lithium shakes

[A.E.V.]

do the lithium shakes go away with time? I've gotten to the point that I have difficulty signing a cheque, eating a fork full of rice, and even my back is shaking!
between that and the twitches I get from my antipsychotics, I'm so not having fun!

[paul m]

Hello Anne. Eating a fork full of rice. Now that brings back memories. When I first started on lithium my wife and I took her mother out to a chinese buffet. We had not yet told her about my diagnosis.

I couldn't eat the soup as I couldn't keep it on the spoon and chinese restaurents have a lot of rice dishes that I love and I literally couldn't get the rice to my mouth. Trying to drink my coffee was an adventure and I probably only got half into my mouth. I'm sure that my mother-in-law thought that I was drying out from a drinking binge. It was very embarrasing.

Anyways, I still shake some, but not nearly that bad. They will reduce considerable. I can drink coffee and eat rice and soup without a problem these days. It's more like a fine tremor than a shake. Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

I had a hand tremor when I was on Lithium. People assumed I was 'nervous'. I hated the starring. It became a fine art drinking coffee and eating certain things. It did get better, manageable anyway.

[astronaut]

I've never been on lithium but I have had a shaky hand, possibly from other meds. It is rather annoying. I hope it goes away soon
for you. Is the lithium helping otherwise with your mood?

astronaut

[A.E.V.]

it does seem to be helping my mood...
I take it together with epival, which apparently gives the shakes too. so which one is really doing it? I don't know.
all I know is I have this horrible tremor down my spine and I feel like everything inside is shaking. now this is not anxiety, because everything has been going well and I've had no stress to make me anxious.

I really don't know if I should tell my pdoc or not... cuz if I do, he may decide to change it. sigh......

[paul m]

Hello Anne. I would tell my pdoc, but I would also tell him that I can live with it for right now. It is better to let him know than have something weird go wrong and try and hide it. Take Care. paul m

[leila63]

Lots of water may help. I know they get you to drink a lot of water if a person has too much lithium

[A.E.V.]

I've been drinking like there's no tomorrow!! okay, not water, but still... I'm drinking a lot.
if it's supposed to lessen, I'll wait a bit and see. I don't see my pdoc until mid may.

[Mudsie]

When I started lithium it was at 300 mg per day. The only side effect I had was headaches in the morning. I had been taken off epival for the shakes years ago and another product that I cannot recall the name. I have had 2 pdocs and the 2nd one seemed to provide a better mix of products for my age and size.

The combination of all the medications has caused me to have dry mouth. It is a normal side effect that covers any med you take. I do drink a lot of liquids, and at night I pop a piece of chewing gum in to avoid the constant mouth sucking that I am told is not great for my teeth. I also grind my teeth and that I am told is not good either.

I am constantly trying to create saliva and to look at me now, you can tell when I have run out. Annoying as it is, I have to accept the bad with the good.

[AJ]

Welcome to the forums Mudsie.

[A.E.V.]

dry mouth is the only thing I don't have a problem with. it's just this increased thirst, and then more frequent needing to pee that makes me mental. I can't leave the house without planning going from one bathroom to the next!
tomorrow I will try to drink less and see what happens.

[paul m]

Hello Anne. Don't try and drink less. I know that planning pee breaks is a pain, but with the hot weather approaching make sure that you have a lot to drink. Lithium can change from a friend to a foe in a hurry if you don't drink enough. Take Care. paul m

Hello Mudsie and welcome. I'm glad that you could join our forum. Please feel free to ask or answer questions, make comments or use the forum to vent.

I'm also a teeth grinder, for me it's been life long. I found that a mouth guard helps a lot and cuts down a bit on cavieties as well. Plus it helps my wife sleep better.

I get dry mouth too, but I'm not a big fan of gum and I find sugar free candy leaves my mouth sore if I use enough. So I carry around a bottle that I can sip water out of rather than take a whole drink.

There are several rinses and gels that your dentist or pharmacist can reccomend to help with the dry mouth. I've tried them and found that while they worked some, just sipping water was less work and just about as effective. Take Care. paul m

[A.E.V.]

spoke to my pdoc about the effects I've been feeling... forgot to mention that my mood is low, but I have to call back tomorrow.
he says that what I'm going through is probably because I have too much lithium in my body. so, he took off my bedtime dose to see if that helps.

[AJ]

Did he do any blood work? Measure Lithium blood levels?

[A.E.V.]

no he did not. but when I spoke to the nurse this morning, she said I could squeeze in between two patients to see him tomorrow.
the swelling is not as bad, but the shakes in my spine are still there.