Can lithium used in a bipolar disorder cause lack of motivation, lower mood and lack of energy?
Lithium has been used for decades in the treatment of bi-polar disorder. The lack of motivation, lower mood and decreased energy is not uncommon in those who have been experiencing extreme "highs" and extreme "lows" for most of their lives. Many clients taking the medication have reported not quite knowing what to do with "normal" (i.e. stable) moods and emotions since they've been on a serious roller coaster ride for quite some time. Medication compliance, especially in bi-polar patients is quite challenging since once they begin to feel better, some patients quickly surmise they no longer need the medication. Or, they begin to decrease their medication and self medicate with other things such as alcohol, etc. Thus, the trap of the bi-polar mentality. Lithium dosages should be closely monitored by an appropirate physician with adjustments made to retain levels of medication within the therapeutic range. This requires follow up visits, bloodwork and ongoing counseling to assist the person affected in adapting to a new "normal". Never rule out the benefit of an effective support group for assisting in this transition as well.
How does lithium help with depression and anxiety for someone who is not bipolar?
The simple sad fact is lithium and other mood stabilizers are only a symptomatic treatment for bipolar and not actually treating the illness itself. Same goes for antipsychotic medication such as seroquel.As such the effect these medications have are pretty universal. kind of like paracetamol, It will relieve your headache just as much as your twisted ankle….Lithium and valproate are very common treatments for bipolar but that is not the only things these drugs can help with. FDA approved uses vs actual uses are often not even close. lithium is a mood stabilizer.. it regulates moods… not just bipolar moods
How long will a person have to intake lithium as medication for bipolar disorder?
Please consult your doctor or take professional advice from a Psychiatrist; Quora is not really a substitute. If you want to know more, I can add. If you have experienced 2 or more episodes of bipolar disorder, generally it is considered lifelong. After remission from an acute episode of depression or mania, a person is at a high risk of relapse in about 6 months. Hence, the person should be on maintenance therapy. Once your doctor has helped stabilize the moods of the acute phase of the disorder (either a manic or depressive episode), drug therapy with Lithium is continued indefinitely -- sometimes at lower doses. You may have to take lifelong lithium as maintenance therapy to prevent relapses. When lithium treatment stops, the patient maybe prone to relapse. Lithium should never be stopped abruptly, and only stopped gradually based on the doctor’s advice. When stopped abruptly subsequent lithium treatment may sometimes be less effective. Lithium is the most widely studied and used drug for bipolar disorder. Studies show that lithium can significantly reduce the risk of suicide among people with bipolar disorder. It also helps prevent future manic episodes.
How do I decide whether to go off my medication (lithium) for bipolar disorder?
Look, here’s the thing with medication which treats or helps you with a mental issue: These meds don’t usually aim to “heal” the issue, but simply to provide you with assistance to help you cope with the issues, to help you manage them and ideally to free up your mental resources to develop (perhaps with the assistance of a therapist) to a place where you no longer need the medication.But normally, if you just stop taking your medication, you risk falling back into whatever dark place you were in before the meds started helping. This is the case for medication for depression, ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, you name it.On top of this, there are some meds that require you to carefully “wean off them”. Stopping suddenly could cause you significant discomfort.So you really MUST talk to your doctor and not just decide this on your own. Seriously.The way I see it, there are two main scenarios where you would want to stop taking the meds (after consultation with your doctor):If the negative side-effects are greater than the perceived benefit of the medicationIf the medication is working less and less, and you feel it’s hardly doing anything any more.In both these scenarios I would recommend an open discussion with your doctor, because perhaps you simply need to adjust the dosage and you’ll get back into the zone where the meds are clearly helping. By simply stopping on your own initiative, you are making this option impossible.It is also possible that you need to switch to another type of medication. But you can only do that with your doctor.So turn it as you will, there really is no sensible alternative to talking to your doctor or your psychiatrist. Seriously.Disclaimer: Not a doctor. I don’t even own a white coat. But I have a stethoscope!Question: How do I decide whether to go off my medication (lithium) for bipolar disorder?
What is the drug Lithium used for?
Bipolar disorder!! My doc wanted to put me on it, i told the doc off. was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 years ago.
Does Lithium Orotate help Bipolar symptoms.?
Yes lithium orotate is just a slightly different chemical balance of lithium carbonate, works in exactly the same way and should have the same effect. The most important thing whilst taking lithium (either format) is to maintain regular blood tests as lithium is fatal if your toxicity gets too high. So look out for the side effects, doctors should give you a leaflet or booklet with the side effects and most important ones to look out for such as diarrhoea and vomiting. Long term studies have been conducted and once past initial intolerance of drug people have positive results from it, not to say you will not get high or low again but hopefully as high or low. The only other long term issue is thyroid levels. You should ask your doctor to monitor this post 2 years of treatment
I have bipolar disorder but I'm afraid of lithium. What other medicine can help me?
Do you mind if I ask why you don't want to take Lithium? The only reason I ask is because I want to be able to answer your question and have it be applicable to your life.I was diagnosed with Bipolar II about 6 years ago and was prescribed Lithium. When I was compliant with my meds the Lithium worked wonders for me. When I decided to tell my doctor to go "take a hike" (a nice way to put it) I would spiral out of control until I grew tired of feeling miserable and would take the Lithium again.In terms of effectiveness, you can't do any better than this old school medication. With so many new medications available today, there's a reason why Lithium is still prescribed. I had to stop taking it due to other unrelated medical problems, and nothing else I've tried can even compare. I was prescribed many different doses of Abilify, tried different variations of adding other mood stabilizers (such as Buspar and Lamictal) and am now taking Latuda as part of a medication cocktail that I continue to struggle with in terms of effectiveness.This brings me to my next question. Are you not wanting to take medication of any kind to treat a mood disorder? If this is the case, I can tell you now from YEARS of refusing to take any type of psychotropic medication because of the stigma that went along with it. This is true for Lithium in particular. There are so many false beliefs about Bipolar disorder and Lithium out there. It is not (and I absolutely despise this term) a "crazy person" medication or illness. It's a chemical imbalance in the brain that happens to require the help of both pharmaceuticals and psychotherapy. My only regret is not starting treatment sooner.
I am on lithium for bipolar disorder. Can I change the time of my dosage, so I take it later in a day, to get better sleep?
Instead of posting in this forum, I would consult with a psychiatrist. Do you have one? Or do you just see your PC?Please also get your blood levels checked on a regular basis and make sure all your doctors are aware of all of your medications that you take to check for interactions. Lithium toxicity can damage your kidneys. When the kidneys go, everything goes. Also, I drink a lot of caffeine, which is a diuretic, therefore I am constantly urinating and illuminating lithium from my body faster.Make sure you get all your drugs at the same pharmacy so they can check for interactions.My orthopedic doctor prescribed a medication for me that, unbeknownst to him interacted with my lithium. Even the pharmacist said, "it just has a mild reaction with the kidney." I don't know, anything that has a reaction with the kidney-I'm pretty sure I shouldn't take it.
Does lithium really work for depression?
Yes, it may. There is good evidence that Lithium, usually at fairly low doses, is effective in reducing the chance of depressive relapse, preventing future depressive and manic episodes and clear evidence of reducing the chance of Suicide. While lithium treatment to prevent recurrent depressive disorders is uncommonly used in the U.S , the evidence for efficacy from large scale studies is quite good. The evidence for use as a primary treatment for acute depression is far less compelling.
How would Lithium affect someone without bipolar disorder?
It could have a lot of different effects. Quite likely, it would make your mood a little less extreme. This would include both happiness and sadness. So you would see some kind of flattening of affect.In addition, common effects, such as shaking fingers, reduced memory for names, slowness of thinking, increased urination, and other things that that are commonly called “side effects.”Side effects are effects. They call them side effects because they're not the main effect that is desired. Don't be fooled by the term side. These effects are just as strong as any others that are supposedly desired.Lithium is not a pleasant drug to take. Well it may have beneficial effects for some, it usually comes along with other effects that are quite unpleasant. I was really happy to get off of it. The reason why I got off of it was because it was starting to have an impact on my kidney function. That's something I forgot to mention above. Taken for more than a decade, lithium commonly starts to increase your creatinine levels. This is not a good thing. You can destroy kidney function sufficiently that you might need to have a kidney transplant.Lithium is not something you want to fool around with, even at low levels. It might have a dampening effect on your moods, but remember, Evolution has optimized us with moods that enhance our survivability. We may be smart and we may be able to guide our own Evolution the little bit more effectively, but we still don't know enough about lithium to be able to use it to change moods on a voluntary basis, that includes using it for bipolar disorder.