Posted by wraith on June 3, 2005, at 14:47:41
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » Lazarus, posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 2, 2005, at 6:13:33
Hockeygirl,
For what it is worth I was put on lithium over a year ago after being diagnosed with treatment resistant severe unipolar depression. This diagnosis came after failing to respond to SSRI's, Tricyclics, MAOI's, Tegretol etc.
The lithium is augmented with amitryptyline and inderal and has virtually turned my life around and it seems to just get better day by day.
Wrt side effects, the thirst can be a problem but with careful management - eg ensuring one has an adequate water supply in long meetings - it's not too bad. Having the bloodtest is inconvenient but not onerous. I do have slight memory lapses which my Pysch thinks may be related to years of untreated depression rather than a side effect of the drug combinations.
All in all I wasn't happy to be prescribed lithium but it was certainly preferable to ECT. Looking back the upside of lithium certainly more than makes up for any of the downsides.
Good luck on it, I hope your experiences will be equally as positive.
Best regards
poster:wraith
thread:505359
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050601/msgs/507351.html