Posted by Ritch on February 13, 2003, at 9:39:31
In reply to Re: Next to the last thing.... » Ritch, posted by dreamerz on February 13, 2003, at 0:28:22
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> I'm thinking ( can you hear the rusty wheels turning )maybe I should try lithium..if things keep getting crappy.
> Funny , I've taken meds in reverse from new to old.
> Probably end in lobotomy then maybe burnt as a witch.You haven't been on lithium before? It was my first antimanic for about 18 years or so. I didn't get weight gain on it as much as I did Depakote. You might get some water retention on the stuff though (but I don't recall getting the munchies and grazing in the fridge on the stuff). One tip-get your thyroid checked before you start lithium (then check it again later on) and consider augmenting with a little thyroid regardless to help the cycling. I am nearly convinced I would do wonderfully with T-augmentation during my bipolar depressions. Oh, and those "twitchies" you are having from the Depakote-you might get something similar with lithium (Li affected my legs more-Dep. affects my hands more). I had to flip back from Trileptal back onto Depakote this week. I couldn't stand the nausea any more. It wasn't fading and it was interfering too much. I also found out it was causing *worse* cognitive functioning than the Depakote. Couldn't tell until I had been off the Dep. and on just the Tri. long enough to tell which was causing what. Previously I was taking them together and blamed the Depakote. My anxiety level is down quite a bit. BTW, I got some fairly good anxiolytic help with lithium in the past. It was the only med that I stayed reasonably sane taking it by itself. I got the best effect from it in the 450-600mg/day range. It was very tough on the tummy, though. Do you think you will toss it in with your Depakote or switch altogether?
poster:Ritch
thread:139887
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030208/msgs/200050.html