Lithium

my psych is on temp leave, and another Sr. psych in the office is covering his practice. The Sr. thinks i should be on Lithium instead of an anticonvulsant because he says it's better at preventing relapses because i was depressed for a month, but now am going up in mania. I read the side effects of Lith are pretty nasty tho... weight gain, cog. probs., acne, hand tremors, toxicity and all, and i don't like the idea. How does anyone work? What is your opinion of how likely it is to get those probs. Do you see any benefitto lith. over depakote, etc.? What do your patiehnts say about how they feel on it? He also says he wants me to take 600 Welbutrin instead of 300. Won't that be too much? isn't this going to be a problem when my reg. psych gets back and sees everything switched around?

Thx for any help. This is very confusing.

Jules

[HFHS.MD-AJ]

I can understand your concerns about the changes being made in your treatment plan. Lithium may have the side effect profile that you described, and is of equal mood-stabilizing efficacy to anticonvulsants (such as Depakote and Tegretol)in the treatment of bipolar disorder. It is possible that the increase in your Wellbutrin dose is being considered because of your being depressed last month. However, total daily doses of greater than 450mg of Wellbutrin are not recommended, because of an increased risk of seizures. I urge you to discuss your concerns further with your treating psychiatrist, or to seek a second opinion from another psychiatrist.

[Ruth]

I'm currently taking Lithium, Depakote, and Effexor for bipolar disorder, as well as synthroid for hypothyroidism.  I'm likely to be on all four drugs for the rest of my life. What kinds of long-term side effect could there be?  I've put on weight, but I'm slowly taking that off. Will these meds affect my liver or my blood pressure or anything like that?