how long does it take forLithium to work. Has anyone had positive experiences being on Lithium? Thx?

Answer 1

Lithium (a naturally occuring salt) is used generally as a mood stabilizer in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder, formally called manic depression. There's a very small "therapeutic" level (where there's neither too much nor too little in your bloodstream) which is why you often need weekly blood tests until you are at "your" dose.

Most people start to feel the effects within three or four days. It used to be the most effective treament for Bipolar Disorder but now is losing ground to valproic acid (Depakote in the US) which has a much wider therapeutic level.

Answer 2

I've had mixed results with lithium. If you can tolerate it, it is a great medication. It isn't expensive, and it is as effective (or more effective) as many things out there. It might take several weeks for it to start working since your levels have to reach a therapeutic point.

Other meds have side effects, too. And some of those are pretty serious. I've had a lot of side effect problems, can't take lithium any more. However, if I were just starting bipolar meds, I would try lithium first to see if I can tolerate it.

Why? Cost. Lithium is available in generic forms for less than ten dollars a month. It is on the Wal-Mart $4 list. If you need the controlled release, I used to be able to find it for under $40 a month.

When I took the atypicals, I was spending several hundred dollars per month. The side effects were just as bad as lithium, just different. On atypicals, I gained seventy pounds in just six months. I also developed insulin resistance.

If you can tolerate lithium, you can save a lot of money. Also, lithium is one of the most effective bipolar meds out there.

Controlled release versions like Eskalith or Lithobid can reduce some of the side effects. The doctor can tell you about any problems with kidneys or thyroid. I didn't have kidney or thyroid problems while I took it.

Salt your food, especially in the summer. It will help keep your level from getting too high.

Also, taking fish oil or flax seed oil capsules might help it work better or faster. That's what my doctor recommended.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I've taken lithium for 4 years and it has worked very well for me, I have bi polar disorder. The only side effect I've had is a slight tremor in my hands, but that rarely happens. I don't go up and down anymore, I'm just the same, plain jane, every day, which is great 'cause I used to get wild, or deeply depressed. I have to get a lithium level drawn about every three months, it's always right in the range it should be because I always take my medicine as prescribed. I go to the hospital to have the levels drawn and I'm usually there no longer than 20 minutes. Lithium is a godsend to me. My life is better because I take it.

Answer 4

Lithium usually takes 1-2 weeks for dose adjustments to be felt. For me, seven days, almost like clock work. Very positive experience with virtually no side effects.

Lithium works for about 50% of the people who try it. There's another 25% for whom it does work but the side effects are too much to take. Hope you're part of the 50%. Good luck!

Answer 5

My sister was on lithium for 5 years and when she first started it was hard to tell a difference. She had bi-polar. She passed away two years ago from an unrelated event. She had to have her levels tested a lot. It seemed like they'd never get the dose right. After week 8 or 10, I think, her personality changed for the better. She started to lose weight and laugh again. She wasn't laying in bed all day. She took much better care of herself and her kids. This was a gradual change, but wonderful. She had to get her levels tested from time to time, but it was worth it. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Lithium takes a while to get dosing to therapeutic blood levels...at least several weeks, up to 2 months. It absolutely works miracles for many people by stablizing mood.

Sometimes people don't appreciate how much better they are on lithium...their experience is that they seem a little bit more mentally sluggish. However, people close to them will notice that the mania is greatly reduced and so they often see much more benefit than the patient does. Part of the problem with treating mania is that people who are manic often feel absolutely wonderful and are oblivious to the chaos caused by the mania. That's why patient self-report about how well they are or aren't doing on lithium is sometimes not real reliable. As an example, I've had manic patients get into tremendous debt in a matter of a few days because overspending is a frequent syptom. They may be upset if the lithium reduces them back down to the normal world, as is felt so fun to be manic. Of course family and friends see it entirely differently. Bottom line is that lithium has been a very effective drug for regulating mood swings in people with bipolar illness.

However, lithium doesn't work for everyone, and some people have medical conditions where lithium is contraindicated.

The other mood-regulating class of medications are anticonvulsant medications (used to treat epilepsy) such as depakote (generic is valproic acid), lamictal (lamotrigine), and neurontin (gabapentin). You use to see tegretol (carbamazepine) used for mood regulation too but I haven't seen it used for that purpose in a long time.

Some antipsychotic medications are also effective in regulating mood. This is a relatively recent finding from research studies, so if lithium or one of the anticonvulsants doesn't work out, one of the antipsychotics may be effectively used to regulate mood.
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It was big news in the mental health field when a study was published (about 5 months ago) in the New England Journal of Medicine about use of antidepressant meds in people with bipolar disorder who were also taking mood stablizing medications such as the ones I listed above. Lead author is Gary Sachs MD.

In this study, done by a very reputable researcher, it was found that individuals on a mood stabilizer and antidepressant medication who had bipolar illness did not do any better than those who were taking mood stabilizing medications only with a placebo instead of the antidepressant.

It's been fairly routine to see bipolar patients on both mood stabilizers and antidepressants, so this study came as quite a shock. The authors said that patients who were doing well on mood stabilizers together with antidepressants shouldn't quit that routine. Since that study was published I've seen fewer patients that get both mood stabilizers and antidepressants now.

I realize that the above information about the antidepressant/mood stabilizer combination wasn't really addressing your question about lithium. However I'm hoping you will allow me to stray a bit off the subject with this, as this is very new and important information. Anyone reading these posts who might be prescribed both antidepressant meds and mood regulating meds may want to discuss with their doctor what he thinks of this new study and how it affects their drug treatment recommendations.

I believe that the more that clients learn about their diagnosis and treatment options, the more active you can be in making good treatment decisions.

Answer 7

Please do not take lithium, there are so many other drugs you can take and they work better than lithium.Lithium kills you're kidneys and you're thyroid. I know this personally. Please don't take it.