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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 14:04:13
I just started taking 150 mg a few days ago. I have had other times I feel "zoned", but this has progressed today and seems more extreme. I don't know if other people are confused about what a call "zoned". I guess a little of the depersonalization. I just left work because I can't think/focus very well, I'm tired & I didn't feel like being there. (I feel guilty though)
Posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 16:17:25
In reply to Feel 'weird' starting Lithium, posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 14:04:13
does it go away?
Posted by former poster on June 21, 2010, at 20:33:45
In reply to Re: and tired Lithium, posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 16:17:25
I tried Lithium for 3 weeks. I know exactly what you mean by zoned out. I couldn't tolerate the feeling. It agravated my social anxiety and took years to feel like I was back at the place I was before Lithium.
Posted by ceres on June 23, 2010, at 4:39:38
In reply to Re: and tired Lithium, posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 16:17:25
Yes it does. In the mean time, you have my sympathy.
When I restarted lithium, it was only w/ the instant release, just at night & still struggled.
I feel for you trying to get by at work like this. Can you cut the pills & go up at a slower pace?
For me, the last increases are a bit easier. Each trial, the adjustment time's been a bit different, maybe depending on fluctuations in chemistry.
I've noticed that a lot of other drugs added to lithium intensify that zombification.
Drinking lots of water & have some salt in your diet should keep it from over concentrating in your body.
Posted by alchemy on June 23, 2010, at 17:53:00
In reply to Re: and tired Lithium, posted by ceres on June 23, 2010, at 4:39:38
Thank you! I have stopped for a couple days & am going to take an even smaller amount. I'm using it to augment for resistent depression & I think I think I have some rapid cycling.
For you, how long until you saw results? Did you gain weight?
Posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 13:27:07
In reply to Feel 'weird' starting Lithium, posted by alchemy on June 21, 2010, at 14:04:13
I know a woman in her 60s who developed severe dimentia from Lithium toxicity-she was falling down several times a day, extreme confusion, very disoriented...etc. The symptoms came on slowly, so it wasn't a rapid deterioration.
However, things got so bad that she was recently hospitalized and at the ER, they discovered the cause of those symptoms to be lithium toxicity. Of course her blood levels were being monitored by the doctor, but blood level measurements don't indicate what else is going on inside your body-maybe a person's liver metabolizes differently than others--I dont' know just throwing that out there...
So if someone could get extreme dimentia from lithium - I suppose blood levels that seem normal - but might be too high - might cause milder cognitive problems?
This woman totally recovered from her cognitive symptoms after doctors deemed lithium to be the cause. She's in her late 60s, which might be an age at risk for dimentia, but thankfully the doctors investigated the situation as they did.
One of her doctors was going to put her in a nursing home-could you imagine the implications of that-if the lithium problem was not found by the ER doctors??? She could have ended up in a nursing home for the rest of her life!
I also like the optimism from hearing of good problem solving by doctors too! Some of us could use a dose of medical optimism. :)
Posted by former poster on June 27, 2010, at 13:54:51
In reply to Be extra careful about Lithium levels » alchemy, posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 13:27:07
Thanks for that post. Perhaps there is no consistent safety threshold for Lithium? It has me thinking now.. I took Lithium in the 1980's for 3 weeks. I started getting severe tinnitus, shaky hands. It didnt go away when I stopped and has only got worse since then.
Your post reminds me of another incident:
My mother ended up on Lithium in a nursing home. She got the same dementia "psychosis" you described. It turned out the staff neglected to have her blood levels checked.
My sister,who is working in the healthcare field, asked the staff if she could see my mothers chart. Turns out, they hadn't checked the levels in months. After demanding she be tested immediately, they found that she had several times the poisonous level of Lithium in her. She seemed to recover after a few weeks.
Posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 14:46:49
In reply to Beware of Lithium in nursing homes » violette, posted by former poster on June 27, 2010, at 13:54:51
FormerPoster - Thanks for adding your story to this...I am glad to hear your mother recovered thanks to your sis!
This woman didn't necessarily have psychosis-like dementia, she had a neuro (and several other docs) who did not think the meds were the cause, in addition to the psychiatrist...but I know what you mean by that..She also has had mild parkinson's symptoms for quite some time, but she was taking antipsychothics for decades. She had a neurologist and 6 other doctors. Apparently, no one connected the psych meds to the dimentia (I'm not sure how relevant her parksinson's symtpoms were in this but I'll probably talk to her next week) until the ER doc checked into it. She was on 11 different meds - and had been on Lithium plus antipsychotics most of her life.
What I'm thinking is that no one - not a doctor, bioscientist, or whoever - knows exactly how a combination of 11 meds can effect Lithium metabolism on the body (or maybe any other drug?). I mean, do studies even exist for the combination of 11 medications she was taking? Highly unlikely..Even if one of the doctors were to think, hmmm, maybe the large # of scripts she is taking might change the effects of lithium despite the optimal blood levels - none of them did until the ER doctor did. Her blood levels were regularly tested and she had a family member ensure she took it at the same time each day.
I was just thinking - this is a great example of how seperating health from psychiatry can totally change the fate of a person's entire life. Maybe the ER doctor had come across the situation before, perhaps by accident, or maybe he/she learned of it from a peer-based internet forum or group....Maybe he/she is just a great investigator..who knows...But I do know that hospital is not even known for the quality of its psychiatric care - they don't even have a full-time psychiatrist on staff.
Despite all her doctors and a neurologist, this woman was going to be placed in a nursing home-perhaps for the rest of her life-while she deteroriated. She had a neuro and psychiatrist...but Because_one_doctor connected health with medications-her fate totally changed.
She does have shaking and other parksinson-like symptoms as before, but is completely 'normal' again thanks to this one doctor.
I never knew Lithium-even at optimal blood levels-could effect someone like this. Hopefully someone else will make the connection and prevent this from happening to a dear family member or friend.
I wish you well with finding the answers about your tinnitus and other symptoms, your search for wellness...Don't give up :)
Posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 14:58:51
In reply to Re: Beware of Lithium in nursing homes » former poster, posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 14:46:49
Formerposter - I was also thinking more about this...and am going to write a commendation letter to the hospital about this. Maybe the ER doc, resident, or nurse happened to notice she missed a dose or 2 of lithium that correlated with an improvement in symptoms...who knows. But I am really awed by this story. The family had been making arrangements for her placement in a nursing home for a few weeks and she was scheduled to move this week.
No one connected her health decline with the Lithium until after spending a week in the hospital.
I wrote a letter to a doctor years ago, thanking him for his care because he really stood out and I was so thankful for the way he cared for my child at a time when I was uninsured and both my child and I had generally lousy medical care...he actually took the time to write me back to thank me for writing him-it was such a heartfelt, sincere letter-he was so appreciative of my positive feedback and said it really made his day.
Happy doctors = happy patients....
Posted by former poster on June 28, 2010, at 10:02:32
In reply to Re: Beware of Lithium in nursing homes » violette, posted by violette on June 27, 2010, at 14:58:51
Good work Violette. I think Drs. deserve some recognition when they are doing an exceptional job. They have many frustrations to deal with every day and sometimes feel dissatisfaction on the outcome of their patients and are always under scrutiny of the legal system plus the evil insurance companys!
This is the end of the thread.
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