I was just wondering if any of you have tried Lithium. My doctors want me to but I am terrified of it, mostly because of the weight gain but other side effects as well. Any info and advice would be so much appreciated.
Thank you,
bkfree

Hi bkfree, I am guessing you are bulimic. I was bulimic and one of several drugs I was put on during the 10 years was Lithium. It is a very powerful drug. I did gain weight but I did not throw up. It is a very interesting drug because you are not out of it or high but you just kinda go on your day like nothing is wrong. Nothing bothered me or excited me either. Kinda like your feelings are gone. I hope that makes sense. There is alot of different kinds of medicines out there for bulimia and if your doctor has decided on this one, there might be a good reason. It was in the mid 90's for me and my doctor tried me on Prozac, Lithium, Valproic Acid, Ritalin (I liked Ritalin but I think it was because of the high it gave me), and Zoloft. I think that is it. He would put me on one and I would try it and if it did not work he would put me on another. He was trying to find out what was wrong with me besides being bulimic. Like, am I depressed, am I bi-polar, or am I A.D.D (A.D.D hint Ritalin).
Nothing seemed to work well for me, but I am not saying anything was terrible either. Bulimia is a hard habit to break. It gets a hold on you and it is hard to let go of it. Bulimia is a habit not an addiction and it is breaking a habit that in bulimics mind is there friend there way to cope with things and so on that is hard to overcome. It is our drug but without the true addiction. Your body does not go thru true withdrawls when you do not do it, like smokers, alcoholics or drug addicts do. You need to find out Why you are doing it. When did it start and how is your relationship with your mother (for bulimics, the mother thing is Key) and the serious dangers of doing it. All this stuff I found out thru therapy and an instay at a hospital for this disorder (very helpful). Bulimics find it hard to deal with everyday issues so we binge and throw up because during the binging we think of nothing else but the food we are eating(so we do not have to think of the stress or what we have to deal with at the time), then when we throw it up, (it gives us a sense of eforia(sp?). We also are afraid of growing up and all the responsibility that goes on with that. I am sure your therapist has told you all of this and more. I hope this has helped you, Best of Luck to you, I was bulimic for 10 long horrible years and I can say for the last 3 years the nightmare has been over and over for good. Hang in there, there is light at the end of the tunnel. :)