Posted by linkadge on February 20, 2015, at 21:30:08
In reply to Re: Non-prescription lithium products, posted by Lamdage22 on February 20, 2015, at 8:18:32
I never gained weight on lithium (I wish), but neither have I gained a pound on remeron or amitriptyline. In terms of thyroid and kidney function, I think both of these can be managed. I read a statistic that most people can take lithium for life, if needed. Perhaps with diminished kidney function in later years. My mother is 65 now and has been on lithium for about 35 years. She has no thyroid issues, but some mild kidney issues (probably affected by her weight).
The thing with lithium (for me) is that there were benefits to even lower doses. So, yes one might need 900mg if suffering from full blown bipolar I, but lower doses are probably underused in other forms of bipolar and unipolar.
I would say that the course of unipolar illness would probably be a lot better for many patients who took low dose lithium (irrespective of an immediate clinical benefit).
If I could choose, I'd probably take 300-450mg of lithium. Combined with the milder mood stabilizing effects of omega-3, I could get by.
Combinations such as 300mg of lithium + 250mg of Depakote + 1000-2000 EPA+DHA + 500mcg of folic acid would probably help a number of severe bipolar cases with fewer overall side effects.
Folic acid has been shown in a few studies to improve the clinical effects of both lithium and Depakote.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:1076776
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150129/msgs/1076950.html