Posted by bipolarspectrum on June 20, 2006, at 18:42:02
In reply to Lithium mechanism and side effects?, posted by blueberry on June 20, 2006, at 17:05:30
Hey,
I took a high level pharmacology course a couple years ago in undergrad and apparently one theory is that it lithium affects the production and transduction of phosphoinositide (sp)... I cant remember the exact mechanism but I know that its far from ellucidated...
But I believe that is one believed mechanism for bipolar.. for unipolar, i believe lithium is thought to affect serotonin via 5ht1a receptor... once again, far from verified..I;ve been on lithium for bipolar at a high dose, side effects included:
-weird eye twitching.. when trying to focus on something close my eyes would spasm
-somewhat lethargic for me..
=definately a cognitive duller.. this is where dose tweaking is important i think
-for me, it never really influenced my anxiety and from the research ive read, its not an anxiolytic...
-for me it was not an ssri whatsoever.. different experiencegood luck!
bps
> Lithium, one of the few I haven't tried for unipolar depression.
>
> How does it work? What mechanisms?
>
> Side effects? I know about the thirst and frequent urination and stuff. But what I am wondering is, is it basically stimulative or does it cause lethargy? Does it feel sort of like an ssri? Can it work on anxiety, or does it create anxiety?
poster:bipolarspectrum
thread:659344
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060617/msgs/659394.html