Posted by linkadge on August 17, 2007, at 21:12:40
In reply to Re: Did Lithium make me irritable and anti-social? » med_empowered, posted by Squiggles on August 17, 2007, at 20:15:43
>It's highly unlikely that lithium can cause >irritation
I would personally disagree with that. Lithium is sometimes combined with another drug to create an animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Lithium can be proconvulsant and is often not a good choice for people with epilepsy and bipolar.
In situations where anger problems are a result of temporal lobe issues, ie abnormal EEG, then it is fully concievable that lithium can exaserbate the irritability just as it can worsen some epilepsy.
I agree that it is not normal, but I would not say that it doesn't exist because it can.
>-- unlike just about any other drug except the >benzos for example, it may knock you out into >lethargy and somnabulence. As for personality >blunting, that will happen to a bipolar in a >manic state. I have never had the so-called lack >of creativity or blunting of emotion on lithium.
Well, it is clear that some people don't get side effects that other people do.
>From the papers i have read and the books, it >looks like this is a myth.
Its not a myth. Lithium can reduce creativity
(IMHO). There are many personal accounts painters, actors, writers, musicians who claim that lithium has reduced their creative capacity.I think Robin Williams admits to reducing his lithium at times when he needed to regain certain aspects of his creativity.
>BTW, i would be interested to hear from people >who have switched from lithium to another mood >stabilizer.
I can say that when I was on lithium I had these rage type reactions that abated completely upon switching to either tegretol or depakote.
Like I had said, I may have temporal lobe issues though.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:776541
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070815/msgs/776852.html