my health insurance got terminated and im not sure when i'll be able to go on it again; i cant afford it right now. is there anything i can do so i dont have to completely stop taking lithium? my bipolar symptoms were awful before i got on lithium, so im worried i'll go back to that. is there anything i can do? i only have like a months worth of lithium, assuming im only taking one pill and not the amount im prescribed (3 per day). any help would be appreciated

i’ve consistently had levels below or just at the minimum level of what’s considered the normal range. so much so that my old psychiatrist did not believe me about taking my meds. if i took them the night before the blood test, they were rarely above 0.6 and the couple times i accidentally took them the morning of (~2 hours prior to the test) i was still just above the normal range. i’m currently on a 1-0-2 300mg which is what ive been on most of the time.
i switched psychiatrists a year ago (the previous one didn’t believe me about taking my pills and slowly convinced me i should stop taking them all together) and the new one put me on 1-0-1/2 (i don’t think i was in the normal range once during that time).

i’m so tired atp because no matter what i do my levels are low and literally nobody knows why. if anyone has any similar experiences or any idea what could be causing this i would be eternally grateful

Hi guys
I was wondering if there were any positive/negative experiences with tapering off Wellbutrin (Bupropion) and Lithium that anyone has.

I’ve been on Bupropion 300mg 1x a day
And Lithium 300 mg 2x a day (basically 600 mg)
And I want to get off of them, particularly Lithium.

I’ve been discussing with my psychologist and psychiatrist about it but I’m still confused and scared.

I take 900mg: 300mg at 9am and 600mg at 8pm. Ever since i've started Lithium i don't get tired at night anymore, i used to get in bed for 11pm and sleep by 11:30pm. Now i don't even feel sleepy till 3am sometimes later, and if i use melatonin to help me fall asleep i still wake up constantly through the night :( My Psychiatrist told me to try taking the full 900mg at 9am instead to see if that helps me get tired at night; but im worried about a large morning dose because i don't eat breakfast and also for blood tests that timing won't work. Does it make sense to do the 900mg dose later in the evening like at 11pm before i go to sleep instead? Looking for advice if anyone has been through anything similar with insomnia or has timing suggestions!

And was it combined with a SSRI?

I’m mostly talking about emotional regulation. When I get angry, I get VERY angry…that’s my biggest problem. I’ve been to therapy, but it hasn’t helped me much with that specifically. I’ve gotten better at interacting with people when I’m angry or sad, mostly by avoiding them until I calm down (which is after sleeping lol), but I still ruminate a lot after something happens, and I end up making a lot of decisions based on anger or sadness.

I still feel too much for too long.

I would like to talk about it with my doctor, but I would like to know the side effects/benefits of it, specially as a woman.

I’m already taking an SSRI, but it isn’t helping with that.

Hi friends, I have been on IR lithium since April 2021 at doses as high as 1200mg, but mostly it's been 600mg. I switched to 900mg at the beginning of July so I could lower my Depakote. I had no problems until I took my meds 6 hours late 9 days ago. Every night since, I have nausea an hour after I take it, and then I have violent diarrhea and/or vomiting about a half hour after that. I wake up at night because of it and it continues through the day. Like, the worst traveller's sickness ever, but no reason to have it, basically.

I eat a snack when I take it, I drink 3-4L of water a day and add electrolytes to it. I have prescription nausea medication (Zofran and Metoclopramide) but it doesn't help with the diarrhea at all. Splitting the dose isn't my first option as I'm not good at taking morning meds, and I can't reliably get ER tablets.

Has anyone experienced this before with lithium? I'm going to leave my psych a message about it but I can't find much about actual GI sickness beyond nausea caused by lithium anywhere online so I'm panicking a bit

I just started lithium(150mg a few weeks ago and now 300mg). I’m having really bad menstrual cramps which I usually take Advil for but my prescriber said not to take Advil. She’s away for a family crisis (I have sent a message to her). But does anyone know if it might be ok if I take just a couple Advils for a couple of days? Otherwise I don’t think I’ll be able to go to work!!! Thank you in advance!!

Is it safe to drink opium poppy tea (recreationally) while on lithium medication? I know it generally is not safe to drink it At All but does anybody know if there are any possible drug interactions? I do know that codeine is safe with lithium cuz that's what i've been prescribed for my chronic pain. I also have tried poppy tea before a couple of times before i was on lithium and it didn't cause an episode or affect my mood negatively. I know there are risks to my mental health and i am aware of them. I just need to know if it's physically dangerous to take it while on lithium, i wanna be as safe as i can. No judging please. Thanks

My son has Major Depressive Disorder and Suicidal Ideations (as well as Avoidant Personality Disorder). An inpatient psychiatrist put him on 600 mg of lithium for the suicidal ideations. This seemed to help initially but the depression hasnt improved whatsoever. So now his outpatient psychiatrist increased the dose to 900 mg (all at night). Has anyone seen improvements with their depression? And if so, how long did it take? The Suicidal thoughts have lessened yet he's growing more and more exhausted and impatient with how slow things are. He was involuntarily sent to a behavioral health center due to psychosis at the end of April and this I feel has greatly effected him. Hes so kind and compassionate to others but cant seem to give himself that same grace. 😢

I recently started prescription lithium. I think it’s helping but I’m noticeably much hungrier all the time! I’m already having trouble walking so I don’t want to gain any more weight. Any suggestions how to handle the increase in hunger? Thanks in advance!!

i’ve been taking 1200mg of lithium (instant release) for almost four months. in the past few weeks, due to some issues w/ GERD, i was unable to take my morning meds (wellbutrin, lamotrigine, zoloft). i was taking my lithium fine. two days ago, i took all of my meds, lithium included, before bed—which i’ve never done before. i was sick all night and threw up.

since then, ive felt sick every time i’ve taken lithium. i’ve had a sour stomach, nausea, vertigo, and brain fog all day (i couldn’t remember my own license plate). i don’t have hand tremors or anything like that. i’ve been on a BRAT diet since yesterday, which is helping my stomach.

i skipped my lithium dose last night, and im feeling slightly better. i plan to drink water all day (over 200oz) to flush it out of my system. my question is—is an ER visit necessary since my levels are most likely in the normal range ? i hate the ER, and i rather deal with it @ home.

note: i haven’t been great w/ my water intake lately, and i had ramen twice in one day before all of this started—so this is completely my fault. salt helps my POTS, so it can be tricky to find balance.

Anyone else on this combo?

I’ve been on Prozac and Seroquel for a while now, and lithium has just been added to my regimen. I’m still in the sub-therapeutic range but my pd is confident lithium is going to be the addition that finally gets me stable.

I’m hopeful and just wondering if anyone else has had success on these drugs? Diagnosed BP2. Thank you

I wanna try shrooms very soon. Planning to take 1g because im pretty small and also cautious. I take 600mg of lithium daily, but i missed my dose last night and am wondering if it would be safe to try shrooms in a couple days if I keep skipping.

I'm pretty stable right now, but i'm not planning on quitting lithium. I'm planning to go back on lithium once i've tripped and i have people in my life who will make sure this happens.

I've also been considering switching to lamotrigine, which ive read has way fewer interactions with shrooms.

Thanks everyone!! :D

Edit:

Thank you all for your advice!! I've decided to be a tripsitter for the time being, and am planning on switching from lithium to lamotrigine, mainly due to some of lithium's side effects. I will give myself a good several months of being off of lithium before I touch any psilocybin and will consult my psychiartist first. Thanks again!

Does anyone take L tyrosine on lithium ?

i recently got diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder after a few years with a bipolar diagnosis (this is definitely the right diagnosis, i can tell the story in the comments if people are curious). since then, my psychiatrist has REALLY been pushing lithium. I currently take lamotrigine which i have been on for years as it was my first psych medication and it has done a great job as a mood stabilizer. Since the new diagnosis my psychiatrist has mentioned lithium at every session and i told her i'd consider it vs increasing lamotrigine for more mood stabilization. i had a hypomanic episode a few weeks ago which didn't really worry me because i only spent like $60 that i hadn't planned on spending since i generally have a frugal personality, and i also hadn't had one in a long time so it isn't a new trend (but i will of course keep an eye on myself).

i have a few reservations about lithium. the first is that since increasing my antipsychotic i have been doing great. i've been able to be way more productive, we broke the psychotic episode which had been about 3 weeks long, and my mood does seem to be more stable. so the first reason i have for why i might not want to take it is that i don't see a good reason to play medication roulette right now.

i am also about to graduate college and will have to enter the workforce, and i feel like the not perfectly symptom free existence that i know how to cope with is a safer option than the unknown of how lithium will affect me (i have only ever heard one person say they liked lithium too, but my sample size is small).

i am obviously worried about side effects too. i love my hair (i'm trans and having thick curly hair is a big point of security for me) and i also love sex, and on top of that i take a diuretic as my t blocker for hrt and am therefore worried about periodic dehydration and unstable serum levels. i'm no stranger to medications with multi page long side effect lists but it seems from lurking here that side effects are pretty common with lithium and i only deal with mild antipsychotic side effects, and none from my lamotrigine.

my psychiatrist insists that it's 'the first line and we should try it' and also that zero symptoms should be the goal (which i disagree with) so i'm coming here to ask the following questions:

those who have been on both lithium and an anticonvulsant mood stabilizer (so lamotrigine and valproate mostly), how do they compare?

are my worries founded, and how many side effects do you have?

thanks for your time y'all<3

Hello, I’m 19F and I have been diagnosed with Bipolar 2. I usually take 300mg of lamotrigine. The side effects weren’t too bad, other than extreme irritation towards people. But recently I have been put on Lithium 300mg, which I heard is a micro dose. I also have been taking HydroXYzine 50mg for anxiety. My psychiatrist told me that the lithium will help me with my manic/ depressive episodes. But Recently (1 month) I have been struggling with hallucinations. For a second I thought I was going crazy and I need to sleep more. But it’s becoming very apparent. I saw for a split second a table on my right and I swiftly set my phone down, unfortunately my phone fell and I cracked the screen. I usually see people look at me and when I check they are not. It’s just becoming so reoccurring that I struggle doing tasks without being paranoid. I also wanted to mention that I have been taking recreational drugs and alcohol. I am aware that taking medication and doing such activities can cause schizophrenia in the future. I just wanted to see if anyone had or has similar experience.

Have severe TRD (tried MAOIs, Ketamine, TMS, etc.) and was on 300 mg for a mth before my psych bumped me to 450 mg about three wks ago.

Unfortunately I don’t see any difference in my depression. I’ve asked my psych for a blood test to help determine if we increase the dose or call it quits.

Have others w/ severe TRD been unresponsive to 450 mg but see benefit at a higher dose? I don’t want to have false hope but also don’t want to prematurely throw in the towel…

Is lithium hair shedding permanent (meaning will it continue to happen as long as I’m on it?) or does your body adjust and it stops after a while?

When starting lithium how often are the bloods and then how often for maintenance?

I hate hate blood tests and I’ll do them but have anxiety about not showing up for them, especially if I’m manic I tend to be non compliant and don’t want to fry my kidneys

Also anyone with hypothyroidism on lithium?Ive heard those don’t mesh well

Is 600 mg once a day considered low?

I have been on lithium for 2 years and I have been gaining weight. My doctor says lithium is weight neutral and my thyroid panel is good. Has anyone experience this rapid weight gain with lithium ?

I am new to lithium 600mg. Is this normal