LITHIUM CARBONATE Reviews (LITHIUM CARBONATE)Average Rating: 3.3 (326 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare LITHIUM CARBONATE with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on LITHIUM CARBONATE: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR LITHIUM CARBONA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | depression & bi-polar disorder | none | Possibily some occasional hand tremor .... no big deal ... but it's too early to tell anything, one way or the other. That's why I rated it 'neutral' S | M | 66 | 9 months | 11/13/2006 | 5 | Bipolar II | No side effects except a mild hand tremor. | Lithium is great for me. It stops racing thoughts, evens me out and prevents me from relapsing into depression. Really a good med. | 28 | 1 months | 10/19/2006 | 4 | Bipolar II - bipolar depression | mild hair loss (possibly genetic though), mostly increased thirst and increased urination. | I am on only 600mg of lithium, but for the past year and a half, no hypomania or manic states AT ALL. Very good for controlling mania - depression not as bad, so it seems to help a bit with the depression. BE CAREFUL - decreased kidney function, possibly lithium induced diabetes insipitus - I'm being referred to a kidney specialist to make sure no damage done (I think we've caught it early). Psychiatrist monitoring kidney function until I see the kidney specialist. Good thing I'm only on a small dose for only about a year a half now. I don't want kidney problems, of course. | M | 35 | 1.5 years | 10/18/2006 | 5 | Bi-Polar | Weight gain, hand tremors and sometimes nausea. | I tried many drugs over the first years. The hand tremors didn't start until the last 10 years so it may not be the medication. I believe, Lithium has saved my marriage, my family and my life. The side effects are a small price to pay. | F | 78 | 25 years | 10/10/2006 | 5 | Bi-Polar | Weight gain, hand tremors and sometimes nausea. | I tried many drugs over the first years. The hand tremors didn't start until the last 10 years so it may not be the medication. I believe, Lithium has saved my marriage, my family and my life. The side effects are a small price to pay. | F | 78 | 30 years | 10/10/2006 | 2 | bi polar 2 | Instant Insomnia,tremor sometimes violent, increased mania initially | Within 2 days of taking Lithium I became insomniac for twelve weeks averaging only 2-3 hours a night (often none). Entered a hypomanic stage,sleeping pills were ineffective,6 times normal dose would put me to sleep but only for 3 hours.My psychiatrist refused to believe that my sleep problems were a side effect of Li, had to go on Nozinan(tranq) also. Interested to see if anyone else has had this prob?it almost killed me | M | 37 | 1 years | 8/26/2006 | 5 | Bi-Polar | Weight gain, lethargy, vision problems, extreme thirst | Over the course of the last 10 years, the dosage of Lithium has had to be adjusted from 900 mg to 1200 mg taken at night. Certain factors affected the amount needed to stabilize. Taken in conjunction with 75 mg Effexor XR. Ten years ago, the amount of Effexor was 375 mg per day. I feel great. Keep regular appointments with my psychiatrist and regular blood tests as well as others, such as thyroid. | F | 58 | 15 years | 8/17/2006 | 3 | Bipolar mixed/rapid cycling | Nausea, dry mouth, headaches, intense thirst, absolutely awful under the skin pimple-like thingies, no joy/happiness left. I feel empty. There's more, but I've forgotten them. | I'm going to have my doctor take me off. I DO NOT want to be the way I was before, but I also need to have some kind of happy feelings. Yea, my moods are even. No, I don't enjoy life at all. I find no joy in activities I like to do. There just isn't anything there. OK. The other reason...main one for me though it may seem small to you...is the acne. I have NEVER in my life had acne like this. I have only ever had up to 7 zits at a time, all on my face. This is under my skin, itchy, painful, and it won't go away!!! It just gets worse. I can't be on a medication that messes up what I work so hard to keep pretty. That has always been one thing I've had control over, my body. Even if I can't keep the inside working right, the outside can look good. I can't loose that. Besides, I want to enjoy life if I actually have to be alive. | F | 27 | 7 months | 6/8/2006 | 3 | Bipolar mixed/rapid cycling | Nausea, dry mouth, headaches, intense thirst, absolutely awful under the skin pimple-like thingies, no joy/happiness left. I feel empty. There's more, but I've forgotten them. | I'm going to have my doctor take me off. I DO NOT want to be the way I was before, but I also need to have some kind of happy feelings. Yea, my moods are even. No, I don't enjoy life at all. I find no joy in activities I like to do. There just isn't anything there. OK. The other reason...main one for me though it may seem small to you...is the acne. I have NEVER in my life had acne like this. I have only ever had up to 7 zits at a time, all on my face. This is under my skin, itchy, painful, and it won't go away!!! It just gets worse. I can't be on a medication that messes up what I work so hard to keep pretty. That has always been one thing I've had control over, my body. Even if I can't keep the inside working right, the outside can look good. I can't loose that. Besides, I want to enjoy life if I actually have to be alive. | F | 27 | 7 months | 6/8/2006 | 1 | lithium carbonate | extreme tiredness (felt like I was really ill and dying)confusion, thirsty, set me at an even mood, but it was a blah mood- | I hate this med and I don't know how anyone can function on it-I am diagnosed with bipolar 1 and refuse to take any mood stabilizers they have all made me worse-I would rather have the ups and downs than a constant "down the med gave me... | F | 26 | 2 months | 5/29/2006 | 2 | Bipolar 1 | extreme thirst; frequent urination (six times a night); elevated kidney enzymes, indicating reduced kidney function. | Make sure you get your blood levels tested regularly when taking this drug! I took 1200mg, and got bloodwork done one week later and came back with test results indicating reduced kidney function. My kidneys simply could not filter the lithium fast enough. Had I been on it much longer, it could have done major damage to my kidneys. I still take it, but at a much lower dose-300mg. My doctor doesn't think it works at all, so she's considering taking me off of it entirely in the near future. It's funny...when you hear bipolar disorder, you think lithium. For me there's no correlation. Geodon was the miracle drug for me. Topamax did well by me too. | F | 27 | 2 years | 5/4/2006 | 3 | Bipolar Disorder | Thirst, weight gain, fatigue, felt out of it all the time, headaches | Took it for about 1 year at age 14. It was like I was on another planet the whole time. Screwed me up. Made me feel "numb" like I didn't care about anything. I think those effects carried over, because now I feel the same way alot. Aloof, disconnected, etc. I wouldn't reccomend this to anyone, especially a teenager. | F | 28 | 1 years | 4/20/2006 | 2 | Bipolar II Disorder | Fuzzy vision, weight gain, mentally cloudy, can't concentrate (feel ADD), heaviness, completely out of it, nausea, dizziness | I've heard that side effects can go away after a couple of months, so I am waiting it out. I'm physically too tired to work out, take walks, work. And I'm mentally too out of it to put an intelligent sentence together. Creativity is gone. Hoping for the best at current dosage=900 mg | F | 37 | 5 weeks | 3/14/2006 | 1 | Bipolar II | Nausea, Vomiting, and wiped out feeling - slept for days | Made me very sick and I'm wondering if I got toxicity. I stopped taking it after a week. | F | 20 | 1 years | 2/23/2006 | 5 | Bipolar 1, OCD | In the seven years that I have been taking this drug I have experienced very little side effects. An increase in acne, slight hand tremors, nausea......nothing major. | When I was first prescribed Lithium I was feeling so beat up, so tired.....I had just been diagnosed with Bipolar. I was on the tail end of a huge manic episode that had left my life in total destruction. The doctor had prescribed Depakote but the nausea was way to much for me to handle. As second choice I was given Lithium.....At first I was numb and frightened. After a few weeks I started to feel so much better. So much better that I felt like this drug should just be in the water supply: instant world peace. I did continue to feel well for a few years. I was consistent taking my medications as prescribed. Sadly, the lithium did not prevent severe mood swings; mania or depression. When I have been or am stable, I feel well. My quality of life is very good. However, the lithium has not been able to fortify my mental stabily enough to prevent manic episodes that are a result of stress or changes in my like. Currently, I am taking 1800 mg: 600 in the a.m and 1200 mg p.m. along | F | 41 | 7 years | 12/31/2005 | 5 | major dep, later diagnosed as BP I | Occasional tremor; rare, short-lived (20-30 min.) nausea when combined w/ depakote; other than those, I really don't recall any other side effects in 20 years. I guess I'm fortunate in this sense. The WORST "side effect" is the one caused by stopping Lithium suddenly: depression, uncontrolled anger and mania can return quickly and heavily when med is stopped quickly. When Lithium has been stopped--for whatever reason--I find I can get back on track (feeling OK again) 3-5 days after resuming this great, naturally occurring mineral. Whatever weight gain I might have had was relatively minor and was remedied by increased excercise. | Lithium is like "manna from heaven," one of God's great gifts to humankind. It can't be monopolized by any company because it's a naturally occurring mineral! I currently take it with Wellbutrin XL, Lexapro and Lamictal (Lamictal was added 4 months ago and works great for my BP depression, which Lithium couldn't completely take care of. See review of Lamictal for more.) The above combination is my best "cocktail" in more than 20 years of treatment. Most people in remission with bipolar disorder know that taking 4-5 drugs is fairly typical and often necessary to keep labile mood in check. I will sing the praises of Lithium forever. | M | 49 | 20 years | 11/15/2005 | 5 | Bipolar I | 900 mg: slight weight gain (5-8lbs), hand tremor, significant hair loss (~1/3), tooth pain, very rapid tooth decay (lost 2 teeth with *very* good oral hygiene), decreased cognitive abilities. All side effects decreased somewhat at 600mg and significantly at 450mg. | 900 mg was perfect for mood stabalization, but to get the side effects in control I had to drop the dosage and now experience mania. The episodes are very light; non descructive to my life. I am not comfortable with the mania, and am still in search of other drugs to mix with lithium. So far, lithium is the best. As I learn to more about my own symptoms and triggers, I am able to adjust my dosage to help control them. I have tried 11 other drugs with unmanagable side effects. I seem to be very sensative to the medications. My side effects may seem significant to the reader, but they are still very worth the relief of symptoms. If you haven't tried lithium and are still suffering from your illness, I suggest you try it. | F | 37 | 11 months | 10/13/2005 | 5 | Bipolar II | Hand tremors for first year; occasional nausea connected with dosage time (experimented with time of day to relieve feeling) | Lithium worked right from the start, stabilizing a manic episode that had lasted nearly 18 months. I keep the dosage low enough that I'm not experiencing "mono-mood" but I'm always sharp enough to sense if I need to up the dose. My experience is that it's vital to commit to whatever drug works best and not to cut corners--reduce caffeine, get more sleep, avoid unnecesary stimuli, etc. and try to find things you can change to help the pharmacology work, not just blame the drug when you overload your own system. I do occasionally experience severe nausea a few times a year, but I work to manage that by adjusting meal times and keeping in close touch with my managing doctor. It's a very small price for being able to have a full-time job, a good measure of creativity, and a wonderful spouse. | F | 34 | 12 years | 9/11/2005 | 3 | Depression | Had to keep going pee and I had some side pain. I did have some problems breathing at first but after awhile went away. | I do not know if I would take this pill again, it's ok. Nothing major happened to me but there were a few uncomfortable side effects. | F | 32 | 7 days | 9/6/2005 | 3 | bipolar | weight gain, tremor, fatigue, memory loss, feeling like walking through treacle | my husband said that my moods were better but I could not stand the weight gain and the weekly blood tests - also the interaction with other drugs | F | 55 | 8 days | 7/25/2005 |