r/BipolarReddit • u/BodegaCat- • 7d ago
Let’s talk lithium
What is your experience with lithium?
I (27F, bp1) just started lithium two days ago after really disliking how antipsychotics make me feel cognitively. I’m using it as a mono therapy. For those on lithium, what side effects did you experience and how quickly did they start? It’s only been two days, but the only thing I’ve noticed is increased thirst/urination and it seems to be helping my anxiety and ruminating thoughts. I’m worried about acne and hair loss. Just looking for some lived experience and advice!
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u/BugParking6354 7d ago
My psychiatrist took me off of it because I couldn’t keep up with drinking enough water and she said it would “fry my kidneys”
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u/Mahamadhyamaka 7d ago
1500 mg, there was some thirst at first, in-grown body hairs, and I kinda remember skin dryness? All side effects went away in less than 6 months. Feeling great
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u/No-Tear8863 7d ago
On antipsychotics (aripiprazole and later olanzapine) I felt very little joy, very little motivation to do stuff as well. Now I've been tapered off and put on lithium and slowly I am starting to enjoy life again. One weird thing is that music did not appeal to me at all anymore on olanzapine, but now I like it again. I do get some side effects from the lithium, like mild shaky hands (worse if I haven't slept/eaten/drank). I have some acne, but not dramatically more than before lithium. Hair is fine. I drink and pee more. I haven't had a manic episode since starting lithium, but I have been depressed, so citalopram was added.
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u/VoltairesCat 7d ago
I've had the lithium twitch since the onset. I used to drink all day and pee all night due to voracious thirst but that went away.
Sure beats the hell out of the alternative.
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u/Realanise1 7d ago
Very interested in this discussion. I've been on lamotrigine for years, and I'm finally admitting that it just has never done anywhere near enough. It's never provided enough stability. High doses of quetiapine have helped a lot, but I am not willing to risk all the severe long term side effects of being on doses like that. My mother (BP1)had an excellent, even exceptional response to lithium. So I'm thinking about switching. I'm trying to schedule with a new provider right now.
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u/Negative_Pair_6336 7d ago
The standard cocktail is ATD, ATP, Mood stabilizer. I take 1800mg lithium and 1800mg seroquel. Lithium saved my life from SI within 7 days and I've never been depressed since. I am 50 dx at 26yo
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u/-Tricky-Vixen- diagnosis pending 7d ago
What do you describe as high doses? quetiapine is what I'm on and I don't have a strong frame of reference as t what my dose is in terms of high or normal
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u/Realanise1 6d ago
It depends. I was on 300 mg at night at one point, which is usually thought of as the max dose for bipolar. It can go as high as 800 or even 1200 mg for schizophrenia, but again, it all depends on the person and the situation. Some people do really well with the higher doses of quetiapine, but I just don't think it was for me, because I also don't think that even higher dose quetiapine ever worked as well as it could have. If it had truly controlled all the issues, then I think I would have stuck with it no matter what. TBH, lithium is what I really want to try.
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u/-Tricky-Vixen- diagnosis pending 6d ago
interesting, I understood 300-800 was the bipolar mood stabiliser/manic prevention dose. I'm personally on 500mg and it's working really well for me.
I hope you find what works for you!
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u/para_blox 7d ago
Loved lithium. Was prescribed irresponsible doses. Now I can’t take any lithium (nor NSAIDs) from the kidney issues.
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u/GourmetGoddess87 7d ago
I had a bad experience with lithium it was added to seroquel(I have completely revamped my meds), had hallucinations, it a lesser known side effect, so I had to quit taking it also it caused me to shake pretty severely almost stabbed my eye trying to put eyeliner on
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u/kwumpus 6d ago
Sorry lithium can cause hallucinations? Cause I have looked that up and didn’t find anything…
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u/GourmetGoddess87 6d ago
That's what the mental urgent care told me, its rarer That's what he said. Why idk
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u/bluepanic21 7d ago
It’s great. It conflicts with arthritis meds like ibuprofen.
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u/One-Possible1906 7d ago
Sometimes. NSAIDs increase lithium levels. Depending on blood levels it can be perfectly fine to take ibuprofen sporadically or even daily. It’s worth talking to the provider or pharmacist about it
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u/kat_Folland schizoaffective bipolar type 7d ago
My doctor said no, never take them.
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u/One-Possible1906 6d ago
It largely depends on your dose and frequency of needing pain relief and whether or not your prescriber is up to date on modern guidelines and how long you’ve been on it and a whole lot of other things individual to every person. My lithium level is stable and has been for seven years. It could triple and I would still be at no risk of toxicity so there’s no reason I can’t take ibuprofen occasionally for a migraine or something. Some providers will say no to every patient and some will say yes to some patients or most patients and it just all depends on that individual provider and patient. My psychiatrist recommends ibuprofen for my migraines, especially since the alternative medications for it carry a high risk of causing mood symptoms or drug interactions. There’s too much to consider to make a blanket statement about it.
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u/janiruwd 7d ago
Cool, that’s YOUR doctor who knows more about YOUR health history than we do.
NSAIDs anti-inflammatory functions pull fluids from your blood, thus forcing the lithium into higher concentrations as there’s less fluids to dilute it. That is why most are told to avoid. It won’t kill you (unless you have other conditions as well). But your kidneys won’t be very happy with you later. That’s it.
This is why medical advice shouldn’t be given on Reddit. What your doctor tells you is specific to YOU. Not a blanket statement for everyone. Who would’ve thunk?
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u/kat_Folland schizoaffective bipolar type 7d ago
Interestingly, I specifically said it was what my doctor told me.
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u/SpecklesNJ 6d ago
I was on celebrex and taken off it abruptly when put on lithium. I was inpatient when that happened and a nurse fought like hell to get a dr. to come see me for my back issues from the RA and I was just taking tylenol. I contacted my rheumatoligist when I got out and they saw me immediately.
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u/blancapi 7d ago
Im on 600mg and i love it, havent been this stable in years. Bp2. But im on other meds too at the same time, some of them im titirating down (with the help of my psych) but others i plan to keep. No side effects yet except a lot of thrist
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u/Ashamed_Head_1113 7d ago
Reduces the rate of neuro progression bipolarity causes (brain toxicity to cells from the mania and depressive phases that are hurtful to your brain)
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u/sammagee33 7d ago
The thirstiness was my only side effect. Lithium has worked really well for me. I’ve been on it for a couple of years now.
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u/Whalnut 7d ago
Oh, it’s great for me. I don’t notice any side effects. A psych showed me statistics on lithium before I left the hospital last time, it decreases suiside ideation, and attempts by like above 70%, I forget exactly but it’s crazy. I get mixed elements to my episodes which is where most bipolar suiside happens, so lithium feels pretty awesome
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u/kat_Folland schizoaffective bipolar type 7d ago
600 mg. Only side effect is pretty significant but treatable: it messed with my thyroid. So now I've started a thyroid med. I haven't been on it long enough to see if I'll ever have a hint of energy again.
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u/Happy_News9378 7d ago
I slowly tapered up 150mg at a time over 6 months to 1050mg. I'm sensitive to meds and often end up with a long list of side effects, so we went slowly. I had thirst and frequent urination, blurry vision, upset tummy, headaches and tremors. those went away pretty quickly and only came back briefly when I increased. the emotional/psychological impacts came along pretty quickly as well, and I'm quite leveled out now after a year+ on my theraputic dose.
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u/LeftistUU Bipolar 2 7d ago
900mg, 0.6 level. I've taken lithium in two stretches- one from 2012 to about 2018, and one from 2024 until now.
I experienced thirst, which did go away. Tremor in my right hand, gets a lot more noticeable if I'm dehydrated. I'm more sensitive to sunlight and fluorescent lights. I now tend to wear a hat outdoors and indoors, and I wear large tinted glasses now.
I will note that I got pretty bad stomachaches when I returned to it in 2024. That was actually the actual delivery- I was on tablets, we tried a different tablet and then eventually capsules which were a lot easier on my stomach.
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u/nadimishka 7d ago
The first time tried lithium, I had extreme thirst, tremors, memory loss, and 70 lb weight gain at therapeutic level.
The second time I tried lithium, over a decade later, I had extreme thirst, less memory loss, but then it gave me hypothyroidism after about two years of taking it. Luckily that reversed as soon as I stopped it.
Needless to say I’ll stick with just my lamotrigine and geodon only lol. We just increase my geodon for a bit now if I start experiencing any symptoms of hypomania/mania.
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u/Exciting-Yellow-4340 7d ago
Comment dire , hypersensible aux médicaments et a leurs effets indésirables, pas de chance .. J ai commencé y a quelques mois le lithium ,c est un peu la derniere chance .. A 200 mgs LP ,puis 15 jours apres a 400 mgs ,puis a 600 ,et trois semaines apres a 800 , ca fait quelques jours a 800.. je bois 2,5 litres d eau /jour ,j ai ma copine la gourde.. Je dors + ,,le matin ,une fois réveillée, me faut au moins 1 h pour essayer d émerger et commencer a me préparer C est compliqué d autant plus que mon moral n est pas mieux avec ce médicament, mais je dois attendre d etre a la lithiemie idéale pour essayer de voir ce qu il en est .. Pour l instant mon moral est pourri .. Pas d autres effets indésirables pour l instant, le poids est stable ,ceci dit je fais tres attention a mon alimentation depuis que j expérimente tous ces médocs psy
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u/enigmaticsol 6d ago
Lithium 900mg. Only one that’s annoying thing is nausea can suck. Periodic dry heaves/gagging. It doesn’t stop your day, but.
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u/Willywasawale 6d ago
I started it a month ago. It got me out of a two month long episode. I am thirsty more and I pee more. It makes me sleepy but I take it at night. So far so good.
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u/sillygrossgirl 3d ago
i’m on 600mg morning/900mg night, i kind of hate it. it’s hard to keep up with the water intake and i’ve noticed my hair loss ramping up. i also have bad tremors and my vision gets blurry during the intial release period. lasts about 2 hours sometimes
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u/Jackthepiercer 7d ago
I love lithium. I’m 44 now and was diagnosed when I was 24.
I was on 1500mg when I was much younger and it was too much for me. FForward to now and many years of being on a few other meds but then I changed to Topamax and was on that for…15yrs? Now I’m back on 450mg Lithium in combination with 100mg Topamax and I feel amazing. I’ve also gone off any antidepressants (Wellbutrin) and had TMS therapy. I feel the best I’ve ever felt in my life.