Posted by colin wallace on November 11, 2002, at 5:10:15
In reply to Re: Scared to try Lithium » colin wallace, posted by catmint on November 10, 2002, at 20:24:00
Hi Amy,
I hope you're feeling a little bit better at least.
I did try lithium briefly, but the trouble was that I was suffering the tail end of a very nasty mixed-state episode that landed me in hospital begging for valproate.
The valproate gave me severe insomnia and this made things even worse, and by now I was pretty much suicidal.I tried a subtherapeutic dose of lithium, felt relatively calm for a few days , and then crashed very badly again.
I grabbed myself some Lamictal in desperation, and the rest you know.
You could say I didn't give lithium a fair go, but I was in such a crisis(and going through zoloft withdrawal)that I couldn't gamble on waiting a few months for it to (maybe) start to work.
Looking back, I reckon it may eventually have helped given the chance (it did seem to flatten things out), but I would need to have been taking a good AD alongside.
Lithium itself won't do much for rapid cycling/mixed states, but some people get good results combining a low dose of valproate and lithium (and an AD).
I wouldn't worry too much about toxicity at small (300 mg or below) doses either.
Here's alink that may be helpful:http://www.cme-reviews.com/CMEReviews/suicidesuppl/CNS200suppl_Solomon.html
Oh yeah, in answer to your question, I usually get very, very depressed in the winter months too.
Take care of yourself and keep afloat!There are plenty of treatment options still.
Col.
poster:colin wallace
thread:127086
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021108/msgs/127223.html