Posted by stebu on March 29, 2004, at 8:36:05
In reply to Re: lithium orotate? (other minerals, etc.) » stebu, posted by guttersnipe on March 28, 2004, at 23:56:12
>I'm really happy you wrote, happier still you are getting some relief and taking good care of yourself. I noticed the effects of Lithium Orotate right away, no real delay in onset of benifits. The cautions in the Smith Schou study weren't based on much to my way of thinking. So far, my creatin clearance is normal, as is urinary output.
I started into my hypomanic phase in Febuary. Lithium Oratate has done a great job controling it. I have had to take my dose up considerably, I was using 2 tabs TID, bumped up to 3TID, now I'm on 4 TID. LO does seem to have a short half life. I have had a dose dependent response, and can tell if I miss a dose, and I get a strong mood stabilizing effect from a larger dose. My blood level of lithium has not yet risen above .1. It's doing a great job for me. My psychiatrist is impressed.
On safety, my doc speaks nationally with one of the world's leading experts on lithium, a Doctor Swann, when I first considered going on LO, my doc consulted with Dr. Swann. He basically said lithium is lithium and it shouldn't hurt me. The only side effect I've noticed on the higher doses is a slight change in balance.
I use mega doses of B vitamins, L-lysine, Taurine, No caffine, vegatarian Diet. I teach yoga, pranayama, meditation,and asana are all a big part of what keeps me healthy.
I'd love to hear individually from anyone trying or thinking of trying Lithium Orotate. My email is : dreamingnow8@hotmail.com Hope this helps. Steve
Hi folks,
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> I'm new here ... I registered primarily to ask others about lithium orotate, and about bipolar folks' successes (and/or lack thereof) with taurine, tyrosine, B vitamins, magnasium, and the other stuff that some research suggests is helpful for bipolar (anyone into Vipassana? I'm getting back into it after years of neglect; kirtan too). To Stebu and others who are using lithium orotate under a MD's supervision/with an MD's knowledge: what do your docs have to say about the Smith and Schou (1979) study about kidney function? I have read a number of anecdotal reports that the orotate form of lithium often works (although not always) for bipolars, and I am aware that many MDs into holistic/alternative care are recommending it to their patients with some good anecdotal success rates, but I would hate to find out after taking it for a while that I've permanently turned my kidneys into jello or over-salted my brain.
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> I found out the hard way that Effexor is pure poison (for me, at least -- nearly 2 years of 24/7 mixed-state or dysphoric hypomania before I figured out, with no help from my psychiatrist until I suggested the idea, that the Effexor might be doing more harm than good ... same doc who failed to even screen me for bipolar even though the symptoms of my diagnosed GAD are virtually identical to a dysphoric bipolar II). I don't want to repeat the same mistake with lithium orotate that I made with Effexor.
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> I went off all meds about 3 months ago, except for the occasional left-over Ativan or perhaps a few cocktails when the ride got too wild (and it's been a wild, rapid-cycling ride). I am taking the supplements mentioned above, along with theanine and a multivitamin and a multimineral, and began taking lithium orotate about a week ago (with skepticism, as I am aware of the lack of methodologically sound research) .
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> It might be just coincidence, as I've read that lithium often takes 2-3 weeks to take full effect and I've only been on the lithium orotate for a week, but the last two days I have been more stable than I've been in years -- I haven't thrown a single object at the wall in a fit of mixed-state rage, nor spent a single moment curled up in the closet bawling in despair. Yeah, probably just the supplements kicking in, and/or coincidence ... I'll give it a good while longer to see whether the lithium orotate stuff works.
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> Any replies welcome.
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poster:stebu
thread:259704
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040225/msgs/329761.html