I am up at this moment, because my stomach is hurting from the li...

I've been on lithium 600mg/bid for almost two years. Three months ago I was put on Prozac for depression.
Approximately five weeks ago I started feeling nausea/upset stomach and vomiting, and occasionally passing blood. I went to my doctor who prescribed Zofran for my vomiting, and ended up being hospitalized with the life-threatening serotonin toxicity syndrome.
My psychiatrist advised me to stop taking all my medications for a few days and referred me to a gastroenterologist who informed me that I had a gastric ulcer after a gastrosocopy.
Lithium is terribly hard on the stomach, so it's recommended that you eat well before taking it. If not then it will tear your stomach apart.
Hope this helps someone.

Hi, I have been on lithium and an anti depressant for nearly 1 year and firstly I had problems with low energy, sleeping a lot and being thirsty but now im hungry all the time to the point where my stomach hurts. I try to ignore it as I have already gained a lot of weight but its very consuming at times. I have found that if I miss eating breadfast it is worse and I am unable to get rid of the hunger pains no matter how much I eat. Taking lithium has changed my life for the better as I wasnt diagnosed til age 37 and if I look back I showed symptoms as a young teenager. But its hard to go to be feeling hungry and to wake up feeling hungry and to have a lack of energy.

Whenever im feeling down about the side effects I do a google search and look for someone who is experiencing something similar. I did read that if you are experiencing nausea it could mean that your levels are too high. This email is a few months after your email but maybe it might help.

Sally

I have been on Lithium for about 4 months. I was recently diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder I. Doctors built me up to 1500 mg a day, 2 pills in the morning and 3 at night. At that point I felt toxic- I couldn't walk straight, my body felt hot and cold at the same time. I decided to lower my dose. (at 1500mg, I was at the 0.6 Li level which my doctor was satisfied with).

Slowly I lowered my dose down to 600mg at night. I don't feel comfortable taking any more than that per day. Side effects I notice are memory lapses, weight gain and loss randomly, sometimes constipation, and the inability to concentrate. I feel like I have ADD too.
I am mainly concerned about my memory and concentration problems because I am in school and last semester I had a huge mania episode that destroyed my GPA.
My doctor is concerned I may fall into depression so she prescribed me Lamictal, which I started 2 days ago. So far the only side effect I feel from that is fatigue.
I am desperate for any medication that can mix with Lithium that can help me concentrate in school.

My doctor prescribed Lamictal to me as well in addition to lithium, but I really could not tolerate it at all, I got nauseous as hell and it made me even more hypomaniac and insomniac and tired. I couldn't concentrate on Lamictal either. Maybe you should try the lithium on its own. Lithium prevents depression as well as mania, you really shouldn't get depressed on Lithium. I have found it quite sufficient on its own to improve concentration. Remember that the more medications you take, the more side effects you will have. So try working with one that does the trick for you. I would place my bet on lithium.

my stomache does not hurt but i have gained weight. The mix your on drove me almost crazy a year and a half ago. I got off all meds because of it and just got back on lithium, but have gained 5 lbs. and will be switching again.

all of the meds you are on can cause a reaction with Lithium. you need to print off what reacts with lithium and find a dr who knows what he is doing. don't depend on the dr to save you, you have to save you. more often than not you become a gueina pig for science. let's see what we can put you thru kind of tests.

i am bipolar and have been on and off lithium for a number of yrs. i make the mistake of quitting meds when i feel better, and have functioned well for at least two yrs.a number of times with no episodes. i end up getting severely depressed and crawling back to the dr. lithium makes me slightly queasy and i also am hungry all the time. seems as if i eat twice as much and still don't feel full. i don't really gain much weight but i just hate the feeling of being hungry all the time. i guess it's a trade off of hunger or not wanting to get out of bed!

I have been on lithium 1500 mg a day,900mg a night and 600 mg in the morning,i recently just stopped taking the lithium on my own and Dr don't even know it yet, it upsets my stomach so bad now that i fear taking it...I also have gained almost 100 pounds from being on this medication, is it really worth it?