Posted by allisonm on August 19, 2000, at 18:51:17
In reply to How does it feel to be on Lithium? SCARED OF IT!, posted by Anna P. on August 17, 2000, at 16:01:12
I took lithium for 7 months to augment my Remeron during the winter, which always seems to lay me low. I gained weight and could not get it off. I tried more than one type of lithium, but all gave me diarrhea to one extent or another. I hated the weight gain and the runs. I couldn't wait to get off Li, and my psychiatrist knew it. He and I think it helped level my mood, but the side effects were too much for me to stand. But I know it has helped a lot of people.
I found that if I mentioned to friends that I was on Li, they'd get this look of concern, as if it was finally hitting them that my depression was really serious. Obviously, lithium was probably the only drug they'd ever heard about, and some equated its use with manic depression. And I always felt I got strange looks from the phlebotomist during my periodic Li blood level checks. Or it could have been my imagination, I suppose. FWIW.
allison
poster:allisonm
thread:43173
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000811/msgs/43336.html