Lithium

Lithium is a drug used for treating people who suffer from mood disorders like depression or bipolar. People who suffer from depression show signs of severe low mood where bipolar mood is sometimes excessively high and very low on other occasions. Lithium is a simple chemical (very much like salt) that occurs naturally. Lithium has been used for more than 5 decades so this is not a new medicine. The forms of lithium used medically are lithium carbonate, and lithium citrate.

Most people who seek help for their mood disorder normally ask common questions like “How can lithium help me” or is it addictive.
There are different ways in which lithium is used for treating patients with high mood over- activity, racing thoughts and agitation behaviours.

Taking more than any prescribed dose can be very dangerous indeed. Lithium needs to be taken in doses that keep its level in the blood relatively high. Often, other medicines are used initially to treat mania because of the increased risk of side effects with high levels of lithium. Because it takes a number of days to work this drug is then introduced a little later to stabilise moods.

It helps prevent any severe mood swing recurrences after an acute episode of bipolar illness has settled. In most cases of any illness or disease, medication can take time to work.It can take weeks, months and probably up to two years for lithium to reach its full potential. Not every case is a success case of a complete cure by taking lithium; however, it can help reduce severity of the mood swings.

As we speak there is no real explanation on how lithium works

Lithium can change the way nerve cells respond to some of the chemicals that pass messages between them. Lithium is usually taken in a single dose in the evening – because it reduces the problems with some of the side effects. To answer the question asked earlier, is lithium addictive, in answer to this query “No”. When coming off a drug like lithium dosage needs to be reduced gradually to minimise the chances of the illness returning.

Lithium is a safe medicine, however before a prescription is given by your doctor
he/she will need to know your medical history - including any psychiatric illnesses you have had in the past. The GP will examine you physically and take a blood sample to check your blood count, your kidney function and your thyroid gland. You may be asked to give a urine sample and have an ECG heart tracing done, this will be determined on your health history. These are routine tests to make sure that it is safe for you take.

The problem with lithium is that a certain level of the drug has to be produced in the blood for it to be effective, but if the level rises too much, unpleasant and potentially serious side effects can occur. This is not duly pinpointed towards lithium alone; most drugs come with side affects so this is why you should get your drugs from a doctor and not a dealer on the street.