Posted by barbaracat on March 21, 2005, at 2:36:35
In reply to Re: Benzos and other stuff, posted by cache-monkey on March 20, 2005, at 19:00:55
Hey, I lived in New England for 5 years. Loved it. Some more thoughts. The start of lithium therapy can be a rollercoaster while your therapeutic levels are being established. I doubt if any doctor will risk tampering with toxicity on one hand or a sub therapeutic weak response on the other and must go by set rules. I got up to the therapeutic range but did not like how I felt and knew it would not be long before I was 'uncomplying'. My main concern was that my thyroid could not hold a stable level, I felt shaky and clumsy. I backed off slowly, noticing very carefully my response and asking my husband to monitor me for extra weirdness while I reduced. I was able to halve my dose from the therapeutic 1200mg to 600mg and luckily, this seems to be the magic number for me. It could be that with all the other stuff I take I'm synergistically affecting the mood stabilizing properties and thereby need less lithium, but maybe I just need less to do the job - not perfectly, but well enough so that I'm not veering too far off center line.
Perhaps when you get to a therapeutic level you'll even off with fewer side effects. This frequently happens after a few weeks. A time-released brand can help with sx's (but not with polyuria). Hopefully you can maintain a stable response at a level where, despite the numbers, it works for you. This is the point where my pdoc said 'oh OK, it shouldn't be working, but I guess it is' and no longer insisted on that window.
My situation is that I've had disastrous and near fatal reactions to health-care and I'm not bloody likely to take anyone's word for anything if it doesn't feel right. I've had to advocate for myself and become my own test case, but I don't advise this for anyone not prepared to put alot of time, effort and risk-taking into it.
With that caveat, I will say this: if you're having uncomfortable and potentially unhealthy effects from lithium, the question is are you in a crisis that warrants ramping up so quickly? Can the dose increase be more gradual? Some recent articles state that 600-900mg is proving to be as effective and the current therapeutic window and dosages should be reevaluated. Perhaps your doctor is aware of these studies. Can you live with 'skirting the edge of hypomania', and find healthy lifestyles methods as enhancers to lithium's efficacy?
My case has been quite serious, resistant, and confounding to most health practitioners I've been to. They do what they can based on what they've learned, but I most definitely do not attribute the gains in my physical and mental health to their limited protocols. As I said, if I can get better, ANYONE can and I hope that gives some measure of hope. But I admit it took alot of tweaking. Enuff said on that.
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About hydration:
> [Hydrlite] actually seems quite cheap, or comparable to Gatorade in price, at least. Is Gatorade one of the "crappy" drinks to stay away from? How c**Yeah, Gatorade ranks pretty low. Drink it if you like it, but not for its hydrating properties. Too much sugar or fructose - don't you feel the stickiness afterwards? - not enough minerals and hardly any bicarbonate. Plus the artificial flavors and colors. Ick. Most of the sports drinks are in this category.
Hydralite tastes quite good and you're correct, compared to store bought brands, very cost effective. I heard about it when I was hiking in Idaho and got sick from high elevation dehydration. Cured the muscle and stomach cramps within the first day of taking it.
The only think I can think of to watch for is the sugars. He uses glucose and this is a good thing since as sugars go since glucose gets converted immediately to energy and metabolizes cleanly. But lithium can raise insulin levels (yet another reason to not bulk up on it) and I don't know how glucose affects this. As a sport drink/rehydrator, glucose is a necessary ingredient, along with the rest of the ingredients in their proper balance. Hydralite contains much less sugar than the others. I like it alot, but don't drink it all the time and depend more on the salt and bicarb to deal with the lithium/kidney thing.
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> << > In fact the ride up Li has (knock wood) been remarkable smooth. Hopefully the dose increase (which should get me to therapeutic levels) will be alright.
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> **Well, good. Hopefully you're one of the lucky ones that can benefit from lithium, as I do. I've found it very smooth and calming. It's a very interesting drug. Do a Google search on neuroprotective+lithium or neurogenesis+lithium and you'll be pleased at how good it actually is for the brain. Life extention folks use it for anti-aging. >>
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> Yeah, so this last dose adjustment has been a little less smooth. I've been noticing some definite polyuria action. I posted further down the board about this, but my bladder and prostate actually feel a little sore right now. It's kind of annoying, and I hope it subsides with time. If it doesn't, I'll have to push for a "sub-clinical" dose of Li with my pdoc. He won't be happy, though, since he (like your pdoc) is fixed on a magical number for for the lithium serum level. Anyway, time will tell, I suppose.
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> [...]
> << Are you taking fish oil, BTW? I don't think we've talked about that, but it's a big piece in my recovery. It seems to be so important to cellular health in general. The one I take is Carlson's Fish Oil, 2 Tbl a day. I get it from www.iherb.com. Pills aren't such a good idea because you have to take a handful to get the optimal amount (9-12G) and the oil is frequently rancid in pills. The Carlson's is lemon flavored and actually tasty. I'll tell you, though, all this mixing potions and stuff takes time. And money. >>
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> I tried fish oil for about three, with the goal of getting 1000 mg EPA (and, based on the formulation I was using, 200 of DHA). I think that it might have been making me more anxious and discontinued about two weeks ago. I rechallenge with it at some point, but for now I want to figure out what the Lithium is doing.
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> << Well, this has been a nice way to spend a lovely rainy day in Oregon. I love the rain, luckily. So do those big fir trees outside my window. It's helped me to put my regimen down on paper and appreciate everything this wild journey has taught me. - Barbara >>
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> It's been definitely good for me to get feedback from someone who's a bit ahead of me in the game. You've definitely provided me a number of avenues to explore, as well as a comforting voice in the middle of all my mental health anxiety. Rain's on the way out here, now (New England), which always makes me feel a little bluer. Luckily I'm moving to slightly clearer skies in a few months. Hopefully I'll be taking a clearer, healthier head with me.
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> All the best,
> cache-monkey
poster:barbaracat
thread:470912
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050317/msgs/473460.html