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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by yesac on June 12, 2005, at 14:23:41
I don't think I'm at a toxic level or anything, but I wonder if my lithium level might be getting too high. At 600 mgs it was only around 0.5, but I went up to 900mgs 5 days ago, and now I feel kind of spaced out and mildly nauseaus-- not confused or drugged or stumbling around or puking though. I wonder if I should reduce my dose. I think this just might be too much to be "comfortable".
Posted by mattw84 on June 12, 2005, at 19:19:08
In reply to Lithium- too high?, posted by yesac on June 12, 2005, at 14:23:41
Yesac,
That is a high dose of lithium, but no where near the maximum dose. (2400mg) Might be worth giving it a few days to see if your side effects subside -- or call your doctor if you are really concerned. Rest assured your dose is within the normal range.
Regards,
M
Posted by barbaracat on June 12, 2005, at 22:23:28
In reply to Lithium- too high?, posted by yesac on June 12, 2005, at 14:23:41
You'r not at a toxic leve and you're going to feel a bit of something with every increase. When you consider it, a jump from 600 to 900 is relatively substantial and will take a while to adjust. It took about 1 months for my tremors to go away but I really wasn't noticing any improvement in mood to warrant the extra pounds I was putting on.
One thing very important. If you absolutely don't need to increase, don't. Lithium interferes with the thyroid gland and has exacerbated by hypothyroid condition, which in itself can cause untold misery. I have to continually keep on top of it. Just a reminder to keep current on your thyroid tests and aim for a TSH level less than 2.0.
> I don't think I'm at a toxic level or anything, but I wonder if my lithium level might be getting too high. At 600 mgs it was only around 0.5, but I went up to 900mgs 5 days ago, and now I feel kind of spaced out and mildly nauseaus-- not confused or drugged or stumbling around or puking though. I wonder if I should reduce my dose. I think this just might be too much to be "comfortable".
Posted by yesac on June 13, 2005, at 10:34:24
In reply to Re: Lithium- too high? » yesac, posted by barbaracat on June 12, 2005, at 22:23:28
Your tremors went away? Oh that makes me so glad, because one of the biggest problems I have is the tremors.... I had been noticing a slight decrease in the shakiness during the past couple of weeks, and it actually had me thinking that maybe the lithium's not working as well anymore. I'm always afraid of that-- that some drug is going to stop working when it had been working okay. It seems like that's happened to me in the past, and then I'd just start to wonder if the drug ever was working in the first place or if it was just a coincidence or weird fluke that I happened to feel better.
> One thing very important. If you absolutely don't need to increase, don't.
>
I think you might be right. Well, I haven't had my thyroid checked, and I know I should get the lithium tests done soon. But what I am thinking now is that maybe it was better for me at 600 mgs and added to Seroquel. For some reason, lithium seems to augment the Seroquel and make it work at a much lower dose for me. I thought it was making me too tired, so I decided to just go off it last week. But I think I felt better on both-- like, they worked better together than either one by itself. So I think I'm going to go back to that. I'm trying 750 of lithium and a low dose of S, maybe 50mgs or even 25.
This is the end of the thread.
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