Posted by allye on February 17, 2004, at 9:20:04
In reply to Re: I don't even know who I am anymore, posted by allye on February 16, 2004, at 22:43:31
In the six years I've been doing this job I've carried a patient load of appx 130- have been moved around from clinic to clinic to keep the numbers right and cover shortages,wehave to list cause of renal failure on our initial assessments and biannual assessment updates. I've never seen lithium as the cause. Mostly it's hypertension, diabetes and some inherited genetic disorders. Occasionally we'll have recreational drug use, cancer chemotherapy, long-term use of tylenol or NSAIDS such as ibuprofen, even a few strep throat cases. So after dealing with hundreds of patients, I've never personally seen lithium as the cause. There are probably statistics out there, but I'm very comfortable with it. Again, hope this helps lessen your very legitimate fears. I would be worried, too, without the first hand knowledge. Just keep up with your lab monitoring and you should be fine. Allye
> Dialysis removes lithium, so that wouldn't work. But bipolar dialysis patients can take some of the antipsychotics or anticonvulsants for mania.
>
> BUN and creatinine are routine tests that can tell you early on if your kidneys are being damaged by lithium.
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> Having worked in the dialysis field for six years, I still would choose- no contest!- kidney failure over untreated biolar disorder.
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> Hope this helps- Allye
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>
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> > I don't know if you could take lithium while on dialysis.
> >
> > I have a question if you don't mind.
> > I know so little.
> >
> > with regular monitoring, is it possible to detect these problems before progress too far? (in order to change to another medication?)
> >
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Linkadge
>
>
poster:allye
thread:312564
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040215/msgs/314568.html