Posted by dewdropinn on August 2, 2007, at 10:46:12
In reply to Re: Why do all anti-depressants make me anxious)), posted by linkadge on August 1, 2007, at 19:21:38
I experienced a similarly wacky reaction to lithium, but it actually provided valuable insights. I've experienced night terrors for most of my life -- they occur in a programmed fashion, almost precisely 45 minutes after falling asleep. Lithium induced absolutely vicious night terrors, and they would occur several times throughout the evening -- I also had all kinds of bizarre hypogagic hallucinations, thoughts, really psychedelic, but in a bad trip kind of way.
As you may be aware, Lithium lowers the seizure threshold, and my experience with the drug alerted doctors to the fact that my night terrors were not related to any kind of anxiety disorder, but rather a low grade epileptic condition. It provided definitive proof that anti-convulsants would be essential to my treatment.
One of the truly exciting aspects of on-going bipolar research and the disorder itself is the fact that it touches on all mood disorders and it links mood disorders to neurological conditions that were once only tangentially linked to mental illness. It also touches on one of the basic principles involved with electronic systems. When most people think about electronics, they primarily think about wattage (e.g. power) -- but in reality, all complex electronic equipment requires capacitors and resistors to limit current and make the system function in an efficient manner. The brain is of course infinitely more complex than electronics equipment, but it is an electrical system -- so many of the same principals apply. This explains in part the broad utility of anti-convulsants -- they modulate and limit the flow of electricity which in turn allows current to flow efficiently and prevents the electrical system from going haywire.
Bringing this all back to lithium -- lithium is a critical component in many of the most efficient and powerful batteries. So, it makes perfect sense that this mineral can play a valuable role in modulating electrical transmition within the infinitely complex electrical system known as the human brain.
Drew
> >My brother is on a small dose of Paxil that he >has been on for a few years and is slowly >getting off of it. Once he started Lithium 6 >months ago he noticed the drugs "battled each >other".
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> Yeah, I have noticed that. I was on celexa and lithium. It seemed that the combination made me more bipolar than either alone! I acutally had psychedellic hallucinations on the combination. Ie cars faces looking real. Every object taking on a personality, cars, phones, trees, everything. I felt the emotions of objects such as lampshades and sat there trying to describe the emotions. I had time speeding up and slowing down too.
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> lithium can somtimes greatly enhance the serotonergic effects of the SSRI's. Somtimes it can enhance the neurotoxicity of lithium.
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> I personally felt that the combination of SSRI's and lithium did some really strange things. Of all the drug combinations I've taken, I feel that I am still altered as a result of those ones.
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> They certainly can fight with eachother. I found that there were side effects I got from the combination that neither drug gave me alone.
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> Lithium kindof wants to be the master. It does't really like other drugs telling it what to do.
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> Linkadge
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poster:dewdropinn
thread:773047
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070730/msgs/773529.html