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Posted 4/26/2018 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
What would be the daily lithium does in milligrams for a person with bipolar disorder who weighs 190 pounds? Thank you.
Posted 4/27/2018 1:34 AM (GMT 0)
I couldn't find much on the weight issue by doing a web search on weight and Lithium.

But minddisorders.com said:

"Depending on the patient's medical needs, age, weight, and kidney function, doses of lithium can range from 600 to 2,400 mg per day, although most patients will be stabilized on 600 to 1,200 mg per day."

"Generally, lithium is taken two or three times daily."

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Webmd.com:

• For acute manic episodes: 1.8 g or 20-30 mg per kg of lithium carbonate per day in 2-3 divided doses. Some healthcare providers begin therapy at 600-900 mg per day and gradually increase the dose.
• For bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions: The usual adult dose is 900 mg to 1.2 g per day in 2-4 divided doses. 24-32 mEq of lithium citrate solution, given in 2-4 divided doses daily, has also been used.

Stopping lithium therapy suddenly increases the chance that symptoms of bipolar disorder will return. The dose of lithium should be reduced gradually over at least 14 days.

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I take Lithium for my bipolar, along with an anti-depressant, Mirtazapine. Since there are two sides to bipolar, each needs to be treated on its own. Because, just taking an anti-depressant, for instance, can throw a bi-polar (who is depressed) into mania.

By also taking Lithium, which calms down the mania, this is prevented.

Have you been diagnosed with bipolar?
Posted 4/27/2018 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
Yes I do. I read a couple of articles. One said that you should be taking 20mg of lithium for each kilogram you weigh.
Posted 4/27/2018 6:09 PM (GMT 0)
Are you taking a mood stabilizer like Lithium, and an anti-depressant?

How are you doing on it?

Have you been diagnosed as bipolar?
Posted 4/27/2018 9:32 PM (GMT 0)
I started with 2 tablets of Lithium Carbonate ER (450 mg/each).

The dose of lithium you will be prescribed can vary a lot. It is going to be more dependent upon the lithium levels in your blood and on your GFR% than on weight.

The 2 I was prescribed was too much for me, because when I had my blood test, although lithium levels were normal, my GFR had shot down to 48% (stage 3a kidney disease).

After a dose reduction to 1 tablet, my GFR went back up into the high 60 percentile.
Posted 4/28/2018 4:31 AM (GMT 0)

Tim Tam said...
Are you taking a mood stabilizer like Lithium, and an anti-depressant?

How are you doing on it?

Have you been diagnosed as bipolar?

Yes I'm taking lithium and an antidepressant, Doxepin. I've been prescribed lithium 900 mg daily, but
I think it should be higher because I haven't been feeling well.
Posted 4/28/2018 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
When you say you're not feeling well with the 900 mg of lithium and the anti-depressant Doxepin, do you feel you're too manic and need more lithium to calm your mania down, or maybe too depressed and need more doxepin?

How long have you been diagnosed as bipolar? How long have you been on lithium and an anti-depressant? How long did it take to get your diagnosis right?

I took Doxepin as the generic sinequan antidepressant for years. My psychiatrist said it is an older anti-depressant, which is not used much anymore.

My psychiatrist substituted Mirtazapine antidepressant for the sinequan.

Also, drugs.com questioned the use of doxepin for biopolar, saying:

"It should be noted that Doxepin Hydrochloride Oral Solution is not approved for use in treating bipolar depression."

Whoa! I was taking sinequan anti-depressant first, when the psy. misdiagnosed me as depressed (I was manic-depressed) which sent me into panic attacks because I wasn't being given any Lithium (or other mood stabilizer to calm down the mania which the anti-depressant sent me into).

So after years later finally being diagnosed as bipolar, not just depressed, they simply added Lithium to the sinequan antidepressant. Wrong again! For, as noted above, sinequan is not approved in treating bipolar depression.

So it could be the sinequan that is causing you some problems. Although, I did OK on sinequan and lithium for over 10 years. And, I was told sinequan does have a calmative effect, which helped my anxiety.

You mentioned in an earlier post sometimes taking alcohol, and then not taking your pill(s) that night because of the side affect of the mixing of meds and alcohol. Alcohol I've heard is a depressant, and, not taking your med(s) a day or two a week could cause problems.

Do you stop both meds when you drink, the lithium and the doxepin? Many years ago I took a drink on doxepin, I think it was, and it messed me up so bad I never even thought about taking a drink on medicine.

drugs.com said in talking about Doxepin cautioned psychiatrists about seeing a patient as depressed, and only treating that person for depression, when that person could be manic-depressed:

"Screening Patients for Bipolar Disorder: A major depressive episode may be the initial presentation of bipolar disorder. It is generally believed (though not established in controlled trials) that treating such an episode with an antidepressant alone may increase the likelihood of precipitation of a mixed/manic episode in patients at risk for bipolar disorder."
Posted 4/28/2018 10:17 PM (GMT 0)

Tim Tam said...
When you say you're not feeling well with the 900 mg of lithium and the anti-depressant Doxepin, do you feel you're too manic and need more lithium to calm your mania down, or maybe too depressed and need more doxepin?

How long have you been diagnosed as bipolar? How long have you been on lithium and an anti-depressant? How long did it take to get your diagnosis right?

I took Doxepin as the generic sinequan antidepressant for years. My psychiatrist said it is an older anti-depressant, which is not used much anymore.

My psychiatrist substituted Mirtazapine antidepressant for the sinequan.

Also, drugs.com questioned the use of doxepin for biopolar, saying:

"It should be noted that Doxepin Hydrochloride Oral Solution is not approved for use in treating bipolar depression."

Whoa! I was taking sinequan anti-depressant first, when the psy. misdiagnosed me as depressed (I was manic-depressed) which sent me into panic attacks because I wasn't being given any Lithium (or other mood stabilizer to calm down the mania which the anti-depressant sent me into).

So after years later finally being diagnosed as bipolar, not just depressed, they simply added Lithium to the sinequan antidepressant. Wrong again! For, as noted above, sinequan is not approved in treating bipolar depression.

So it could be the sinequan that is causing you some problems. Although, I did OK on sinequan and lithium for over 10 years. And, I was told sinequan does have a calmative effect, which helped my anxiety.

You mentioned in an earlier post sometimes taking alcohol, and then not taking your pill(s) that night because of the side affect of the mixing of meds and alcohol. Alcohol I've heard is a depressant, and, not taking your med(s) a day or two a week could cause problems.

Do you stop both meds when you drink, the lithium and the doxepin? Many years ago I took a drink on doxepin, I think it was, and it messed me up so bad I never even thought about taking a drink on medicine.

drugs.com said in talking about Doxepin cautioned psychiatrists about seeing a patient as depressed, and only treating that person for depression, when that person could be manic-depressed:

"Screening Patients for Bipolar Disorder: A major depressive episode may be the initial presentation of bipolar disorder. It is generally believed (though not established in controlled trials) that treating such an episode with an antidepressant alone may increase the likelihood of precipitation of a mixed/manic episode in patients at risk for bipolar disorder."

I take Doxepin to help me sleep. I was taking Wellbutrin for depression, but I don't think it really helped.
I feel depressed and have ringing in the back of the head, and I suffer from body weakness and pain. When I raised my lithium to 1,200 mg a day, I started feeling better. That's when I did a little research and found out that 900 mg of lithium per day is just a starting dose, and maybe I should be taking about 1,500 mg to 1,800 mg of lithium per day.

I've been diagnosed with bi polar years ago and have been taking 900 mg of lithium per day. I trusted the doctor, but maybe he was wrong, and I should be taking 1,500 mg to 1,800 mg of lithium per day.

I have drunk beer on the meds, but I don't drink at all anymore. It's not worth it.
Posted 4/28/2018 11:53 PM (GMT 0)
I wonder where the body weakness pain came from? How long have you had that?

As far as raising your lithium from your present 900 mg to 1,200 mg a day, which you said you were on before and you said you started feeling better, to me as a patient, that is a lot of lithium.

So the question could be, are you manic right now? Were you up last night until 3 a.m. and couldn't get to sleep except for a few hours? Was your mind racing yesterday, or right now?

If you're not manic, in my amateur opinion, I wonder why you keep wanting to raise the lithium?

Again, are you more depressed or manic?

Lithium can cause kidney problems, I think it is. I don't think you want to go way high on lithium.

You might want to switch to another mood stabilizer if you want to keep increasing your lithium.

Are you taking anything for pain and for being tired?
Posted 4/29/2018 1:44 AM (GMT 0)

Tim Tam said...
I wonder where the body weakness pain came from? How long have you had that?

As far as raising your lithium from your present 900 mg to 1,200 mg a day, which you said you were on before and you said you started feeling better, to me as a patient, that is a lot of lithium.

So the question could be, are you manic right now? Were you up last night until 3 a.m. and couldn't get to sleep except for a few hours? Was your mind racing yesterday, or right now?

If you're not manic, in my amateur opinion, I wonder why you keep wanting to raise the lithium?

Again, are you more depressed or manic?

Lithium can cause kidney problems, I think it is. I don't think you want to go way high on lithium.

You might want to switch to another mood stabilizer if you want to keep increasing your lithium.

Are you taking anything for pain and for being tired?

As far as the body weakness and pain, it must be caused by the bi polar because the doctors have found nothing wrong with me.

The average lithium dosage is from 900 mg to 1800 mg I have read. I did go for a lithium blood level test about a month ago, and my reading was low so that tells that 900 mg of lithium isn't enough.

Pain killers don't help with the pain. But I've never tried oxy.
Posted 4/29/2018 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
When did the pain start?

I have bipolar but I don't have pain or weakness.

I have had tiredness from being depressed, but it probably stopped when I started taking anti-depressants, for I haven't had depression or tiredness for many years.

Where is the pain? Did it start years before you were diagnosed with bipolar, for we've had our bipolar probably since we were in our teens, even though maybe not diagnosed until 5 or 10 or more years later.

How did the pain start? Have you been tired since you were 18?

Again, you ask for twice the lithium you are on now, but you don't signs of mania, for you can sit down and type and make sense. If you were manic you would be describing mania.

Lithium doesn't make you feel better. It relaxes you. You sound pretty relaxed already.
Posted 5/10/2018 7:07 PM (GMT 0)

Tim Tam said...
I wonder where the body weakness pain came from? How long have you had that?

As far as raising your lithium from your present 900 mg to 1,200 mg a day, which you said you were on before and you said you started feeling better, to me as a patient, that is a lot of lithium.

So the question could be, are you manic right now? Were you up last night until 3 a.m. and couldn't get to sleep except for a few hours? Was your mind racing yesterday, or right now?

If you're not manic, in my amateur opinion, I wonder why you keep wanting to raise the lithium?

Again, are you more depressed or manic?

Lithium can cause kidney problems, I think it is. I don't think you want to go way high on lithium.

You might want to switch to another mood stabilizer if you want to keep increasing your lithium.

Are you taking anything for pain and for being tired?

You got me thinking, and I went for a lithium test yesterday. I was taking 1,800 mg a day of lithium. My reading was 1.66 which is high so I'm reducing to 1,200 per day of lithium from orders of my psychiatrist.
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