facts on lithium, does anyone know?

[mspixieears]

Hi all,

I've been resisting posting about this for quite sometime, but seeing as I don't know of anyone who has ever had lithium as a mood stabiliser who is NOT bi-polar, I was wondering if anyone else here has ever had to take it?

Please note, I'm not bi-polar, and that lithium is not the first mood stabiliser used for depressives, but seeing as it might become a possibility, can anyone give me any information? I've been informed that the depression has to be fairly resistent in order for lithium to be considered.

If you will allow me to be frank, I'm scared shitless about the prospect of having to take it. I've been on a few medications in the last 6 years and the last 3 years have been the worst, but apparently not bad enough for public hospitalisation.

Plus, I'm pretty small (I weigh round 40kg, sorry don't know what that is in pounds) and a lot of the meds I take now have really f*cked me up. It's unlikely I'll ever be a candidate for the older meds because I doubt my body would tolerate those.

Anyway, sorry for the moaning, just wanted to give some background.

So...is it good? Has anyone ever had toxicity as a result? Anything you could tell me would be very much appreciated.

 

[Hawkeye]

The best thing to do would be to call your local pharmacist and see what they will say as the pros and cons

 

[mspixieears]

I'm afraid they don't know crap-all.

Harsh but true.

Once I told them about a very well-known but not talked about (it only gets discussed when you mention you suffer from it! grrr) side effect of my happy pills and I swear the guy looked at me as if I were Martian. And my psychiatrist isn't exactly the most impartial of sources, and in some ways neither is my father.

 

[pumpkincat210]

I've been on Depakote and now I'm on Geodon. As mood stabilizers they work really well, but do have side effects. Lithium is an older mood stabilizer and it works for alot of people I know. For me my moods were going from depressed to anxious to annoyed. Once you find the right mood stabilizer it is so much easier to function normally!

 

[Shawna]

When I go to work on Saturday, I'll check the big book of pharmacology for you and let you know what it says. I don't know if it will be super helpful, but it's worth a try. The other thing I would suggest is going to a local university and talking to a biopsychology teacher or student. The info would be in their textbooks, or they might have done research tests on it. You could look in the library too. I might even have one of my old textbooks lying around. I'll have a look for that too. Off topic, but there is a big package of happiness on its way to you

 

[moonrevel]

I have taken quite a few mood stabilizers, and honestly Lithium worked the best for me in terms of effectiveness and not having a lot of short term side effects (I haven't had any of the long term ones yet either, and who knows if I ever will, but all of the mood stabilizers seem to be about the same on that front). Bipolar runs in my family, and Lithium has been a godsend for all of us that were affected by it. I know it seems like a scary possibility because it has a stigma attached to it, but I had far worse reactions to Depakote and Neurontin than Lithium and they didn't work as well at levelling my moods....sometimes they made me so level I couldn't feel anything, good or bad. PM me if you want to talk about it.

 

[Hawkeye]

Honestly, the pharmacist probably knows more about it then the Doctor who may be prescribing it to you. The best bet you can do is if you don't think that pharmacist could answer your question then you go to another pharmacist. There are sometimes a good pharmacist that can answer your question.

I can give you an awesome pharmacy number (it's long distance) that has helped me out tremendously many times and it was given to me by someone else. I will page you with that number

 

[mspixieears]

Thanks very much for that youbeabitch...my psychiatrist should know heaps about these medications and he hasn't been practising general for 2 decades.

Thanks all for your responses, and moonrevel, I'll PM you seeing as you don't mind & offered.

The side effects are what I'm most worried about, and just to clarify, I'm not actually bi-polar, lithium would be for my long-term depression, and also to stop my mood from plunging further down (it only ever goes down it seems, sigh).

 

[cicconeyouth]

I'm bi-polar and I'm currently weaning off of lithium. The side effects have wrecked my body. I've gained 20-30 pounds over a few months and developed an acne problem. As for mood effects, it effects everyone completely differently. I know you're not bi-polar, but I know that it can be effective for some people with various types of disorders. When it comes to meds, I say go with the flow. Everyone has a different experience with each med and you need to keep trying until you find something that helps you feel at least partially whole again. Good luck with the search, I know how hard it is to find something that works and that doesn't cause drastic side effects, I'm going through it myself right now.

 

[mspixieears]

I'm really sorry to hear about that hon, about the side effects wrecking your body. That is my worst fear...I guess the mood stabiliser I'm on now isn't so bad, but all I do is sleep! Kind of hard to get things done when you're sleeping most of the day, sigh

 

[cicconeyouth]

yeah, it's such a tough balance with finding a good mood stabilizer. lithium made me feel okay mentally, but the side effects were too much. ugh, so now i have to go try something new. i totally understand your pain. if you ever want to talk or have any questions about this stuff, just pm me and i'd be more than glad to share!

 

[Spenser]

I'm not bi-polar ( Major Depression, severe, recurrent, what fun!) but I've been taking Lamictal (not lithium) for about a year now and haven't had any side effects so it has worked well for me...but I've been looking for the right "cocktail" for a few years now ( I "think" I've finally found it) and I can relate with how hard and scarey it is to try new drugs and work through the constant tapering up and down, crap reactions, and general suckiness of managing depression.
So there are other more...um...modern mood stabilizers to try. If you're really lethargic ask your doctor about adderall...I Looooooove mine and it has helped me so much.

 

[mspixieears]

Ah Spenser, it sounds like we're pretty much in the same boat (major depression, recurring & severe).

For the moment, my shrink just upped my current mood stabiliser, and I think it's ok...it makes me SUPER sleepy, seriously, I'm like a cat

but it has made a huge difference to my mood so guess I'll stick with that for now...

Man, you think after nearly 7 years, this crap would work itself out, but apparently not *sad smile*. Good luck Spenser, and thank you all for responding, it's been really helpful, and hopeful for me, it's nice to know that I'm not alone (even if it means others suffer too...weird, eh?).