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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by hockeygirlcanada on May 30, 2005, at 17:11:50
I have major depressive disorder and G.a.d. with bad racing thoughts. I am not bipolar and have not had any mania episodes or psychosis. I was on seroquel, but am being taken off and put on lithium to help with racing thoughts, anxiety, anyone ever heard of this? Any insight or input on lithium would be greatly appreciated. Due to start after bloodwork,
Thank you in advance:)
Posted by yesac on May 31, 2005, at 12:14:46
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!!, posted by hockeygirlcanada on May 30, 2005, at 17:11:50
Hi... Yes, lithium an be used to augment antidepressants for people w/o bipolar depression. Are you taking any antidepressants? Well, even if you're not, lithium can be used by itself. It is the only mood stabilizer besides Lamictal that has "proven" antidepressive properties. Also, some people who are not technically diagnosed as bipolar have some bipolar symptoms, such as racing thoughts. Mood stabilizers can help with those symptoms even if your diagnosis is not bipolar. Diagnoses are bullsh*t anyways. The DSM was basically just made up by a group of psychiatrists. People don't fit so neatly into those categories.
So, yes, I think that lithium could possibly be helpful for you. Did the Seroquel help at all with your racing thoughts and/or anxiety, because Seroquel is also a mood stabilizer?
Posted by hockeygirlcanada on May 31, 2005, at 12:45:13
In reply to Re: ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!!, posted by yesac on May 31, 2005, at 12:14:46
Hi,
Thank you for your response:) I am on celexa for an antidepressant and racing thoughts is a big problem for me.
When I was on seroquel it just knocked me out and made me very sedated (more like stoned) so it was hard to tell if it was helping or not. My clonazepam didn't go down, I take it prn, so maybe it wasn't helping the anxiety.
It does help you sleep though!!
Have you tried lithium personally? Are there alot of side effects?
Thank you:)
Posted by yesac on May 31, 2005, at 15:01:21
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » yesac, posted by hockeygirlcanada on May 31, 2005, at 12:45:13
> Thank you for your response:) I am on celexa for an antidepressant and racing thoughts is a big problem for me.Did you have the racing thoughts before you started Celexa? For some people, SSRIs and other antidepressants can cause symptoms like that, so that's one thing you might want to think about.
> When I was on seroquel it just knocked me out and made me very sedated (more like stoned) so it was hard to tell if it was helping or not. My clonazepam didn't go down, I take it prn, so maybe it wasn't helping the anxiety.
> It does help you sleep though!!Yeah that's how I often feel with antipsychotics-- like they just knock me out so much that I can't really tell if they're helping anything!
> Have you tried lithium personally? Are there alot of side effects?
Yes, I take lithium 600mgs. I have been on it for about 5 weeks, but I also took it a year ago for several months. The biggest side effect for me is that it makes me really shaky... my hands and whole body sort of tremble... it's really annoying, which is why I went off it last year. Lately I've had a really hard time waking up too, and just don't seem to sleep very well. I'm not sure if that's because of the lithium or not. Oh yeah, I feel slightly more thirsty and drink more than I did before taking lithium. Other than that, I don't really have any side effects.
Posted by prodgirl on June 1, 2005, at 15:21:08
In reply to Re: ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » hockeygirlcanada, posted by yesac on May 31, 2005, at 15:01:21
HockeygirlCanada (rad screen name!)-
Lithium will stop the racing thoughts. I am BPII and suffer from severe depression. It took a while until we figured out where I fit in, and tried lots of meds, but I found that Lithium was the only thing that slowed my brain down, which was very welcome.
Side effects widely vary. Some people have minor, I have nearly them all, blah. The most common is moderate weight gain, but as long as you remember to drink water instead of juice and soda all day, you will really minimize any gain. Always drink your water and keep your salt and electrolyte levels up. Make sure that you get a Thyroid panel, or at least your TSH checked. Lithium can have a negative effect on your thyroid.
Good luck.
Posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 1, 2005, at 16:10:56
In reply to Re: ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!!, posted by prodgirl on June 1, 2005, at 15:21:08
Thank you for your response. I have heard so many horror stories about lithium that I really wanted to talk to lithium users to get the other side of things.
I am willing to give it a try, I guess at this point, why not eh?
Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it.
Did you find it made you catatonic or energyless? that is my biggest concern.
Thanks:)
Posted by cache-monkey on June 1, 2005, at 18:59:40
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » prodgirl, posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 1, 2005, at 16:10:56
<< Did you find it made you catatonic or energyless? that is my biggest concern. >>
I found that, if anything I had more energy on a moderate dose of Lithium. I think this is because it calmed my racing thoughts. And at a moderate dose, the side effects were quite tolerable.
Don't let your pdoc push you too high on the dose. Especially if you notice minor side effects (excessive thirst, or that shakiness that other people have described), they will tend to become major side effects as you raise the dose.
My (now fired) pdoc pushed the dose of Lithium way too high and this is what created the side effect for me that essentially forced me to quit. At that point, I didn't have the backbone to object, but I won't let this happen again in the future.
Good luck,
cache-monkey
Posted by prodgirl on June 1, 2005, at 19:44:08
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » prodgirl, posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 1, 2005, at 16:10:56
> Did you find it made you catatonic or energyless? that is my biggest concern.
Not long after I started Lithium my thyroid went haywire. Bound to happen, we're not sure if the Lithium jump started it or just timing. Basically, I am not the norm on that question...
This is a good place to ask questions about Lithium. There are many people who are or did take it at some time.
Posted by Lazarus on June 1, 2005, at 22:21:11
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!!, posted by hockeygirlcanada on May 30, 2005, at 17:11:50
I take 600-900 mg lithium daily for bipolar II disorder, plus a handfull of other drugs.
I suspect that the psychiatrists want me on lithium because it is relatively safer than the alternatives, which are often the neuroleptics (e.g., seroquel, zyprexa, abilify, risperdal), which can have nasty side effects.
Lithium is basically a salt and won't ruin your brain like a lot of the other drugs. It can have a negative effect on the kidneys, but only in very high doses, which is why they do blood monitoring (also to make sure that your lithium level is high enough....it should be between .65 and 1.00).
I hope that I have been of some help.
Lazarus
Posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 2, 2005, at 6:13:33
In reply to Lithium sucks but it's a relatively safe drug, posted by Lazarus on June 1, 2005, at 22:21:11
WHy is it that you say it sucks?
I was put on seroquel and am now going off it, as it didn't do anything for me. I don't have bipolar or mania, but I have really bad racing thoughts, have for years. Pdoc figures it is either a manifestation of my anxiety or a bit of hypomania.
I am going to give it a shot but with a great deal of hesitancy:)
Posted by yesac on June 2, 2005, at 12:04:06
In reply to ANY LITHIUM USERS PLEASE HELP!! » Lazarus, posted by hockeygirlcanada on June 2, 2005, at 6:13:33
> I am going to give it a shot but with a great deal of hesitancy:)Hi again... I just wanted to say that when I first took lithium in March of 2004, I was also VERY hesitant. I really didn't want to take it. I thought it was one of the worst drugs of all, and I had avoided trying it for a long time despite my shrink's recurrent urgings.
But honestly, it's not that bad. It really isn't. I'm on it again now because it seems to be one of the only drugs that actually works for me. There are some side effects, but they aren't that bad. It is no worse than any other drug, and probably better than a lot of them. Like someone else said, it is actually just a salt, not a synthetic high-priced pharmaceutical concoction. In fact, there is some research showing that it has neuroprotective qualities.
I am afraid of gaining weight if I stay on it for a long time.... the weight gain is slow, unlike drugs such as Depakote or Zyprexa. So you might think that you're not gaining weight over the course of a couple months, but then a year or two later you've gained 10 pounds. That's what I'm afraid will happen.
Good luck. It probably won't be that bad, and it might really help your racing thoughts. Unfortunately, it does take some time before it begins to work.
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
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