Posted by Tomatheus on January 25, 2006, at 20:22:27
In reply to Forgotten Factor in Counterfeit lithium case, posted by Squiggles on January 25, 2006, at 8:42:47
Squiggles,
How do you know that you had a bad lithium supply? Do you believe that your supply might have been bad just because of the way you responded to it, or was there something else that led you to believe that your lithium might have been counterfeit, low, or old?
I'm just curious because I was taking the generic lithium manufactured by Able Laboratories at the time when the product was recalled. It is my understanding that Able recalled all of its products out of concerns that some of them might have been either "subpotent or superpotent." But I have not been able (no pun intended) to locate any information suggesting that there were any specific problems with Able's lithium. By any chance, was the "counterfeit" lithium that you were taking manufactured by Able? If so, do you have any idea as to what the specific problem with it was?
I took lithium in combination with Wellbutrin for about a year for my depressive symptoms (and following the temporary mood cycling that I had in response to Paxil), and I had a partial but largely inadequate response to the combo. I usually ended up taking rather large doses of a variety of different supplements and consuming excessive amounts of caffeine (which I know is a no-no for patients taking lithium) just to be able to get through each day when I was on the Wellbutrin-lithium combo, and it is obvious in retrospect that this reckless use of so many different (legal) substances just ended up making matters worse for me, especially in terms of my depressive symptoms. At any rate, I eventually discontinued with my Wellbutrin-lithium combo due to lack of efficacy -- the combo was especially ineffective when I took it "alone" and without all those supplements that I used to use to give myself short-term boosts. I did notice that I felt more anxious and agitated in my last few months or so on lithium (right before it was recalled), but it's difficult to figure out whether this change was due to changes in my Wellbutrin dosage, the adverse effects of mixing lithium with excessive amounts of caffeine and various supplements, or a problem with the lithium itself.
Of course, it doesn't really matter to me at this point whether the somewhat adverse feelings of anxiety and agitation that I experienced late into my Wellbutrin-lithium trial were a result of poorly manufactured lithium, because I have no plans to return to take either Wellbutrin or lithium at any point in the future. But I'm just curious as to whether you have any information concerning the possibility that the Able lithium might have been "counterfeit," or faulty in some way.
Tomatheus
> Some time ago, I posted that over a 4 month
> period, I crashed into mixed states, after
> taking a bad lithium supply (counterfeit, or
> low, or old). I did have the symptoms of
> bipolar disorder (rapid cycling, suicidal,
> psychotic, etc.). I immediately got better
> after taking the "good" supply from another
> pharmacy.
>
> However, I forgot to consider the role
> that the Synthroid (and clonazepam) may
> have played as the lithium must have reached
> 0. For anyone curious about thyrotoxicosis
> and its role in emotional lability, i thought
> i might bring this up.
>
> I did not have sweats, or typical thyrotoxicosis
> symptoms, but i did have severe anxiety and
> mania. In the absence of lithium, how severe would the impact of 0.112 mg Synthroid be, i wonder.
>
> Squiggles
>
>
poster:Tomatheus
thread:602594
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060122/msgs/602820.html