Lithium is a mood stabilizer/anti-psychotic used to treat BiPolar. It's one of the oldest meds used for BP treatment. Most people have pretty good outcome with it, but you do have to be incredibly med compliant, Lithium requires a great amount of monitoring and weekly blood tests to make sure your kidneys are processing the drug properly, etc.
The blood test are mainly in the beginning as that's how pdocs measure what your therapeutic dose will be tolerated by your liver, and they watch for toxicity levels. It has to be done for the first few weeks to make sure your system can handle it.
The other thing to think about, I have no idea your insurance/financial situation but Lithium is way cheaper than the newer drugs. It's actually on the 4 or 9 dollar list at WalMart. Lamictal, Abilify, Seroquel and the newer mood stabilizers are very expensive. My abilify without insurance is 600.00, the Lamictal w/out ins. is 507.00, if I didn't have insurance my meds would be $2,000.00 a month. If I didn't have insurance I'd never be able to afford to take meds. Lithium is only around 75.00 or so if your not near a walmart.
Heck I'd love to go back on Lithium but I'm not manic or hypomanic my specialty is severe suicidal depression, and it's not really made for that.
kat
Last edited by katlin09; 03-11-2009 at 10:45 PM.
Reason: to add something
Yeah it's ridiculous, even with my insurance the copay is still $100, which is high. Most of my copays are between 10 and 40 dollars. Lamictal is a 135 dollar copay for the generic....the two of them are ridicuously expensive.
When I was doing my research and trying to decide whether to cobra my insurance or not, and getting prices, ins vs. no ins. I couldn't believe it. I just don't see how people without Insurance afford their treatment and meds.
Yeah it's ridiculous, even with my insurance the copay is still $100, which is high. Most of my copays are between 10 and 40 dollars. Lamictal is a 135 dollar copay for the generic....the two of them are ridicuously expensive.
When I was doing my research and trying to decide whether to cobra my insurance or not, and getting prices, ins vs. no ins. I couldn't believe it. I just don't see how people without Insurance afford their treatment and meds.
kat
I think prices for meds are ridiculous. I thank God that I'm on Medicaid because if I weren't, there's no way I'd be able to afford over $1,000/month in meds. I guess I shouldn't complain about having to pay $42 for Clonazepam.
As far as co-pays are concerned, the most mine amount to is $10. I hope I never have to make the choice of which med I can afford.
If I had to pick, I'd probably continue with Geodon and Clonazepam and sacrifice the others since Geodon controls my auditory hallucinations, delusions and paranoia -- and Clonazepam controls my rapid cycling.
Being manic and depressed is no fun nor is having a migraine or year round allergies, but I'd rather deal with all of those things instead of hearing voices, having delusions and suffering through 7 different types of paranoia. I pray that I will never have to make that decision.
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Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 03-12-2009 at 02:21 PM.
I get deep, dark depression based on triggers of a trauma I had in infancy (I was adopted and was in a foster home that burned down when I was a few months old). Anyway, moving or breaking up relationships triggers me and I go into a deep depression. Lithium is the ONLY drug that kicks me out of it. The blood tests are a small but annoying price to pay for this wonder drug. But I won't stay on Lithium long-term because it causes weight gain. I know, talk about depressing!! I by rights should stay on it probably, but can't deal with the weight. It's a great drug, though.
It doesn't really matter, they all seem to cause weight gain...Cymbalta is about the only one that doesn't but it doesn't work too well with BiPolar Depression, I just tried it, and stopped it after only 2 months, it was a nightmare.
My psychiatrist is thinking about putting me on lithium, what is lithium used for?
Hi, I've been on Lithium for about 3yrs. Side effects initially but went away. Lithium does need blood tests about every 3 months. It works very well for many and is known as the Gold Standard of treatment. I make no mistake, it is a dangerous drug, but safe if you know the rules of taking it.
Wellbutrin doesn't cause weight gain, so if you're looking for an anti-depressant, you may want to ask your pdoc about it.
As far as Lithium is concerned, it's a mood stabilizer used to treat depression, mania and hypomania. It has been around for years and enjoys a reputation of being one of the oldest and best mood stabilizers.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Hi, I've been on Lithium for about 3yrs. Side effects initially but went away. Lithium does need blood tests about every 3 months. It works very well for many and is known as the Gold Standard of treatment. I make no mistake, it is a dangerous drug, but safe if you know the rules of taking it.
I noticed in your signature that you have complex PTSD. What is that? I have PTSD myself, but have never heard of complex PTSD. My tdoc described my PTSD as being chronic. Is that what it refers to?
I just answered my own question by doing an Internet search. I guess I have complex PTSD as well since I was sexually, physically and emotionally abused by my parents as a child as well as having my life threatened by a stranger at age 9.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 03-12-2009 at 08:21 PM.
I guess so. From what I read on the Internet, people who have experienced long-term traumas like sexual abuse as a child are diagnosed with complex PTSD. I never knew that because when my tdoc told me I had PTSD, he didn't mention anything about it being complex even though I was sexually abused as a child. One article I read indicated complex PTSD as being abbreviated as C-PTSD.
Having said that, I don't think it makes a difference one way or the other since in my view, PTSD is PTSD just like bipolar is bipolar. Trauma is trauma no matter how much, how little or prolonged it is.
__________________
Atypical Bipolar I Disorder with Rapid Cycling
Meds:
Depakote 1500mg
Prozac 40mg
Risperdal 1mg titrating to 6mg/day
Klonopin .5mg (2x/day)
Trazodone 100mg or 200mg PRN
Last edited by dreams in neon; 03-12-2009 at 08:28 PM.
[Tegretol and topamax are also used for mood stabililzation (as is geodon, but for me that one was the true drug from hell.) I know that lamictil, abilify, etc. are all super expensive. But trust me, I've been on lithium -- I know lithium, I dealt with constant blood tests, the stuff is hard on the body. And it made me like a zombie and I gained lots of weight.
If I were you I'd: 1) ask my doc for samples of the other expensive meds, maybe permanent samples 2) ask if tegretol or topamax are generic now or 3) as someone else said, contact the pharmaceutical companies directly to see if you could get the lamictil or the abilify.
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hashimotos since 2009
on and off livelong depression
I noticed in your signature that you have complex PTSD. What is that? I have PTSD myself, but have never heard of complex PTSD. My tdoc described my PTSD as being chronic. Is that what it refers to?
I just answered my own question by doing an Internet search. I guess I have complex PTSD as well since I was sexually, physically and emotionally abused by my parents as a child as well as having my life threatened by a stranger at age 9.
Hi there, Sorry about the delay, I've been busy. Complex PTSD refers to many different traumas that caused PTSD not just one thing that can cause PTSD. You did your research well.
Regards Sam
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Bipolar Affective Disorder
Complex PTSD
Ride a Scott Contessa Speedster '09
