, this july) on it. i'm not sure if it's working. however, that's not my main concern...

i'm also registered on a finnish psychology forum similar to psych central, and the site's psychiatrists once posted that the liver damage related to use of lithium is greater than known before, and that he will test other mood stabilisers on his patients before putting them on lithium (though it is a very effective mood stabiliser).

has anyone heard about this?

i asked about this at the hospital but i was just told that it's ok if you go to blood tests and if it works then i should keep taking it. i'm ok with taking it just as long as the prolonged use doesn't lead to liver damage! i've been an avid drinker (of alcohol obv) but started cutting alcohol use since my first hospital visit in august 2007. currently i don't drink alcohol or use drugs or smoke, so i guess i'm pretty safe.

(i was also told that the only other mood stabilizer is depakote... what the heck. i've heard about people taking lamictal and other anticonvulsants in finland - weird)

just curious if anyone has heard about the use of lithium being more dangerous than previously thought? or if anyone has more info on this?

sorry about the scattered thoughts

katie

[yutzman]

I was curious and looked up Eskalith (lithium carbonate) up on RxList.com. I didn't see any warnings at all regards to liver damage. Most effects for lithium is on the kidneys, fluid intake warnings, dehydration risks and sodium imbalance.

[bluesky89]

um there's definitely more than 2 mood stabilizers!

[tracy33]

I just read that Lithium can cause liver damage when used along with other drugs.
And there are other mood stabilizers out there.
I take Topamax and Lamictal. Both are mood stabilizers.

I had problems with Lithium causing KIDNEY malfunction. Depakote affects the LIVER & is very bad when mixed with ALCOHOL. If you are a drinker (not recommending drinking, but my meds provider said for college students who DO DRINK she prescribes) LAMICTAL.

I take Abilify, Lamictal, Topamax, Provigil, Klonopin, Trazodone--definitely lots of options!!--Suzy

P.S. My dad was from Finland & my little sister we adopted from Finland! Suomisue!!

[iamtwilight]

ooo suzy do you know finnish words? =)

i remembered wrong. i went to the website of the finnish psychiatrist and it read that there was some research about lithium being more dangerous to KIDNEYS than previously thought. sorry - the word for kidney and liver are similar in finnish, i got them mixed up.

however, he did not provide a link or any source to this research, and i was wondering if anyone knew about that. whenever i try to ask my pdoc i get told that its ok if i go to the blood tests. heck i'm no hypochondriac, i just want to be sure.