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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Squiggles on May 22, 2003, at 7:19:40
Hi,
I'm going to try to cut 1/3 of my dose on 2 days
a week. I take 900mg per day regularly. I have
been having many side effects since my dr. reduced
my Synthroid from 0.155 to 0.112 with the lithium,
including the horrid di -- which i managed to
correct by cutting 1 li cap on Saturdays.This is the first week i have cut 2 li caps and
i feel the benefits -- will monitor and report;
aiming for about 800mg per week.I tried cutting it 3 consecutive days a couple
of months ago and it was a disaster - withdrawal;
looks like all drugs are habituating to one
degree or another.My dr. is liberal and lets me experiment - hee hee hee.
Posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 8:18:02
In reply to Squiggly liners - reducing lithium, posted by Squiggles on May 22, 2003, at 7:19:40
Hi,
As a follow up to my reduction of lithium
(aiming for 800mg instead of 900mg per day)
i am reporting that i feel so well, i almost
feel sick.The relation between Synthroid (thyroxine
replacement for lithium-induced hypothyroidism)
and lithium is like this: imagine a scale -
on one side you have the lithium, on the other
the thyroxine hormone; if the lithium is too high
then the thyroid gland has to struggle to produce
more thyroxine. You get the picture. I am
according to my bloods hypothyroidic since my
Synthroid was reduced. I wondered to myself why
the lithium was not as well.And i asked my dr. if nothing could be done about
my hypothyroidism (shaking head sadly, nope);
Maybe, i've found a way.Anyway, so far here are the improvements:
- hands are not numb or feeling full of water
(a few yrs ago they were in stilts from acute
paralysis of the carpal nerve - neuro doc. said
it was not carpal tunnel syndrome from typing
but thyroid probably);
- i did not realize that it was not necessary or
normal to feel like an elephant when walking, esp.
getting up;- more mobile and sensitive skin wise and muscle wise;
- less appetite
- head feels clear with less brain heat waves;
- Heart rate up slightly (80 instead of 68 or 70);
Some disadvantages - wake up in the middle of the
night - but go back to sleep again; I'm still taking
3 0.50 klonopins but i don't think what i had was
withdrawal when i tried to get off 3 yrs. ago
- i think it was a lithium seizure as my head hurt so much every time
i had to take the lithium. It was the summer of
constant record heat; maybe it was an interaction
of w/d and lithium going up - not sure. Very sick then.
The incident was let pass.So, far so good.
Squiggles
Posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 11:21:05
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week 2 » Squiggles, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 8:18:02
Aaargghh....
I went to the grocery store to do the
food shopping and started getting really
antsy and jittery, some buzzy feelings
behind my ears - sort of lower neck area;
-- is this withdrawal from
lithium or an underlying thing rearing its
ugly head?Maybe my dr. is right - maybe there is something
wrong with my head and i need some chemical hammers
to keep the demons down, metaphorically speaking of
course -- i have not gone satanic yet.Maybe i should stick to 875 mg lithium by dropping
only on Saturday (1/3 of that daily dose); or maybe
do this 2cap drop every 2nd week on Sat. and Wed.Arggh, why can't i get it right -- i feel so much
better with a lower dose, and yet i am getting
these curious anxiety type feelings.Psychopharmcology is so frustrating.
Squiggles
Posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 11:57:37
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week 2 » Squiggles, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 11:21:05
But as soon as i took the due Klonopin,
i am perfectly ok again -- strange, no?
That the Rivotril and Lithium should be
so interrelated, somehow, so that the Rivotril
can act on the lithium lowered dose effect.Problem is - i have not studied psychopharmacology
nor do i know medicine - and neither do the
anti-psychiatry desperados.Squiggles
Posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 17:48:35
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week2 p.s. » Squiggles, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 11:57:37
I'm having electric zaps in the head - this
is reminiscent of the Klonopin withdrawal -
i would rather be dead from an o/d than
go through that withdrawal again. I also
have some anxiety and some sweats.Unfortunately, the benefits are too costly,
so i am returning to the more conservative
cut of only 1/3 of the lithium dose on Saturdays;And if that presents problems going back to the
full one.Just don't know if this is withdrawal, or
an underlying disorder or basically a brain change
state after taking the stuff for more than 20 yrs.I think it is the latter - wonder how those
guys at SCI do it - i bet they have not been on
the drugs for as long as i have.Wish me luck.
Rats, my experiment has failed.
Squiggles
Posted by fallsfall on May 23, 2003, at 18:30:39
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week2 Elec » Squiggles, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 17:48:35
Sorry it didn't work! I was reading your account with interest. Good Luck! (I love my 1200mg a day)
Posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 18:33:20
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week2 Elec » Squiggles, posted by fallsfall on May 23, 2003, at 18:30:39
Thanks very much; how long have you been
taking 1200 and how much do you weight if
you don't mind my asking? Any other adjuncts?Sorry, I don't know too many people taking the'
drug and i appreciate your interest.Squiggles
Posted by fallsfall on May 24, 2003, at 0:39:22
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week2 Elec » fallsfall, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 18:33:20
I've been taking it since my first depression - for 8 years. Most of that time I was on 900mg. The last time I crashed he upped it to 1200, probably 16 months ago. I have blood work done periodically and it looks fine to him (maybe I'm at the high end now, and the low end at 900mg). I weigh 170. Once, maybe 4 years ago I tried to go off it, and felt real depression very quickly. I went back to my regular dose at the time (900mg probably), and felt better right away. You couldn't pay me to stop taking it. It is the only drug that I have been taking the whole time (except for the Synthroid that I take to counteract the Lithium...) - everything else comes and goes.
You have side effects that you are trying to get rid of, right? I guess I've been taking it so long that any side effects feel "normal" to me. Plus the benefits are so great that it would take a real killer side effect to make me stop.
P.S. I take Lithium as part of a balanced drug program - also Prozac, Provigil, Strattera, Synthroid, Sonata, Neurontin (and Inderal, Ativan PRN). Yum!
Posted by Squiggles on May 24, 2003, at 6:36:03
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week2 Elec » Squiggles, posted by fallsfall on May 24, 2003, at 0:39:22
Hi falsfall,
I agree with you about the nature of lithium -
i have always placed in the group of miracle
drugs, next to penicillin.Your situation sounds similar to mine except
i have taken it for more than 20 yrs. I also
tried getting off about 10 yrs. ago and got
depression after 3 months, and anxiety, but not
the electric head feelings i got this time -- that
maybe brain changes taking place after so long.It is encouraging to hear you speak of lithium
this way -- i am sorry you have to take the
additional drugs and that your dose is high,
but i have read that the aim is for the bloods,
so possibly your metabolism is different.Thanks again for the shared experience report -
i appreciate hearing from lithium users, as the
drug may be in competition right now.Squiggles
Posted by Ellen S. on May 24, 2003, at 11:34:45
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week 2 » Squiggles, posted by Squiggles on May 23, 2003, at 8:18:02
>
> I am
> according to my bloods hypothyroidic since my
> Synthroid was reduced.Why was your thyroid hormone supplement reduced? "Hypothyroidic" means the thyroid level is too low. I'm no doctor (I do take thyroid supplements), but it sounds to me like you need to be back on the higher level of Synthroid again, together with the higher dose of lithium.
Posted by Squiggles on May 24, 2003, at 13:41:40
In reply to Re: Squiggly liners - reducing lithium :Week 2, posted by Ellen S. on May 24, 2003, at 11:34:45
It was reduced because it was too high.
When some yrs. later it turned out to be
too low, my dr. decided that a sub-clinical
low was better than too high; i did ask
for a higher dose 0.120, but because i got
heart palpitations the first day i tried it,
he told me to go back to the lower one.The thyroid has been a problem - when they
tried to fix it i got something like thyroid
storm - it was awful (sweats, 2 hrs sleep
every night for 6 months, panic, heart attack
feelings, hunger, palour). It was a miracle
that my dr. finally got me stable.Squiggles
This is the end of the thread.
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