Lithium is a mood stabilizer and can help to treat or protect against mania. It can also be utilized to reduce the frequency of depression episodes.
Take this medicine as routed by your physician. It is essential to consume alcohol lots of fluids while taking this medication. Lithium may connect with specific medications that impact serotonin (such as antidepressants, SSRIs, MAO inhibitors). Inform your doctor concerning all of your drugs.
Mood Problems
Lithium is frequently used to treat bipolar illness, a mental disorder that causes extremely fast shifts in between the extreme state of minds of anxiety and mania. Bipolar illness can make it difficult to live a regular life and can trigger significant issues in partnerships, work or college. Lithium helps to stop these extreme state of mind changes and decreases the intensity of depression and mania.
The very early studies of lithium at Glostrup Psychiatric Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s supplied convincing evidence that it can lower the frequency of hospital stays for depression (38 ). Baastrup and Schou's placebo-controlled discontinuance research was especially crucial because it showed that people relapsed on placebo yet not on lithium (39 ).
Your physician will certainly check your blood degrees consistently to ensure you are taking the right quantity of lithium. It is essential to consume a lot of fluids while taking this medicine. Your physician might recommend a low-sodium diet plan while you are taking this medication.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD).
Lithium is a mineral so soft you can cut it with a knife therefore light it drifts on water. It is found naturally in the setting, with researches linking low degrees of it to emotional and psychological illness and violent criminal offense. The mineral was contributed to sodas in the 1960s, where it lightened up moods and helped people concentrate and focus-- therefore the name, 7-Up.
Lithium reduces mania by enhancing the action of an enzyme that manages natural chemicals, decreasing glutamate levels, and helping to balance other chemicals in the mind. It has actually also been revealed to have antidepressant impacts and enhance rest, irritability, aggression, and stress and anxiety in ADHD individuals.
Individuals taking lithium must have normal blood examinations to check levels-- too high can be toxic. It is very important to allow physicians understand about various other drugs and supplements taken, as some can connect with it. Inform your physician if you have diarrhea, vomiting, drowsiness, tremblings, weakness, unstable walking, or fainting (specifically after workout). Usage reliable contraception to stay clear of maternity while taking this medication.
Hyperthyroidism.
Lithium might be utilized as a short-term treatment for overactive thyroid glands (hyperthyroidism). This is particularly vital if the person has Graves condition or other autoimmune conditions like affordable mental health treatment options thyroiditis or Hashimoto's disease. Lithium hinders the launch of thyroid hormonal agent by obstructing iodine uptake at the thyroid gland with the sodium-iodide symporter and by disrupting tyrosine iodination. [9] Lithium likewise inhibits thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) stimulation and lowers the manufacturing of thyroxine from tyrosine in the thyroid gland. [10] Nonetheless, lithium usage may result in hypothyroidism and a goiter in some patients. [11] Hence, frequent evaluation of thyroid function examinations and dimension is encouraged in individuals on lithium therapy.
It is essential to talk about the benefits and threats of this drug with your physician before beginning it. It is additionally crucial to prevent products reduced in salt (salt) while taking this medicine and drink sufficient liquids. If you have any problems, call your medical professional or the emergency situation department immediately.
Epilepsy.
The anticonvulsant effects of lithium are well developed from both scientific and experimental researches. It is necessary to keep in mind that as opposed to a few primitive professional reports and the lithium-pilocarpine animal version, a number of recent researches demonstrate that lithium in therapeutic degrees does not decrease the seizure limit however actually decreases the limit for seizure occurrence.
This is believed to be because of the fact that lithium boosts cholinergic activity, hinders phosphoinositide metabolic rate and GSK-3b signalling. It likewise decreases glutamate excitotoxicity by increasing NMDA receptor agonist-evoked apoptotic currents and improves the endogenous nitric oxide synthase task in nerve cells [36]
Lithium is well tolerated by lots of people with bipolar disorder, yet it has a couple of side effects that need to be thought about. These consist of a minimized capability to focus pee (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus) and a rise in the concentration of lithium in the blood (lithium toxicity). It is for that reason very crucial to follow your doctor's directions regarding having routine blood tests.
