I’ve been thirsty for a month and, as a result, peeing up a storm.
Those are the main side effects of lithium, the standard-bearer for treating bipolar disorder and BPD-related depression. Despite no clear consensus on why it works, it’s been the leading BPD treatment for decades because it does, in fact, work for a lot of people.
I’m hoping, as I inch up to a therapeutic dose, I’ll be one of those people. I’m feeling better, relative to where I was a month ago, and I suspect lithium is playing a role in that change. I’m hoping the side effects won’t go beyond frequent bathroom breaks and weight gain, and that lithium levels in blood tests won’t force me to stop taking it if it does indeed work.
Time will tell.
The Nirvana song “Lithium” paraphrased in the subtitle is not actually about the drug lithium, although there are traces of Kurt Cobain’s bipolar disorder to be found in the lyrics. The song instead is about a fictitious character who has lost his girlfriend and is trying to find God before he kills himself. Critics have called it an update on Marx’s “religion as opiate for the masses” assertion and noted the meloday obscures the dark nature of the lyrics.
“I've always felt that some people should have religion in their lives,” Cobain said. “That's fine. If it's going to save someone, it's okay. And the person in ['Lithium'] needed it.”
I’ve met more than a handful of bipolar people who need their lithium in their lives. I know one guy who hasn’t had a manic episode since starting lithium more than a decade ago. I know another person who has continued to take it even as lithium levels in her blood creeped into dangerous territory (the old I’d-rather-be-poisoned-than-not-have-my-lithium line of thinking).
Speaking of drugging the masses, 7Up was originally called "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" when it hit the market in 1929 because it contained lithium citrate. An early version of Coca-Cola was called Lithia Coke because it mixed the soft drink’s syrup with lithia water. The FDA banned the use of lithium in soda in 1948.
My prescriber was only half joking when she said we’d all be better off if everyone was on a low dose of lithium. Maybe we’d be better off as a society if everyone indulged in the occasional Lithia Coke.
I’m kidding….kind of.
Photo By James Heilman, MD - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73507976
Lithium should do it for you, or at least take the edge off. I'm at 600 but have been as high as 1200. It made a difference for me, thought It's important to remember that you can never get 100 percent "better." Lithium enabled me to get off of Lexapro. SSRI's are tricky business. They're not addictive per say but they do give you a rebound effect when you discontinue. It took two to three months for my brain to stop "wanting" Lexapro. Lithium did not affect my weight. I's the urination that bothers me. It hits me like a turned on hose. Anyhow, you're doing great and I am inspired by your posts. One aspect of psychiatric illness is it is very, very common. We just have to keep soldiering on.