Posted by Solstice on February 27, 2012, at 19:27:47
In reply to Re: Saphris - more reactions - lithium question, posted by Christ_empowered on February 27, 2012, at 18:31:55
Thanks for the input CE.. she's been on Lithium about four or five weeks now. five days at 300mg, five days at 600mg, then five days at 900 mg. had a blood level done a week ago - it was real low - .7. Saturday night she had terrible tremors, so the on-call PDoc said to go down to 600mg.
I hope to hear from some lithium users before she has to take her meds.. to find out if going down to zero all of a sudden will be a problem.
Solstice
> I agree with twinleaf that lithium+neuroleptics sometimes=EPS, even when using atypical neuroleptics at relatively low doses.
>
> I don't know if I'd pick lithium or a neuroleptic in her shoes. The tranquilizers are easier to deal with in some respects, but have their own long-term issues. Tough call.
>
> Anyway, I read a little about it (clearly, I'm not any kind of health expert, and I've never even taken lithium), and it seems that the problems with lithium withdrawal are more common in Bipolar I (the classic type--euphoric mania, severe depressions). In those cases, you can have worse mood episodes after withdrawal than you did before treatment, kind of like how schizophrenia can get worse after long-term antipsychotic treatment is withdrawn.
>
> If there are safety+tolerability issues, and the lithium hasn't been a long-term part of her cocktail, I'd just drop it, personally. I did that with depakote and felt 100 times better once it washed out of my system. I know the 2 meds are very different, but you get the picture: sometimes sudden removal of a medication makes you feel *so* much better, while a protracted taper might just prolong the misery (and shakes, tremor, etc.).
>
> Just my thoughts.
poster:Solstice
thread:1011787
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120221/msgs/1011823.html