Lithium Carbonate and lithium

I have been on Lithium Carbonate (1800 mg/day) for over 4 years. Lived with diarrhea, acne, tremors, etc. throughout, but otherwise loved the drug. After filling toilet with blood several times last week, I went into the hospital. Colonoscopy & endoscoopy revealed severe diverticulosis and severe Barrett's esophagus, respectively. All involved are shaking their heads, as these tests were relatively normal 3 years ago. I suspect Lithium.

I take lithium, 1350mg/day, for 5 years now, and about 2 years ago I started getting tremors but worse in my left hand, so it was actually painful and for a while the doctor thought it was carpal tunnel but it turned out not to be and he didnt know what caused it-now ever since then my left hand has gotten worse & typing with it is a little problematic, its like the nerves are messed up in that hand, it won't always hit the right numbers. Its starting to freak me out a little, but in the last year I've started having episodes where my entire left side goes tingly like its asleep, my vision blurs, I get shaky all over and have such rapid heart palpitations it feels like my entire body is in shock. This lasts for about half an hour usually, has landed me in the ER twice, & they claimed each time not to know what caused it and looked at me like I was making it up, and didn't give me anything for it. I also get the typical symptoms- mild hair loss, memory loss, speech impairment, weight gain (I was 120 now I'm 160- luckily it distributed so its not too obvious), & it does not stop depressive episodes, just shortens them, and I still get anger episodes fairly often, usually as a split second reaction to something very small. I'm definitely looking into getting off of this as it is worrying me, more about the episodes and my left arm/hand issues than anything else, especially that now I have trouble with coordination in my left hand,which sucks because my desk jobs always involve a LOT of typing.

well I haven't read all of the postings but make sure you drink plenty of water and get your blood tested often. I ended up in the ER with lithium poisoning.

Hi, I'm rapid cycling bipolar. I was taking 300mg of lithium a day and it helped a lot. Then started the crying and paranoid feelings again. I also took venlafaxine 150mg. My psych doc increased the venlafaxine to 225mg time released and the lithium to 300mg twice a day. I have really bad headache that make me sick to my stomach. Bad hand tremors, weight gain, extreme thirst, dry mouth, constant urination, confusion, memory loss, bad concentration, heart palpitation that are very scary and problems with my balance. I've been taking these meds for a year now. I'm hoping that I just need to get used to the new dosage. On the plus side mentally I'm great, it's just the physical aliments that are getting me. I have an appt. with my doc on the 13th. I'm hoping that he'll have some answers for me. Hang in there I know how you all feel! please tell me if anyone else has these same symptoms. Thanks,

I have been on 1500 mg of lithium day and never really had too many side affects but recently i have been gettin really bad headaches,anyone else have this problem?

I've been taking Lithium (800 mg) for about 15 yrs.after experiencing severe post partum depression. I've experienced the common side effects like headaches, nausea, muscular weakness, however I've been lucky not to have hand tremors.
My issue is with my memory and with recalling words. Lately I've been having a hard time expressing myself and it's really frustrating and embarrassing! I feel stupid. I'm also bi-lingual so it's worse.
I've also been taking Xanax (.05 mg/day) for the past 5 yrs, for panic attacks that started after I started taking Lithium. I only get these panic attacks in my sleep. So I'm wondering if panic attacks are a side effects of Lithium?

I started taking lithium Carbonate about a year ago. I didn't care about side effects and i didn't think that any would happen to me. So ive been studying everyday for the last month, and more and more i noticed hairs falling onto my paper. Now im loosing hairs at a rapid pace and although i am stable im 22 and about to be bald. Thats not adding to my stability. For now on im looking up all side effects of any medication im on, and im getting off lithium as soon as possible

I was on a maximum of 900 mg's a day and my last dosage was at 300 mg's a day. Lithium was great for me in the winter when my depression is at it's worst. As soon as the weather started changing though, I began gaining weight (water) and had horrible acne. I felt really drugged and was getting depressed from the Lithium. Every time that I would try to go off of it, I would relapse into my cycle (one time mania the next depression). My doctor finally prescribed me Geodon to get off of it and I've been off of Lithium for over a month now. My face has finally cleared up and the weight is coming off. We have decided to try something else this winter for my depression. Be very careful when you try to go off of it and always have a back up plan with your pdoc.

I'm also have lithium carbonate 600 mg daily, separate in the morning 300 mg and evening 300 mg. After 1 months I also have problem on side effects such as vomiting, headache, and also gain weight. But after I tried to eat fruit and escape carbohydrate in the evening , my feeling is better and my weight is lost 1 kg.

I hope you can do it like me, good luck all.

Oh

Strangely, I have noticed a decrease in my arthritis on lithium. I'm 58 and since a year ago I had started showing symptoms of arthritis, such as swelling of my finger joints and, even more distressingly, constant pain in my knees. I have taken Lithium Carbonate for less than a month, and the arthritic bump on my right thumb is significantly smaller. I look forward to it disappearing altogether. Wouldn't it be great if lithium could solve my bipolar problems AND sort out my arthritis! However, it's early days; I could still lose my hair and pile on weight I guess, even though I eat less these days and have lost a few kg, probably because of less water retention. But so far, so good.

I have only been on lithium carbonate - 500 mg a day - for a month now, but experience no side effects, other than the mild nausea I experienced during the first two weeks of treatment and which has now stopped. I feel much better, like a sane person for the first time in many years. Make no mistake, BPD is a really shitty brain disorder, there are no benefits from it whatsoever. Even when you are on an "up" with BPD it's delusional. You think you are doing great work or whatever, but that's just your own mistaken impression. With BPD you so doubt yourself, not only when you are on a low but also when you think you are on a high, that you become depressed and furiously angry, because you know there is something not right with you. This anger and self disgust feeds the disease even more. I feel more motivated and less angry on lithium carbonate. One of the masks that BPD wears is Narcissistic personality disorder. Things that cooking and cleaning up are beneath you. These days I quite like cooking a nice meal, and have no objection to cleaning up any mess, as long as I created most of it in the first place. Hell, if i continue to feel this good about myself, I might even volunteer for a soup kitchen. You don't find many Narcissists there!
I was told to take 250g morning and evening, but find I function better when I take a double dose in the morning.
Is my hair going to fall out eventually? I don't know. I don't really care all that much, as I never had great hair in the first place, and tend to wear wigs which are very close to my own hairstyle - few people can tell the difference, other than commenting on how great my hair looks when I wear a wig. You can look quite pretty in bandanna style scarves too, you know.

I am up at this moment, because my stomach is hurting from the lithium. I've been on it now for about a year, but my stomach just started hurting at night after about an hour after taking it for about three months now. Is anyone else experiencing this? I read one post above about it, but that's all. There is no vomiting, but just upset stomach. It keeps me awake. I'm on lithium and lamictal, and Topomax. If you experience this, is anyone taking anything for the nausea? Thank you! And everyone hang in there! You're in my prayers! Don't give up!

I am taking lithium with a 800mg dosage of sodium valporate for my bipolar.But i cant sleep most nights cause i wake up every hour to wee and my throat is so dry.so thirsty.I also have acne which from my teens i never had any.i also have terrible headaches.I seriously feel like stoping as i dont even see a differences in my condition.

I have been taking some form of Lithium Carbonate since 1972. About one year ago after taking a routine blood test prescribed by my psychiatrist, I was told my creatine level was somewhat spiked. The psych referred me to a nephrologist. After examination by the nephrologist, I was told I had 50% less kidney function and he believed to be my long-time intake of lithium carbonate products. The nephrologist also informed me that I would not regain function and perhaps suffer further loss of kidney function which would require dialysis. My psych immediately took me off Lithium and I suffered the extreme side effects of replacement meds like Carbamabazine (generic Tegretol).

My joints all over my body are painful. I don not know if it is a side effect of lithium because I take other medications. The drugs include femara, niravam, cymbalta, famvir, calcium 1000 mg., a multivitamin capsule, glucousimine, echinacea. please give me some advise as to why I get veryt painful joints and the back of my neck pops constantly throughout the day.

I see headaches as a theme here. I have been getting them, and usually take 2 aspirins and that almost always does the trick. Certainly at first, you're limited to only aspirin and tylenol, due to blood tests of course. That wasn't fun.

My biggest side effect, which is really an impairment is major memory loss. Thing is I just started to experience this last week. It could possibly be from another drug....

Anyone have an impaired memory due to Lithium?

SABRINA

Been on lithium ( 800mcgs) for three months in a desperate attempt to lift a drug resistant depression. My moods are all over the place now but less severe. Feel quite drowsy the next day ( I take them at night)and am going to the toilet much more often. Plasma levels were 0.4 and I was feeling better but GP has now increased dosage.

I have been on lithium for almost two years now....Although the does needs increasing here and there. When this happens i get the splitting headache nasuea and tremors. sometimes it is frightening but it seems to go away after a few days. Weight gain? well i've been chubby my whole life, it is a trade off. I am very glade too have been diagnosed and finally am getting stable.

lithium is the best thing that ever happened to me. it is the only mood stabalizer that actually worked for me. it was the first one i was prescribed... then i tried out a few more.. but went back to lithium.. for me it was very hard to get used to. i felt dumb for a few months. but once you get stable on it it works like a wonder drug. i also take paxil and wellbutrin so sometimes you may have to take a few different things but hey... id rather take 6 pills a day then be crazy.

I was given Lithium for my bipolar disorder, I was not on it long, maybe about a week before them side effects hit me, it made me sooo weak that I could not even lift my head up, I will be eating and take about 3 chews and would be extremely exhausted, I found out that extreme muscle weakness was one of the severe side effects so I stop taking it and now I am on Prozac

I have been taking 300 mg lithium for a few months. For some reason I never even considered it to be the reason that i feel terrible and throw up a few nights a week.

As for my weight, I lost 10 lbs when I started wellbutrin last december. So when i started the lithium i may or may not have lost a few more pounds. The scale has said about 111 the whole time, but everyone keeps telling me more and more how great I look as time goes by. Probably the lithium is causing me to lose water weight. Though I now carry a water bottle with me at all times!! Actually, I started to doing that with the wellbutrin and my cottonmouth has improved since the lithium. I use to wake up in the middle of the night over a nightmare about dying of dehydration because I was so thirsty.

I guess I am very lucky with regards to side effects of drugs. There are other bummers, like I dont drink anymore, and there is definitely a STIGMA attached to lithium. Even thought I technically have not been diagnosed as bi-polar. In all of 2005 I was extremely depressed and even jumped off a second story window and shattered my sholder. Then I went bankrupt. All I ever did was think about dead all the time.

I was so happy (and shocked) when Wellbutrin allowed me to stop thinking about death. Then we added lithium to keep me from crying all the time. Well my point is

1. Wellbutrin can counter the weight gaining effect of lithium (Or at least it did for me)

2. Does anyone else get sick at night all the time? How about HICCUPS?

3. I agree with the previous posting... I dont care if my family and friends think I am crazy or if I start to gain a lot of weight when I get a little older, I never, EVER want to be that sad ever again.

Best wishes to everyone reading this. I understand your pain. If anyone ever gives you a hard time such as because "others have it hard too", or "it's all in your head" tell them that I said for them to shove off. This is our only life, no one should have to be unhappy.

I know I wrote a lot. But hopefully at least one person finds this helpful. I use to spend hours on the computer trying to find answers. (The depression was so bad I couldn't leave the house to work.) I check ******weekly if anyone has any additional questions.

My seven year old son has been on Lithium for a month. He had Smith-Magnis Syndrome and has severe behavior problems. After only one month of Lithium he is vomiting and has diarrhea. I am calling his pyschriatrist to find out what to do with him. I guess I'll take him to Children's Hospital for a work up.

I have been on Lithium for almost 7 months....I didn't start taking it till after I stoped breast feeding my baby. I only gained 20 pounds while I was pg with her and as soon as I had her I lost all the weight. I started out at 177 pounds when I started the Meds and now i'm almost 200 pounds and the thing is I have been walking like the doc says and O still gain...plus I'm tired all the time and have really bad headaches. and you just can't do that when you have a four year old and a 9 month old......welcome to the club or bipolar

My wife was put on Lithium about 2 years ago for only about 6 months and frankly I saw no improvement or change.
We were assured that any decrease in thyroid activity would only be temporary however despite never having any thyroid problems before she was started on 25 micrograms of thyroxine to compensate for lack of thyroid activity.It is now up to 100 micrograms with no anticipation of any improvement.
Although there seems to be no evidence of it causing permenant damage I wish now that she had never been started on it.

my son is on lithium. has anyone got the shakes from it.his hands shake real bad.and also his whole body.

It does not work it just makes me worst because I took it for depression and bad bad anger it's a very stupid med that's why now i'm taking abilify which is much better lithium just drove me crazier.

i'm 17and have been on lithium for 5 months. i've gained 12 lbs, have frequent headaches and hand tremors, at least the mania is gone.

Lithium apparently causes organ problems, as well as dehydration, so you should be very careful that you drink alot of fluids, avoid heavy sweating(exercize, saunas, etc.) I had'nt been told that the main ingredent was salt, so thats can be a problem for others as well, ibprofin is BAD while taking lithium, as it raises blood levels.So basically im telling what I had to learn the hard way, so be particular, and aware of what NOT to do wlile taking this pill.although the LISTED side effecs are few, this effective medication can be harmful in many ways, so educate yourself!

I take Lithium and I have a high about of calcium in my blood. Does Lithium cause that. I just had a test on my parathyroid glands but don't know the results. Please tell me about the high calcium when you take Lithium I take one pill a day at 300mg., I think.

Thank you,

Rae ***

I've read some of the other postings here, and thought I might beable to help with some of those symptoms described. Lithium is probably the most widely used drug for bipolar disorder, mostly because of it's effectiveness in many cases. You must drink as much water as you can and avoid dehydration. Lithium can be hard on your liver, but the more you know about this drug the better, ask your pharmacist for in-depth info, that's what they are there for. People on Lithium should have their thyroid checked at least once a year for hypothyroidism. This condition will cause the hair loss, adult acne, fatigue, and weight gain. Again, something the docs don't tell you. Lithium will make it more challenging to keep excess weight off, but this is one side effect that is so common in so many drugs, one should not be so surprised. Eat more fruits and veggies and try to keep active, or learn to love your new body. Lithium was the first mood stabiliser I was put on, and it works great as long as you take your doses EXACTLY as prescribed and get your blood work done at least every 3 months. And as for the new 30 pounds I have, well that's life! I'd rather be happy and stable then skinny any day of the week! Good Luck to all of you.

I weighed 198 when i started lithium 4 years ago. I now have CHF and i weigh 340. Help, has this happened to anyone else
P.S. My phyco wont take me off of it. I also have Bipolor manic depression with 4 attempted suicides. If you can help me please write back

I really don't think I have any side effects, other than it keeps me normal, thank GOD. I have been taking lithium for 27 years, a low dose I am told. But, my hair is falling out alot. I don't know if it is the lithium, or old age, I am 60 years old, but don't act or feel it. Can't figure it out. I do take other medications for high blood pressure. Somehow I think that if it was the lithium, it would have started years ago. Just thought I'd mention it. since I read your side effects, or is she that person looking for a reason as I am. I probably wasted your time.
Anyway, I would like to learn as much about LITHIUM as possible. All I have to say is it saved my life, or the DOCTOR that prescribed it.

My daughter's physician is gradually reducing her lithium and she is having frequent headaches. Her dose was decreased a week ago and she had experienced several headaches daily to the point of not being able to function.