Bipolar Type II Support Group

I just started taking lithium a few days ago. I'm on 300mg right now and will be working my way up to 900mg. I have a few metric tons of information from books and doctors laying around my apartment, but what I really need is a practical guide from someone who has taken or is taking lithium. I have a lot of questions, but I guess right now, what I'd like to know is: what do you wish you had known before taking lithium? I'm feeling a little lost and a little scared and I really just want to hear from someone who has been there. Please help. Thanks.

I was on lithium until a few weeks ago and switched to lamictal. As you know every med effects everyone differently, but I would be glad to share my experiences with you. If you have any specific questions, i can tell you my general feeling on it, some of the things that i experienced you may not.

I've been on Lithium for awhile now and I don't have a problem with it. I haven't experienced any side effects at all from it. Every once in a while I get a slight tremor but I think that's more from low blood sugar than the lithium. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about it. Good luck!

My daughter takes lithium and it has worked very well for her. You will have to get periodic blood tests to make sure it is at the right levels and you don't become lithium toxic. Here is a link to let you know what symptoms to watch for. If you dose up properly you shouldn't have a problem. My daughter did become lithium toxic but she was very thin at the time and it might have just been too fast.

http://www.bipolar-lives.com/lithium-toxicity-symptoms.html

I take Lithium and I like it better than Lamtical

I have taken lithium for a while now. My biggest complaints are memory loss/confusion and tremors. Other that that it has helped me a lot.

I took lithium for several years and it pulled me out of a very deep hard to treat bipolar depression. I had the shakes from it but decided I'd rather put up with that than be going into the hospital. One of many of the trade offs we often deal with, especially with psyc meds. I did have to stop taking it though. It just kind of started pooping out on me. I still have the shakes at this time and it is considered a drug injury. Lithium is a very good drug for bipolar and it is the aborigines who discovered it before the pdocs got involved with it and they started giving it to their patients and the results were miraculous and they got the credit for it.

Hey!! I'm working my way up to 900mg too! I'm currently at 674mg like MissHildy. I've had no side effects since i started taking it, and I'm usually really intolerant to meds! I think the main things to remember are getting your blood levels checked regularly, and remember you can get a bit dehydrated on Lithium so drink lots of water. I did get a bit of a dry mouth in the first couple of weeks, but that seems to have gone away. Hope you have as much luck with it as me!

I think its an awesome drug!

I am currently at 1200 mg lithium, and 300 Lamictal. The lithium is fine, it gives me a dry mouth, so I am having to become a gum chewer, not that I want to be. Lithium may be a mood stabilizer, but it did nothing for a major depression that I had. Maybe since I was taking it at the time it kept me from being in a gigantic depression but who can say.