It was a complete disaster for me Stacy. I had all kinds of weird stuff going on by the time we got to a useful level. Had to discontinue for good.

I was up to 750mg at that point by the way.

it took 1200mg to get to a therapeutic level for me.. and it was a nightmare... headaches, nausea, fainting, tremor, what I call the heebie jeebies (strange bodily movements/feelings).. and I also felt like a zombie.. gave up on it after 6 weeks

if you can call your shrink and let him/her know whats happening

good luck

i was also like a zombie on it i hated it i don't know if they gave me too much ?and now i can't remember the dosage i had
it was long ago and i don't want to try it again

I was just thinking about this today...Has anyone ever had a good reaction to Lithium? All I ever hear is the negative and yet my pdoc says it's like the top med for stabilizing moods..

With Lithium you CANNOT add salt or take away any salt to your diet , also u must get blood tests done frequently so you dont get a Lithium overdose, also drink lots and lots of water Lithium is a senthetic salt which can dehydrate you. and always keep up with ur doc appoinment. good luck.

I also gained 20 kilo in 6 months

You need to tell doctores whats going on my daugther took it she did not like it eather.hugs minnie

I've had nothing but good times on lithium. Ok, that's a lie. I have gained weight and I have a tremor, but other than that, it's all good. (And actually, I've had a tremor since I was 16 - the same age my seizures started, but it's just more pronounced now.) I take a hefty dose, 1200 mg daily (600 mg BID), and until recently, have been fairly stable once I reached the therapeutic dose. I also take an antipsychotic on top of it.

BUT, my neurologist says it's no good, and he wants me off of it ASAP. He's sending me to a psychiatrist who specializes in people with psychiatric and neurological conditions (on Monday. I'm so excited!)

I've never been on lithium but I know people who have been and for one girl it works, the other two it was horrible. I take lamictal. I was told its the equivalent to lithium but without the harsh side effects. Talk to your doctor about Lamictal! It works great for me. I'm on the max dose and yes I still have horrible swings, but its been the only thing to work half way for me.

Yes, I have. I don't take Lithium. There are a lot of other meds to choose from.

I take 1000mg and apart from the usual side effects, Lithium has been extremely helpful.
150mg is a small dose, perhaps you need it increased to see any positive effects.

I have been on lithium for a long time... it really works for me. I don't feel like a zombie at all. I used to think that when I was first diagnosed, but I don't know... it changed for me. I recently have accepted taking medication for my illness altogether so that may have something to do with it. The only bad side effect I have from lithium is... ACNE... I hate it.

For bipolar this was the best drug I was on. and 150 mg is the tiniest dose you can take. It damaged my kidneys and I had lithium psychosis on 600 mg. It took months to recover from it. It was probably because I was on prednisone at the same time.

1200 mg is about what many people need. If lithium works, you can often take it without the other meds. It sounds like you are very sensitive to it if you are having this kind of reaction. I would see you pdoc immediately. There are lots of other meds.

I was on 1200 down from 1500mg due to a blood test. Now that I am playing god with my meds due to lack of insurance I am down to 200mg to make it last a long time. I figure it is better to be low on a med than out of a med until my reserve is long gone.

I was taking other meds with Lithium so I am not sure which did what to me but it seemed to help with extreme moods and you do get used to it in a few months. You just got to give it a chance and that is hard to do when you are a walking zombie.

Last night I was an insomianic, it really sucked.