Posted by CareBear04 on May 4, 2004, at 0:54:06
In reply to Re: lithium toxicity ?man_oh_man1977, posted by man_oh_man1977 on May 3, 2004, at 20:01:15
thanks, man-o-man! your answers were really helpful. i'm so sorry you had such a bad experience with lithium. my current dose is 900, probably soon to be raised to 1350 and maybe even higher. i'm on eskalith cr, which comes in 450 tablets, so there's not as much flexibility in making small dose changes. i'm also on zoloft, wellbutrin, inderal, xanax, and ativan. my dr. is hoping that if we increase my lithium level enough, the need for some of the other meds will drop away. i think he wants to keep the level within the therapeutic range, but push it within a narrow range of toxic. that's why i was so interested in your experience. i've been told that lithium toxicity can't happen at therapeutic levels, but from your story, obviously it can. i'm glad you were ok, and thanks again for your story.
to everyone else-- sorry for posting about lithium on a lamictal thread!
cb> Hi CareBear04,
>
> > man-o-man, can i ask? what was your experience with the lithium toxicity?
>
> -- not very good, but what can 'ya expect w/ any poisoning!
>
> how severe were your symptoms?
>
> -- pretty severe
>
> how did it come on?
>
> -- my pdoc warned me of the following: tremors, frequent thirst and frequent urination. I started at 150 mgs, eventually raising (once a week at 150 mgs/ week) to 900 mgs. After 300 mgs, the shaking was quite noticable, but I lied to myself and family that it was excessive caffeine, which covered the excessive urination as well. As I increased the dosage, my body was shaking really bad... by then I was up to 750 mgs. The peeing got so bad that I felt like I had to go to the bathroom every half hour or so; one night I wet my bed. I was on 900 mgs and started to get sick to my stomach. After 3 days, I started projectile vomiting, to the point where even water would make me vomit. (That being said, I couldn't hold down my other meds, either, so I was having some serious cold turkey w/d effects. ) We dropped down to 750, the symptoms stayed the same, so I went off of it. Still, tho, it took about a week for it to totally clear out of my system; gatorade really helped b/c lithium is a salt and the potassium in the gatorade worked as some sort of salt replacement.
>
> did you have to go to the hospital?
>
> -- no, thanks to the intervention of my dr. and having stopped lying to myself.
>
> sorry for all the questions.
>
> -- no need to apologise.
>
> i'm just trying to get as much info as possible about the drugs i'm taking.
>
> -- Good! I wouldn't worry too much about the toxicity, but how much are you taking? Is it part of a cocktail? Before things went awry, I felt it to be the best mood stabilizer I've ever taken.
>
> > thanks!
>
> -- you bet! hope this helps,
>
> Man-oh-man
poster:CareBear04
thread:342299
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040429/msgs/343085.html