for me lithium was a life saver literally. i had been suicidal and when i came out of the hosp, i was flying. i was on depakote at a high dose and it was doing nothing for me. they added the lithium and it really evened me off. i did get toxic after a few years so they weaned me off the depakote and lowered the lithium. i\'m doing terrific now. it did also blow my thyroid, but there are meds to counter that too. it took a long time to get the right dose and combo of meds but i wouldn\'t give up the lithium for the world

Curious about what \"high\" dose equates to? I have tried Lithium several times and it did nothing for me.

lucky for me, lithium has worked. saved my life. it took a while to find the right dose (blood level at .9/1.0) and it most likely blew my thyroid but not too bad as they caught it early so i take thyroid meds. i also have a doc who believes in the lowest dose possible for me to be stable so we mixed and matched until we got there. i\'m at 1200 mg/day and i take it all at once, at night. i used to take it 4 times a day (x 300mg each) but would miss doses, get drowsy and such. now it\'s all i take. and i\'ve taken it with lamictal, depakote, zyprexa. i take zyprexa only to cut mania as needed. but i take no other mood stabilizers now. other than that it\'s lithium. you have to drink lots of water to stay hydrated because it\'s an element. if you dont stay hydrated you can get toxic: shaky hands, dizziness. it does make you constipated at first. again, water fixes that. and taking it all at night makes it easy because you dont miss a dose and the drowsiness it induces makes you sleep

Thanks for the info. I was on 900mg, and took it throughout the day. I will discuss all of this with my new doc in December.
Thanks again.

I take 900 mg now and don\'t feel much of an effect, although I wish it would since it is a natural element. I plan on discussing this with my doctor this month as well.

I also take 1200mg of Lithium all at bedtime and I have to take thyroid meds also but the I am here to tell anyone Lithium is a WONDER DRUG!!!!
I would not be here today with my family without it and I take every day as it is my last and just enjoy every minute I have with my family...so god bless the man or woman who thought of Lithium!!!

Just a note. My doctor told me (here in GA) that there is a Lithia Springs where families would take their sick members to swim in. They have a high concentration of lithium in them. Maybe there are other hot springs in the world that are the same and that is where they came from. Sorry to deviate from the topic.

I have also taken lithium for years. It has swollen my thyroid gladnd to the point of my eyes bulging. I don\'t feel it has helped me so I don\'t think I will go back on it.

People with thyroid problems are almost assured to have problems when taking lithium. I am not sure that lithium has worked well for me at all. My type of bipolar is so depressive. I felt like the lithium was barely keeping me out of bed but that was it for me as far as functioning. They should warn people about the effects of lithium on one\'s thyroid. The thyroid gland is extremely important to a body functioning properly and as I have learned recently the testing that is done by most of the medical community is not complete. I found this web site dedicated to thyroid health. It is www.stopthethyroidmadness. com. I am going to go to a doctor that really knows how to treat the thyroid gland and have my adrenal glands checked as well. If anyone goes to that site post about what you think of it.

I took lithium for a short period of time and it helped me more than anything else I had tried. and I\'ve tried everything. Unfortunately it made me so sick that my doctor had to pull the plug on it. I tried to suffer through it, but it was really brutal. If I could stomach it, I would absolutely be taking it.

i\'m new here, so i hope i\'m doing this right. i\'m very scared to start lithium. i\'ve heard so many bad things about it.. how does it make you feel? is it like a downer?

my pdoc says lithium is next on the list for me. I havent ever taken it, it makes me kinda scared. I don\'t know what to expect from it. I don\'t want to feel like a \'zombie\'.

i know what you mean, i already feel like a zombie with insomnia anyways. but i also dont want it to make me hyper feeling, i dont like that. i\'m supossed to start it today so i will let you know how it affects me.

Hello;read th ebook\"An Unquiet Mind\" by Kay Redfield Jamison,in which she states that,for her,it came down to a matter of life and death for her,with lithium.

A man by the name of John Cade discovered lithium,in either 1948 or 1949.