newbie here, with question.

[shelleybellie29]

Hi, i my name is shelley and my diagnosis is bipolar/substance abuse. I am prescribed Lithium. It was working fine for a while then all of a sudden it felt like it wasnt working anymore and i had horrible side effects. My doctor wants me to continue to take it anyway he gave me another brand or something and said i might have had a reaction from the mixture in the lithium carbonate. Has anyone heard of that?? So needless to say i havent been taking anything and i seem to be alright. I dont know for how long though. Does anyone have any feedback?? Help? Thanks.

Hi Shelley

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not a doctor, but have you tried depakote? It seems to have less side effects than the lithium. Were you shaking a lot or having tremors?

How did you feel before you started taking the medication? What made the doctor feel you needed it?

If you're not happy with your doctor's advice then get a second opinion if you can.

I can only speak for myself, but if it were me I would try everything else before using lithium. I've never taken either medication, but I work with a lot of people on meds and lithium works well as the last resort. I'm not sure if depakote is addictive so you would have to look into that first.

I am going to start working with a psychologist in a couple of weeks who is excellent with medication and I will ask him questions when they come up here and get his opinion.

Hugs,
MG

[shelleybellie29]

Hi MG,
Thanks for your response. Yes i did try Depakote and it didnt do anything. Actually i think i got worse. I am not depressed i just have severe mood swings. Usually easily agitated, no patience, then five min. im fine again. The side effects i was having were SEVERE tremors (which my dr. prescribed Inderal). That seemed to work for a little while. Then my hair started falling out! Thats where i draw the line. The Dr. doesent seem to know of anything else to give me. There has to be other medications to treat bipolar. Unfortunately i dont know of any? Do u know anything about Neuronton or Imdur?? I believe these medications are mood stabilizers also. I just know i have to do something. I seem to be pretty stable now but who knows for how long..
Thanks,
Shelley

Shelley,

Here is a link to a post that I posted earlier on this board. It may have some answers.

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...?threadid=5148 (Facts About Bipolar Illness)

I'll also ask around and see what I can find out.

Hugs,
MG

Here are some links to websites.

The first one is a little hard to understand, but the medication is there.

http://www.psychguides.com/bpgl.html

http://www.nami.org/helpline/newtreatment.html

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm#bp6

http://www.psych.org/clin_res/pg_bipolar.cfm