Question:
I was wondering if anyone knows about lithium. I was diagnosed
with manic depressive disorder and I've been taking lithium for
almost two weeks now, (after one week, the doctor upped the dosage since
my blood test said it wasn't effective enough) 1200 mg a day (600
mg/twice). And I'm feeling much calmer, but sometimes I get big stomach
aches and feel spacey and dizzy, and sometimes I'm really tired. I've been
having a lot of trouble concentrating this year, so being wihtout the big
anxiety feeling is nice, but the dizziness and spaciness is weird and
disconcerting. Is this normal?
Answer:
I have been on Lithium for over 3 years. The most important thing to
remember about Lithium is that the therapeutic dose can be very close
to the lethal dose. (Seriously -- and I'm NOT an alarmist!) Lithium
is washed through the system relatively rapidly. The patient needs to
drink lots of water every day. (Tea and coffee help, but being
natural diurectics, don't help as much as water.) Otherwise, the
level of Lithium in the blood can rise to a dangerous, even lethal,
amount in ones system. My physician told me that if I were ever ill
and rapidly losing liquid -- i.e., either vomiting or diarrhea -- I
should stop taking the Lithium. As for side effects, I must admit I have only a limited knowledge of
them from what other people have told me. (I am lucky and seem to
have no intolerance to it at all.) I have heard, however, that it can
cause nausea and diarrhea. There are other symptoms some people
experience, but I can't remember them. (They'd all be listed in a
PDR.)
Good luck to you and your friend, both. Just remember the danger of
"naturally" overdosing due to a sudden occurence of inadequate liquids
in the system. This is the only medication I am aware of that has
that potentially lethal effect. It's not something you should stay up
nights worrying about, but you should be aware of it so that if your
friend gets really sick in your presence sometime, you can tell the
care givers that your friend takes Lithium so they give your friend
the appropriate treatment.
