have you ever, responsibly (or not), terminated your lithium use?

[yeahimcrazy]

abc

[gizmo]

ps -- i'm not stopping my lithium, so don't even start that shit about omg talk to your doctor blah blah blah.

Then why are you asking so many questions about reducing lithium doses if you are so clearly not stopping it?

[Guest beaver]

i went from 600mg a day to 300mg a day, and gradually but quickly i became hypomanic but would fly into a rage at nothing, it was really ugly and i made enemies and i got into trouble at work

[LunaRufina]

Ok, I really only skimmed this, but:

http://ajp.psychiatr...t/154/4/551.pdf

"These findings indicate that patients with bipolar disorder should be advised not to discontinue lithium treatment without psychiatric consultation; if elective discontinuation is considered, it should be done gradually under close clinical supervision."

Those who gradually reduced lithium over 15-30 days had [generally] a longer time between discontinuation and recurrence of symptoms.

So, yeah the recommendation would be a gradual decrease, but I couldn't say if the longer the discontinuation period the less likely for symptoms to return; there has to be a line also.

When I discontinued I stopped pretty damn quickly [like almost immediately the first time and over about a week the second time.] I don't recommend it, but I didn't suffer particularly bad effects that I recall.

[jarn]

I went off lithium cold turkey without consulting my doctors. I wouldn't advise it - mania and psychosis.

[lachesis]

I went cold only because I know that three other meds are supporting my mood. Specialist said it is one cause, for others, of what is happening in my eye(s) optic nerve pressure (????) Whatever. Figuring things out ain't always easy.

[gizmo]

it's not my fault that when some people see the side effects they develop them. it not my fault that some people can't remember the full names of the whopping 3 medications they take. it's not my fault that people are too stupid or lazy to know very important things, like what stevens-johnson syndrome looks like and that "lamachafina-something-like-that" causes it. i don't need to hear baseless overbearing reactions covered with a proclaimation of what is at best faux sincerity and disingenuous concern. i'm tired of people thinking that they are here to protect me or guide me or simply trick me into thinking that the answers they have are the answers i asked for. i don't need to be molly-coddled, and i won't be, even if that means i look like a snarky 16 year old with an attitude problem.

This is just about the most defensive post I've seen in my time here at CB. If you want help from CB members, then ask and you shall generally receive a great deal of help (as you did on this post). It's not a sieve, where you can filter the answers. You are going to get what answers you get. If you do not like that, perhaps you should create a blog.

And BTW, I have trouble remembering what medications I'm on (MI and non-MI) because of brain rot from BP (kindling) and the medications I'm on. It's very hard for me to name all of them at once, I always forget one or two. So I carry around a list on my iPhone. I'm a very smart mental health consumer; I just have a diminished memory because of my illness and my meds. So just remember that not being able to remember your meds is not always a flaw, but a serious side effect.

[isis]

yeahimcrazy - ok so i see your point because i see similarities between you and myself. but there is a grey area between being informed/smart about your health and being a smartarse who knows enough to know something and not enough to know that they are potentially making things worse for themselves.

a lot of people come here and say 'what is it like coming of this drug'. The reality of it is that you could discuss this in a conversation with your pdoc and that you don't need to necessarily be very knowledgeable to have a role in your own treatment. However i like to know the same answers so i can see why you would.

i was on 1000mg of lithium and i got lithium toxicity when i got a bout of gastro. I had to come off it and go back on at a lower dose, but i had severe nausea the whole time i was taking it (3 months). Eventually, i came off the reduced dose (300mg) because my pdoc at the time was refusing to help. I quit on my own - and i felt better, because it had been making me unwell. However since that time i've realised that this is not the way to quit a drug and if i have a problem, talking it through with my doctor first is a better idea. Anything that you experience on starting a drug can come up again when you come off - and then of course the lack of mood stabilisation will be there as well. Also, it is better to talk to your doctor and then quit with their support, because 1- you have support and 2- they don't think you are a non-adherent bipolar patient with little insight.

Remember what you think is smart and makes sense can exaggerate some of the trademark bipolar 'signs' to a doctor. It doesnt mean you're wrong but it will make it harder for you.

isis.