Posted by Tomatheus on December 25, 2005, at 20:45:58
In reply to MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, posted by summerflowers on December 25, 2005, at 2:17:27
Summerflowers,
It's great to hear that you're optimistic about your husband's treatment. A positive outlook goes a long way, and it's a good way to keep the spirits bright on this Christmas day. Lithium has been known to work wonders for some individuals, and there are patients whose side effects are minimal. I certainly hope that lithium works out for your husband.
But as helpful as it is to be optimistic, it's also important to remember that lithium isn't effective in 100 percent of cases. I personally found lithium to be somewhat effective for my depressive symptoms when I was taking it with Wellbutrin, but I still found every day to be a struggle (at the very best) when I was on that combo. When I was on lithium monotherapy, I became so anxious and agitated that I always came across as being angry, no matter how calm the situation was (and I am not normally terribly anxious, whether taking meds -- other than lithium -- or not). And after I stopped taking lithium, the tremor that had emerged at the onset of lithium treatment never subsided, not even during my post-lithium med-free periods. Of course, it's possible that my tremor wouldn't have become permanent (unless it happens to go away at some point in the future) if I hadn't been taking the lithium with Wellbutrin for so long or if I hadn't gone against my doctor's advice and consumed excessive amounts of caffeine to help get myself through each day. I'm not saying that the lithium deserves all of the blame for the permanence of my tremor. But *please* understand that lithium is not a harmless substance. Just because lithium salts occur naturally does not mean that they are any safer than substances that can only be produced in a laboratory. As you hopefully know, lithium can become toxic if its concentration in the bloodstream rises too high. And even though some patients do not report any lithium-associated side effects, most patients actually do experience side effects, as the research abstract below indicates. Finally, your statement that "any side effects" associated with lithium can be controlled by lowering the dosage is not consistent with the available evidence from research studies. Consider the following abstract (from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7457166&dopt=Citation):
[--Beginning of abstract--]
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1980 Sep;62(3):193-200. Related Articles, Links
Clinically significant side effects of lithium treatment. A survey of 237 patients in long-term treatment.
Vestergaard P, Amdisen A, Schou M.
A group fo 237 patients in a long-term lithium treatment were questioned specifically about five side effects commonly associated with lithium treatment and unspecifically about "other" complaints. About one tenth of the patients did not complain of side effects, two thirds had one or two complaints, and one fourth had three or more. About one half of the patients complained of hand tremor, two thirds of increase thirst, one fifth of weight gain exceeding 10kg, one fifth of diarrhea, and one tenth of edema of legs or face. A few patients had other complaints. For each side effect we analysed whether its presence was significantly associated with such patient and treatment variables as sex, age, duration of the lithium treatment, 12-h serum lithium concentration, type of lithium preparation, and additional medication. Men complained of tremor significantly more often than women. Diarrhea was significantly less frequent in patients given additional treatment with antidepressants. Weight gain was associated with increased thirst and fluid output and with significantly increased blood pressure. None of the other variables distinguished between patients with and without the various complaints. We nevertheless hypothesize that a moderate reduction of the serum lithium level may lead to a lowering of the frequency of some side effects.
[--End of abstract--]
Once again, I do think that you should be optimistic about your husband's treatment. Your husband may very well respond very favorably to lithium with minimal side effects. But please be aware that lithium can have bothersome side effects (even at lower doses) and should not be taken without precautions.
Tomatheus
> My hubbie is going on lithium.Lithium seems like the buetifull drug hes been lookin for.Its a natural element,its virtually side effect free (any side effects dose controlled).I KNOW its what hes been needing for oh so long. By the way,iv been reading about a trail on very psychotic depressed people,using the abortion pill for only 5 days,all symptoms dissapeared completly,and didnt return.Its something to do with the hormone cortisol.Anyone else heard of this? (arina)
poster:Tomatheus
thread:592043
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051221/msgs/592149.html