Lithium facts

[AJ]

Boy did I need that chuckle at the end of a hard day Tracey.

[uni]

That's hilarious Tracey! Worth sending to Reader's Digest for "Laughter is the best Medicine".

[Atlantis]

Hi Uni, I think it's a great idea to send the joke to Readers Digest but i think only people like us, lets say "mentally challenged" would get the joke

p.s. I was going to say "crazy people" but I'm pretty sure that is not the politically correct term

[gtchamp]

I'm glad it made some of you chuckle.

I think I may be starting to feel some of the effects of the Lithium. Could it really be happening so fast? I know I was told it would take up to 2 weeks to work but side effects all ready? I am so nauseated and running to the washroom (sorry folks but not for peeing). I just feel yucky and the shakes are starting. Now, I actually think most of this is due to the fact that my eating is not good and I am really trying to eat 3 times a day because I am finding that if I don't these symptoms are stronger. Wow. Ok...did you hear that...that was me taking a deep breath and saying "patience, patience". Over all though, I'm having a good day.
Just thought I would share.
Tracey

[Atlantis]

I started on 600 per day and I whined on that dose so don't feel bad...You said you were taking 300, 3 times a day right, so 900 mg per day? That seems like a high starting dose, but i am a newbie to Lithium too...Oh Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaul, where are you ha, ha, ha

[paul m]

Hello All. When I started lithium I was in really bad shape. Within 2 wks the doc had me on an intentional mild over dose amount (I started at 1200 and went to 2400 mg in 2 wks) . I was never far from a bathroom(runs), I couldn't eat soup with a ladle(shakes) and I thought I would remain thirsty forever.

It cured my major mania in a hurry though and I now have settled in between 1500 and 1800 mg a day depending on my moods. I still had a lot of other battles to fight in order to get better, but at least I wasn't applying for a new credit card every other day. (600-800 mg of seroquel will do the same thing, but I can't remember my name with 800 mg of seroquel in me)

Diarrehea and loose stool are can be a major problem with lithium. When exended release lthium was around it wasn't as big a problem for me. Perhaps they will bring it back someday, but until then loose stool is no fun.

Dividing your lithium into 3-4 doses a day with food will help, so will cutting back on caffiene and sometimes milk products. Part of the problem is our intestines help regulate our water levels and we drink a lot of water. I could make a lot of suggestions, but if you go to the following website: http://www.medicinenet.com/diarrhea/article.htm it has a lot of good info on the subject.

As to amount to start, that is generally a guess by the doc and is based on the patients weight and health. Generally most docs aim for 15-20 mg per kg of body weight. Starting lower and adjusting as need be. Starting at a lower dose and working up never helped my side effects, it just prolonged how long it took before I started to stabilize.(but that's just me)

I adjusted fairly well to lithium, but the side effects were a very unwelcome shock. It did take a while for some of them to decline, but some I just had to adjust too. As I lead a fairly active life and don't wear diapers, I did mange to adjust to the worst ones. Take Care. paul m

[Atlantis]

As to amount to start, that is generally a guess by the doc and is based on the patients weight and health. Generally most docs aim for 15-20 mg per kg of body weight.

I always forget this, must be the meds messing with my memory
But it is an important fact to remember, that body weight plays an important role in lithium dosages.
.
I think I have the following right but if not feel free to correct me , no matter what the actual dose of Lithium that someone is taking, once a blood test is done, the therapeutic range for lithium is usually between 0.6 - 1.2 mmol/L. I may not have that phrased correctly.

Hi Tracey, when you were asking about serum levels in an earlier post, it is just the lithium level in the blood, when I had my blood test done, mine was 0.8, and as you can see from the therapeutic range, my pdoc thinks I am in a good spot for now atleast

How are you doing with the side effects? The first few weeks I found hard (realy hard), but I barely notice anything now, besides I am thirsty, which I don't mind, I am only thirsty for water and it's so good for you

Hang in there

[gtchamp]

Thanks again for more info Paul. Always good to hear more about it escpecially from a direct source.

Karen you asked how I am doing this week, well, yesterday was my worse day and you heard my post. So, I started eating. Not alot just made sure I ate my 3 meals. It seemed to do the trick. I feel better this morning. Oh, I'm thirsty but I don't find that a problem and I have the shakes at times but this is not new to me. I just hope the shakes don't get so bad that I need a ladle (as Paul mentioned) to eat. I know what that is like as I have been down that road before. Right now they are minimal. I suspect the loose stools are not going to stop any time soon for me but I can live with that too. So, all in all, I am doing ok. Thanks for asking.

How are you doing?
Tracey

[Atlantis]

I'm doing pretty good...The mood swings are leveling off but the anxiety is really bad...I am very concerned about this...I hope it starts to go away soon or decrease, it is much, much higher than normal...

It will probably start to go away soon, because my moods have leveled out, even if it does not go away all together, it would be nice if it decreased a bit, it is definatley effecting the quality of my life now.

[paul m]

Hello Karen. You didn't ask, but I will throw in my two cents worth on anxieties. I have found, both with myself and with others, that anxieties are caused by several things(for those of us with bipolar). Once again I am only talking about a very limited scope on this topic and my views certainally don't apply to everyone, or even everyone with bipolar.

First and foremost, nothing eats away at your confidence more than a few major episodes of mania and/or depression. We go from being rational human beings to people who cannot control their lifes. It is a major blow to our self confidence. Anxieties are partilly about lack of confidence.

As children we slowly build confidence over many yrs. We learn major things, how to walk, how to talk, how to write, how to learn school work and take on many tasks. This takes years, then within a very short while(compared to yrs of learning) we no longer trust ourselves to carry a credit card or handle sharp objects etc. This alone would produce major anxiety,but once again, we recieve little or no warning fom the docs that this might happen.

Secondly, often as our anxieties are growing we do see them as they are masked by the over whelming depression or mania. Remove the mania etc and all of a sudden the anxieties show through.

I know, thx a bunch, but how in the hades does this help. Well sometimes when we understand why something happens to us it makes it a bit easier to find solutions. For example, once I understood that anxieties were curable and that I wasn't unique(well I am unique) I was able to start to master some of them. Not all, but at least some of them.

For a long time after I got my mania under control, I had anxiety driven depression(it's not in the text books either) . I would literally worry myself into my next depressive state. Remove some of the anxieties and my depresion got better.

I know, I know I'm just full of good news, but try looking at it from those perspectives and perhaps a little light may show up at the end of the tunnel. Take Care. paul m

[Atlantis]

Thanks Paul for taking the time to share your experience with me, it is greatly appreciated...I believe it has something to do with my last episode as well, and my confidence in my ability to handle any type of stress is shattered at the moment. But I can bulid that back up over time.

I am going to try and have a relaxing summer and be patient with myself, this will help cut down on the amount of clonazepam I need to take on a daily basis and that alone with cause me less anxiety...
Althtough the med relaxes me I end up worrying about the amount i need to take

[uni]

Hello Paul. Many thanks for your most recent post.

Oh boy. Anxiety driven depression . Sounds like something I could use more info on. You mention that removing some of the anxieties made the depression better. But how to remove them? Please somebody help me out here.

Oh sorry. I think I'm hijacking this lithium thread. Where do I go with this?

[Atlantis]

Hi Uni,
Why bother hijacking the lithium thread, your so nice, we'd carry you on our backs

[paul m]

Hello Uni. Excellent question and I'm going to weasel out by saying it's far to complex to describe here as everybody is different. However I will give you brief examples of my a very small part of my solutions.

1) I get worried about bills, obsessively so, no reason too, I have no ability to earn more or pay less, but I will get so anxious worrying about whether the phone will be cut off or the car will break down that I will eventually become depressed over it, even though the phone etc has never been cut off. After a looong struggle I have been able to partially train myself not to obsess about these things. As soon as I start to worry I have to take action to distract myself(eatings good). I cannot let it get started.Normal worry is natural but not to the point of anxiety. Sometimes I call somebody, email someone or start a project I know I will never finish, anything that keeps me from being anxious.

2) I have social anxieties as well. As others have mentioned here, if I can make it to the event, sometimes I will enjoy myself. However I can become so worried about the event that it consumes me in advance. So, once again I have to take some control. Replace the negative : people know about my past and will point fingers at me, with the positive: I'm a good person and I've done a good job of over coming a very difficult illness, I should be proud of my accomplishments.

3) Lorazepam, when used correctly, helps too.

Basically CBT techniques help me a lot. However the first step is believing in myself and sometimes that is very hard.

I'm sorry that the answer is not more complete, but I would be willing to bet that almost everybody who posts here would feel a little better if we all could just believe in ourselves a bit more. Easy words, hard to do sometimes. (unless I'm manic ) Take Care. paul m P.S. Please feel free to ask more questions on this and perhaps I can answer them better.

[Atlantis]

Hi,

I just wanted to let you guys know I will be going camping for the long weekend and won't have access to my computer until Monday.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll talk to you guys when I get back.