Honestly if your not taking any other meds that indicate liver/kidney damage, for most people it takes years at a fairly high dose to see signs of real damage. The big thing you have to watch is your acetaminophen in take, that can take out your liver/kidneys pretty quick if your taking a high daily amount. The max daily amount of APAP regarded safe is 2000mg/day....and many hydrocodone mixes have more than that in a daily regimen.

I've been on narcotics off and on for 26 years, and for 11 years straight daily intake. I have kidney disease, but I was also on Lithium for 23 years...and that's what caused the kidney damage moreso than the narcotics.

Alot of it just depends on what meds or combo of meds your taking.

Kat

I agree with Kat- if you're not taking meds that can cause liver damage, and you have a healthy liver to start with, you're pretty safe.

There are certain meds that cause liver damage at higher amounts- Cymbalta and acetaminophen comes to mind. Plaquenil (used for lupus) also causes liver damage. When I was on Plaquenil, I had my liver enzymes checked every 3-4 months and did have increased liver enzymes for a while, but they went back to normal when I went off of it.

Also, when I was on the max dose of Cymbalta, my enzs were high. But then I decreased the dose, and finally went off it and they returned to normal too.

If you're on meds that are particularly liver toxic, your doc will order liver enzymes to be drawn every so often to monitor your liver function.

If not, you're pretty safe. You really haven't been on meds for a long time- 4 years is pretty low. I've been on meds for almost 19 years and my liver studies are pristine.

And Kat, my dad also had renal damage from Lithium. Unfortunately, that's why he stopped it and back then there were no other meds for him to take and he really had a lot of problems until he died.Sad...

Sandy

Unlike kidneys, the liver can repair itself if the cause of the damage is removed. As said above, acetaminophen is a major offender.

Sandy,

The sad thing is Lithium even though "old school" is still the BiPolar med that works the best. I chose being mentally stable over renal health, because it was only affecting my right kidney, and I had 2! I had tried all the other Mood Stabilizers at one time or another and they didn't work or had to be paired with so many others to work, at one point I was on 7 meds alone just for the BiPolar...it just got to be too much.

My Cymbalta journey only lasted 2 weeks, it makes me so manic I almost had to go back in the hospital to wait for it to get out of my system.

I finally had to stop Lithium early this year after on and off use for 23 years, I now take Tegretol in its place and it works even better, so I'm good. I've been on several renal toxic meds over the years, but my Docs are pretty sure it was the massive amounts of Lithium that did the damage.

I have been taking them longer than you and my liver is fine.

More telling, I nearly died from Celiac being un diagnosed. I starved until my liver and kidneys were not working at all. Other orgrans like, adrenals, thyroid, and most other organs were working at the very minimal levels to support life.
Once I got on a Gluten free diet, those organs had a chance to heal and they are working fine now.

Living causes damage over time ! Everyone eho has ever lived has died. You need to do what is necessary to actually live life.
Accepting that you will have some level of pain and using your meds responsibily - like taking the long acting on a regular basis and break thru as needed - to keep pain at bay so you can function is more important than constant worry that you are doing some sort of damage from medications. Without them we would mostly sit in the chair and that is very damaging.

Kat, it's funny because I can clearly remember when my dad starting taking Lithium. It was in 1970 and was still experimental and he was given it at the VA. It changed him so much! He went from an abusive man to a kind father. Yes, he still had ups and downs, but nowhere nearly as severe.

When he stopped it in 1991, he reverted back into the extreme. He disowned me and my brother, married a woman less than a year after my mom died and never looked back. The next time I saw him, he was on his deathbed. He had taken Keflex for a wound he got from opening a can of cat food and apparently was so manic, he didn't realize the extreme amt. of diarrhea he was having and ended up with a dead bowel and died about 2 months later. I feel badly that his bipolar couldn't be controlled after he went off the Lithium and died the way he did but he wouldn't speak to me prior to the incident and there wasn't anything I could do. It frustrates me to this day.
I'm glad you are able to take Tegretol and manage your bipolar disease. You're a nice person and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Sandy