Posted by Barbaracat on November 11, 2004, at 22:51:56
In reply to Re: Maybe some help? » Barbaracat, posted by katia on November 11, 2004, at 18:06:48
The Li orotate researchers say that the orotate form gets past the blood brain barrier and is transported more efficiently than the carbonate and 120mg should equal around 400mg of carbonate's effectiveness without the lithium side effects (because it's so much less to excrete). I took 2 tabs a day hoping this was so, but it surely wasn't and I went hypo mighty quickly. So now I take 3 tabs twice a day which is a little more than the 600mg of carbonate I was taking. BTW, don't believe the Serenity hype that theirs is the only worthwhile brand. They're 3 times the cost and use the same formulation as the Advanced Research brand (developed by Hans Nieper, the 'father' of the orotic transport system. That's orotic, not... oh well never mind).
The question is if their theory is correct and the orotate form is more efficient, then how does it compare in side effects, etc? Am I getting a whopping dose or what? So far, no sx whatsoever. I stopped taking lithium blood tests because my dose was always way below the therapeutic window (any more than 600mg gave me the drooling shakes).
Your pdoc isn't alone in his alternative meds bias. My pdoc admitted that he just didn't have time to keep up with all the standard pharm drugs interactions much less with herbal 'unprovens'. I was always a little puzzled by him because he was otherwise very cool, a Birkenstock and tofu kind of guy. We shared political issues and had a very good connection, but about the only 'alternative' thing we agreed on was fish oil. I think it's because he's in the HMO system and who knows what hair-shirts they have to wear to keep their jobs.
I switched on my accept email. I'll send you one and you send me one to see how it works, OK? Here goes - Barbara
.> Hi,
> interestingly enough, I was doing research to see if migraines were a s/e of Trileptal and found out that people actually take mood stabilizers for migraines! I also somehow got directed to serenity website about li. ort. (LO) and did a search on some postings here...we did talk about this awhile back and there was a post of yours that talked about how it didn't work for you last time you ran out of Li.Carb. But anyway, the other posts I read about raved about it. (hoping it works for you now). You mention that it recommends 120mg a day? Everyone else on that other thread takes between 4-6 120mg spread out in one day. That's a total of 480-720mg. But the amt. of Lithium you get isn't 100% it's like a small percentage Li. This is the link:
>
> http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20030903/msgs/264515.html
>
> Ummm..maybe a light box, SJW, and LO could do it for me. And I don't need my pdoc really; he doesn't work with alternatives like SJW or LO last time I checked.
> Do you have to get your blood drawn/checked?
> Katia
poster:Barbaracat
thread:9730
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041108/msgs/414824.html