Posted by Ritch on March 18, 2003, at 23:04:40
In reply to Re: Sorry to ask again but need answers about Lithium, posted by zeliva on March 18, 2003, at 15:55:25
> Thanks Barbara- Excuse the bluntness of this but I have IBS so I have diarrhea often. Ever since I started the Lithium I have had it every day. It could just be the IBS, but it sucks. Did you have this problem at all. I don't know what it is.
>
> JillJill, the single most troublesome side-effect I got from lithium when I was on it was IBS-related diarrhea. I took sub-therapeutic doses (300mg/day) to try to keep it manageable when higher doses of lithium worked much better mood-wise (450-600mg/day was my *spot*). Just an FYI, but I was reading on one of the grand rounds slides here that the calcium-channel blocker verapamil is sometimes used to counter lithium-induced diarrhea. You might mention this to your pdoc. I wished I would have known about this strategy 20 years ago!
poster:Ritch
thread:208633
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030314/msgs/210567.html