Hi!

So, Lithium is one of the safest meds that you can take for BiPolar. Its one of the oldest and original BiPolar meds. Its not a chemical or synthetic compound. Lithium is a Salt, its on the Periodic Table, its a natural element. The general therapeutic range for BiPolar treatment is between 600 - 1200 mg. It has very low side effects. There are 2 main things to watch for with Lithium, Renal issues which are usually checked for in larger amounts with quarterly blood tests. 2nd is toxicity, since Lithium is a salt you have to make sure your hydrated throughout the day, nothing crazy, just regular 64 oz. or more of liquid per day.

No weight issues or anything like that to worry about. It works very well on BiPolar Depression for most people.

I'm 28 years BiPolar, I personally took it for 15 years.

Fish oil is better if you can find it in the smaller capsules. The bigger capsules tend to have the more "fishy" tastes, and you'll "burp" fishy during the day, it can be gross...depending on how you feel about fish. I'm not a food person, so I don't care for fishy. lol The smaller caplets aren't bad.

Probiotics are pretty widespread these days. We've put germ killer in everything we eat, touch, sanitize with these days, Dr.'s prescribe antibiotics at every sniffly nose...result is our bodies natural defense systems don't work and bigger badder germs have developed. So now Dr.'s tell us to use Probiotics to put good bacteria back in our guts and systems. Its a split decision, some Dr.'s advocate for them, some Dr.'s don't. Personally I think it's a personal choice. If you're a person that uses all the hand sanitizers and fortified waters, takes a lot of antibiotics, etc. probably wouldn't hurt to put some good bacteria back in your body. If you don't you might not need it so much. We've lived a long time without Probiotics.

So, there you go, that's what I can give you on those 3 topics. Welcome to the BP Board, good to meet you, hope you hang around.

Take care,
kat

So I'm assuming you are not bipolar from what you said? So you would be on a much lower dose than us...

that means that most of the warnings and side effects you might read about probably won't apply as your dosage will be so much less

What dose are you on?

Welcome reneep...... I have been on all of these..... I no longer take Lithium but did for several years

Probiotics are great for your immune system and fish oil does a lot of good..... For me I use it for my eyes

Big hug..... Your doctor is a very skilled specialist and he/she's trying to help you get to a stable place..... If it were me I would work with my doc.....xo

One psychiatrist diagnosed me as bipolar type 2. That dr was just consulting with my pcp, he had not met me. The psychiatrist I am seeing now thinks I have OCD, anxiety and depression. I'm not sure what to believe. The lithium she wants me to take is 150mg per day.

the usual dosage for Depression is 600-900mgs. 150mgs of Lithium is not going to do much of anything for what they're currently diagnosing you with. It won't do much of anything for BiPolar either. This is way too low of a dose.

If a Pdoc has Diagnosed you with BiPolar 2, regardless of the reason, that's an official Diagnosis on your medical record. You've now got a 2nd Pdoc with an additional Diagnosis of OCD and Anxiety. You might want to get a 2nd opinion of a Pdoc of your choosing to figure out what your actual Diagnosis should be.

Because at this point your taking a very low dose of Lithium that is too low to really treat anything. And if you are BiPolar 2 and you take some meds but don't take the others needed to finish the Cocktail it can cause you to shift mood episodes. I know this all probably sounds scary and complicated, but you need to know what your actual Mental Illness is so you can treat it properly, so that you don't make things worse by taking the wrong meds or wrong dosages.

Take care,
Kat

yeah 150mg is pretty pointless for bipolar unless this is starting you on lithium and you are due to have the blood tests and this is only a prelude to upping your dose.

Otherwise lithium is used in lower doses for a number of things, including anxiety.

Sometimes it can take quite a while to make a firm diagnosis.... BUT symptoms can still be treated effectively

I would work with your doc to help you to find stability .... My diagnosis for several years was depression and anxiety until it eventually became BP 2....

A lot of doctors won't use 'labels' now due to it taking time to make a firm diagnosis and the confusion if it changes

I would work on getting symptoms under control .... Don't deny yourself .... You deserve to feel better

If you have questions and concerns I would write them down as you think of them and let your doc know you want to talk about these things

Gentle hug.....xo

Don't worry I use to take Lithium I didn't feel weird or anything when I took it it works pretty good. I stopped taking Lithium because I found out that I have a Thyroid condition. I take Latuda now and some other psych meds because I have a few different mental illnesses to treat not just Bipolar. and I also take a probiotic and flaxseed oil I can't take fish oil I can't digest the supplements well but I can eat fish so I take the flaxseed oil supplement instead.

Learning to trust doctors at all has been one of the most difficult parts of my mental health journey other than learning to trust myself, which came first. In my case Lithium just makes me vomit within ten minutes of taking it so alternatives had to be found.

I think it was psychosomatic, but uncontrollable nausea meant it was useless in my case. Anyway the doctors had another answer and eventually the right med cocktail for me was found. Now I am doing well so am very grateful a lot of the time.

Oldest drug, cheapest and still one of the most effective

Try it, you can always stop - drugs do everyone different, but its been a Huge winner in helping make me a better person