starpirate555 Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 ok, i am fed up with this water retention. why can't i get rid of it. i don't want to drink water the rest of my life. there's has got to be a better way! you can't use diuretics because of lithium interference, reducing sodium will make lithium toxic, and sweating the water out is out because of toxicity. what is one to do? if i go to my doctor will he believe i have edema caused by lithium salts! by the way im on 1200mg lithium and 15mg abilify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Well, you should discuss this with your Pdoc. Discuss it because it is important to you. How well does Lithium work for you? How important is it to you? Because in the world of psyche meds side effects this is a minor one. Are you talking about ten pounds of water weight or what? I was originally put on Depakote. I had horrible side effects and a doctor who would not let me off. long story, I like lithium for what it does for my brain and mood. Peeing all the time is minor compared to the Depakote side effects. However some people like Depakote a lot. I have friends who like it. And there are other options too. It is all relative. And ultimately it is your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starpirate555 Posted October 2, 2010 Author Share Posted October 2, 2010 Well, you should discuss this with your Pdoc. Discuss it because it is important to you. How well does Lithium work for you? How important is it to you? Because in the world of psyche meds side effects this is a minor one. Are you talking about ten pounds of water weight or what? I was originally put on Depakote. I had horrible side effects and a doctor who would not let me off. long story, I like lithium for what it does for my brain and mood. Peeing all the time is minor compared to the Depakote side effects. However some people like Depakote a lot. I have friends who like it. And there are other options too. It is all relative. And ultimately it is your decision. i have a belly as big as a basketball and i know it's not all of my weight. ive been gaining weight (water weight) for 18 years now. i want to see results without having to drown myself in water. i know there are alternatives out there to get rid of water weight. in your opinion, what is the best way to get rid of ascites (water belly). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorrel Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Ascites is a very serious symptom mostly connected with advanced life-threatening conditions such as liver failure. Lithium, sodium, water intake, are unrelated. It is diagnosed with imaging tests and then you'd need major workups to find the cause. Gaining weight for 18 years is ... gaining weight. That isn't edema of any kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 well, considering that we cannot take diuretics I don't know. Actually I was on a diuretic for 10 months along with my Lithium. And I was always in normal levels. Perhaps you need to consider trying another mood stabilizer? And overall workout and exercize might help a bit. A belly as big as a basketball sounds miserable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpladybug Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Ascites is a very serious symptom mostly connected with advanced life-threatening conditions such as liver failure. Lithium, sodium, water intake, are unrelated. It is diagnosed with imaging tests and then you'd need major workups to find the cause. Gaining weight for 18 years is ... gaining weight. That isn't edema of any kind. I looked up Ascites. That IS serious! gosh It makes sense that you would develop shortness of breath on your way to ......death? if not treated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SashaSue Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 What makes you think it's a water weight issue, or that it has anything to do with lithium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laume Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Hey Starpirate I had the same thing when I went from 900 to 1200 mg of Lithium. My stomach felt like a beach ball. My pdoc said my other side-effects were from the upped Li (crazy hallucinations, feeling stoned) as was the belly,so I went back down to 900. Was fine after about a week on a lower dose. I did eat my share of bananas and pure (eeeeek sour) cranberry juice too since they can help with the bloat. Talk to your pdoc. Not saying you are on too much like I obviously was, but see what she/he says. Good luck - awful awful feeling,isn't it? Lithium dosing is such a mess to get right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nibblerd Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Hey Starpirate I had the same thing when I went from 900 to 1200 mg of Lithium. My stomach felt like a beach ball. My pdoc said my other side-effects were from the upped Li (crazy hallucinations, feeling stoned) as was the belly,so I went back down to 900. Was fine after about a week on a lower dose. I did eat my share of bananas and pure (eeeeek sour) cranberry juice too since they can help with the bloat. Talk to your pdoc. Not saying you are on too much like I obviously was, but see what she/he says. Good luck - awful awful feeling,isn't it? Lithium dosing is such a mess to get right. Are you saying bananas increase gastric clearance rate or something? I wouldn't agree.. or maybe I'm just stupid for eating 15 bananas in one sitting, but I couldn't evacuate for three days and required laxatives in the end Potassium also increases lithium's efficacy, so I'm not sure adding that to your diet would be such a swell idea if you are toxic. On the other hand, a non-toxic patient will have an improvement in therapy with two 'nanas a day. Boosts serotonin and whatnot Received 26 January 1994; received in revised form 13 May 1994 Lithium can be toxic in rodents and human patients at concentrations within the therapeutic range for treatment of affective disorders. Diet containing supplemental potassium reduced lithium-induced weight loss in hamsters following daily injections of 3 mmol LiCl/kg for 7–10 days. Potassium supplementation also decreased lithium concentrations in peripheral tissues, but not in brain, after repeated lithium administration. Repeated lithium injection lowered the concentration of potassium in peripheral tissues, but tissue potassium was not restored by dietary potassium supplementation. Toxic effects of single injections of 1–10 mmol LiCl/kg were unaffected by dietary potassium. Lithium concentrations in plasma, brain, or peripheral tissues 6-hr after injection of 5 mmol LiCl/kg were also not altered by potassium diet. These data suggest that interactions between lithium and potassium diet differ in peripheral tissues compared to the central nervous system, and after acute versus chronic lithium administration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laume Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 bananas and cranberry juice are diuretic, thats all - and not 15 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nalgas Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 bananas and cranberry juice are diuretic, thats all - and not 15 of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cranberry juice, yes, but not bananas that I've ever heard. If you're taking a diuretic, eating bananas may be good for preventing low potassium levels, though. Of course, that all gets a lot messier with lithium involved, and how so depends on what kind of diuretic, and I won't even pretend that I know which combinations are good or bad because of the complexity involved in how it all works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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