Lithium carbonate

My pdoc wants me to go on lithium carbonate. I think he thinks Im bipolar because my mom was. She had a bad experience with lithium so now Im worried about taking it, but Im definitely not in a great place rn

Idk should I give it a shot? I read up on it online and apparently its not really clear how it works. That kind of makes me uneasy

What were your experiences with lithium, and whats your diagnosis?

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i have no idea but if i were you id try it. lithiums been around forever as far as i know so its a trusted solution and its pretty natural too. like i said i know virtually nothing about lithium but seems mad solid haha

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Yeah its been around ages man, Ive been reading on it and it seems pretty good. I think Im leaning towards doing it, its worth a shot lol

I heard that you have to get blood tests tho, which is a pain but if it helps I can live with that!

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oh really wow. actually im diagnosed with szchizoaffective (or was) so i had elements of bipolar too i think or atleast the doctor thought i did. i think i still go kinda manic sometimes but only when i have coffee or sugar or energy drinks and stuff. i get depressed too. idk maybe i grew out of it or something but as i aged my energy levels grew more stable or maybe im just blind to it or something but i dont feel like im bipolar anymore. anyways my point was maybe a diet change could help too. i would take the lithium and atleast try it out too and see what it does for you, best of luck bro

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It is a terrible drug in my opinion. Side effects for me are constant thirst with peeing every five minutes, hand tremors, weight gain and extremely dry skin and hair. My Doctor is currently weaning me off it. Only two weeks left on this awful med.

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Thanks man, yeah was sza as well but now psychosis nos. I just get the feeling no one really knows whats wrong with me lol

I heard mood does stabilize in time but if I dont stabilize now I could lose my job. The diet idea is a good one I eat like sht dude haha Ill go buy some veggies fruit and lean meats today maybe

@Sarah damn that sounds like what my mom said about it. She gained weight and had dry itchy skin, also made her very flat she said. I normally wouldnt be worried cuz its anecdotal but we share genetics so :grimacing:

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I also had a bad experience with lithium. I became toxic on it and was really sick for quite awhile. I was only taking 900 mg too. But I did drink at the time and that could have played a role in me becoming toxic. My diagnosis at the time of taking it was mood disorder NOS.

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Damn yeah lithium toxicity is rough I heard. Hence the blood tests

I dont even know if I have a mood problem. Doesnt seem like it, Im mostly just depressed but I heard it helps with that too if you take it with an AD

I would imagine drinking would increase serum levels since its both metabolized in the liver I believe. Did it help any when you werent toxic?

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dude trust me if you can do one thing…add veggies. i dont mean to be hypocritical because i eat poorly too but if i could change two things at this point in my life it would be 1) working out and eating healthy and 2) (on an unrelated note) reading lol

feeding the body right and feeding the mind right

i read a long time ago that one hypothetical cause or atleast contributor to some cases of bipolar is diet. the documentary or whatever it was said that bipolar patients are notoriously known for having bad diets. just my 2 cents

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I agree with the_fool, try a good natural diet before taking drastic measures such as Lithium.

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yes, it kept me more stable, I would rapid cycle. I was a freak. One minute I would be up singing songs from a musical and baking the next minute I would be in my bed crying. Or I would be outside on the lawn with a sword raging about the neighbor’s rude, foul mouthed girlfriend.

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They are not clear on how a lot of psych medications work, only theories. I found the only way to know if something will work with you is to try it and see what happens.

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Thanks everyone for the good advice

I think my new plan is to get on a good diet until my next appt and then if that doesnt work get on lithium. I just hope if I have to use it I dont get the toxicity or gain too much weight

I just dont know if itll work in my case, I really dont think I have bipolar. But like I said before it seems some people have success with it in addition to an AD for major depression so idk

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Google lithium and thyroid problems

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lithium gave my hypothyroidism pretty quickly after i started taking it. But you can take meds for that… so if you really have to take it then it’s still possible. I never liked it though…

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Yes the possible thyroid thing is what can cause weight gain I believe in some people. Im a bit more worried about how it will make me feel mentally but that is also a big consideration

Ill stick with a good diet for now and maybe I wont need to go on lithium anyway

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I have tried it and it gave me hypothyroidism, the weight gain was not that bad, apart from tremor, not that many sideeffects.

I was pretty stable on lithium, but felt quite numb.

But if you google lithium there are a lot of good reports and supposedly it should be good for depression. And I have seen miracles in Bipolar patients using the drug.

I had to go back on MAO-Inhibitor for my depression, it’s the most powerful AD. Maybe you should ask your Pdoc about another AD before lithium?

My diagnosis has been sza, bipolar type for 27 years. Lithium was one of the very first meds I was placed on back in the late 80’s. I was on it for many years and it never did me any good. I was desperately suicidal the whole 9 years I was on it.

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I was on lithium for over 10 years a long time ago.
It really didn’t help my rapid cycling mood shifts and eventually it gave me hypothyroidism and diabetes.

You’ve got to be very careful with lithium because it’s toxic.

It’s hard on your kidneys and thyroid.

Drinking plenty of water with it is essential.

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Lithium gave me hypothyroidism as well. Now I have to take thyroid supplements for life.