Lithium is a mood stabilizer and can aid to deal with or avoid mania. It can also be used to lower the regularity of anxiety episodes.
Take this medicine as directed by your doctor. It is important to drink a lot of liquids while taking this medication. Lithium may communicate with certain medicines that impact serotonin (such as antidepressants, SSRIs, MAO preventions). Tell your physician concerning all of your drugs.
Mood Problems
Lithium is typically used to deal with bipolar disorder, a mental illness that triggers very quick shifts in between the extreme moods of depression and mania. Bipolar affective disorder can make it tough to live a regular life and can create serious troubles in relationships, job or school. Lithium aids to prevent these severe mood modifications and lowers the seriousness of clinical depression and mania.
The early researches of lithium at Glostrup Psychiatric Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s provided persuading proof that it can decrease the regularity of hospitalizations for anxiety (38 ). Baastrup and Schou's placebo-controlled discontinuance study was particularly crucial due to the fact that it revealed that people relapsed on sugar pill yet not on lithium (39 ).
Your medical professional will inspect your blood degrees routinely to see to it you are taking the correct quantity of lithium. It is necessary to drink a lot of fluids while taking this medicine. Your medical professional 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 and so light it drifts on water. It is found naturally in the setting, with studies linking low degrees of it to psychological and mental health issue and fierce criminal activity. The mineral was added to sodas in the 1960s, where it lightened up state of minds and helped people concentrate and focus-- hence the name, 7-Up.
Lithium decreases mania by increasing the activity of an enzyme that manages neurotransmitters, reducing glutamate degrees, and aiding to stabilize various other chemicals in the brain. It has likewise been shown to have antidepressant effects and enhance rest, impatience, aggressiveness, and anxiety in ADHD clients.
People taking lithium must have normal blood examinations to monitor levels-- too high can be toxic. It is necessary to let doctors learn about other medicines and supplements taken, as some can engage with it. Inform your physician if you have looseness of the bowels, vomiting, sleepiness, tremors, weakness, unstable walking, or fainting (especially after exercise). Usage effective birth control to avoid maternity while taking this medication.
Hyperthyroidism.
Lithium may be utilized as a temporary treatment for overactive thyroid glands (hyperthyroidism). This is particularly crucial if the patient has Graves illness or other autoimmune problems like thyroiditis or Hashimoto's illness. Lithium hinders the launch of thyroid hormonal agent by obstructing iodine uptake at the thyroid gland via the sodium-iodide symporter and by interfering with tyrosine iodination. [9] Lithium additionally hinders thyrotropin-releasing hormonal agent (TRH) excitement and reduces the production of thyroxine from tyrosine in the thyroid gland. [10] However, lithium use may lead to hypothyroidism and a goiter in some patients. [11] Hence, frequent evaluation of thyroid feature examinations and dimension is recommended in clients on lithium therapy.
It is necessary to review the benefits and risks of this drug with your doctor before starting it. It is additionally crucial to prevent products reduced in salt (salt) while taking this medicine and drink sufficient liquids. If you have any type of 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 studies. It is necessary to keep in mind that in comparison to a couple of primitive scientific reports and the lithium-pilocarpine pet design, a number of current research studies demonstrate that lithium in healing levels does not decrease the seizure limit however actually decreases the threshold for seizure occurrence.
This is believed to be due to the reality that lithium boosts cholinergic activity, hinders phosphoinositide metabolic process and GSK-3b signalling. It also lowers glutamate excitotoxicity by boosting NMDA receptor agonist-evoked apoptotic currents and enhances the endogenous nitric oxide synthase activity in neurons [36]
Lithium is well tolerated by many people with bipolar illness, however it has a few adverse effects that should exposure therapy be thought about. These consist of a reduced capacity to concentrate pee (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus) and a rise in the concentration of lithium in the blood (lithium poisoning). It is for that reason really essential to follow your medical professional's directions concerning having routine blood examinations.
