Posted by Jumpy on January 19, 2003, at 14:46:24
In reply to Lithium - need info on how it works, posted by BarbaraCat on January 19, 2003, at 12:04:50
Of course, no one truly knows how lithium works .... heck, no one knows the cause of mood disorders period. But many years ago, doctors used to talk about lithium affecting the "second messanger" system (the chemical cascade that occurs just after the neurotransmitter binds to the receptor in the the cell membrane and cytoplasm). Lithium blocks inositol triphosphate from being "dephosphoralated" to inositol biphosphate (if I remember correctly). Some how this is suppose to slow neural activity and calm mania.
It definately slows the thyroid gland down ... and its production of thyroid hormone become subtherapeutic for some patients.
Hope your feeling better soon.
Jumpy
PS Sorry to hear that thyroid hormones haven't worked for you. Frankly, I have never heard of this happening before. When a patient becomes hypothyroid from lithium, thyroid medications I though always corrected the problem. Well, I guess there are exceptions to every rule.
poster:Jumpy
thread:136544
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030119/msgs/136581.html