Lithium is a mood stabilizer and can aid to treat or protect against mania. It can likewise be used to minimize the frequency of clinical depression episodes.
Take this medication as routed by your medical professional. It is essential to drink a lot of fluids while taking this medication. Lithium may connect with specific medicines that influence serotonin (such as antidepressants, SSRIs, MAO inhibitors). Inform your doctor regarding every one of your drugs.
Mood Problems
Lithium is frequently utilized to deal with bipolar illness, a mental disorder that causes really rapid shifts in between the extreme state of minds of anxiety and mania. Bipolar disorder can make it difficult to live a regular life and can trigger significant issues in relationships, job or school. Lithium assists to stop these extreme state of mind changes and lowers the seriousness of clinical depression and mania.
The early research studies of lithium at Glostrup Psychiatric Hospital in the 1960s and 1970s given convincing proof that it can reduce the regularity of hospital stays for anxiety (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 doctor will inspect your blood levels on a regular basis to see to it you are taking the proper quantity of lithium. It is necessary to consume alcohol plenty of fluids while taking this medicine. Your medical professional may recommend a low-sodium diet while you are taking this medication.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Lithium is a mineral so soft you can cut it with a knife and so light it floats on water. It is found naturally in the environment, with studies linking reduced degrees of it to psychological and psychological illness and fierce criminal offense. The mineral was contributed to soft drinks in the 1960s, where it brightened moods and helped people concentrate and focus-- therefore the name, 7-Up.
Lithium lowers mania by boosting the activity of an enzyme that controls neurotransmitters, reducing glutamate levels, and helping to stabilize various other chemicals in the mind. It has also been shown to have antidepressant effects and improve sleep, irritability, aggression, and anxiety in ADHD patients.
People taking lithium should have regular blood tests to monitor degrees-- expensive can be hazardous. It is necessary to allow physicians learn about other medications and supplements taken, as some can connect with it. Inform your physician if you have diarrhea, throwing up, sleepiness, tremors, weak point, unstable walking, or fainting (particularly after exercise). Usage efficient birth control to avoid maternity while taking this medicine.
Hyperthyroidism.
Lithium may be used as a temporary therapy for overactive thyroid glands (hyperthyroidism). This is especially vital if the individual has Graves condition or other autoimmune problems like thyroiditis or Hashimoto's illness. Lithium inhibits the launch of thyroid hormone by obstructing iodine uptake at the thyroid gland with the sodium-iodide symporter and by interfering with tyrosine iodination. [9] Lithium additionally prevents thyrotropin-releasing hormonal agent (TRH) excitement and decreases the manufacturing of thyroxine from tyrosine in the thyroid gland. [10] However, lithium usage may bring about hypothyroidism and a goiter in some people. [11] Thus, constant analysis of thyroid feature tests and dimension is recommended in people on lithium therapy.
It is important to review the benefits and threats of this medication with your medical professional before beginning it. It is also crucial to avoid items low in salt (salt) while taking this medication and drink sufficient liquids. If you have any issues, call your doctor or the emergency division as soon as possible.
Epilepsy.
The anticonvulsant effects of lithium are well established from both professional and experimental research studies. It is necessary to note that unlike a couple of primitive medical records and the lithium-pilocarpine pet design, a variety of recent researches demonstrate that lithium in restorative degrees does not decrease the ocd treatment seizure threshold yet actually lowers the limit for seizure occurrence.
This is thought to result from the fact that lithium increases cholinergic activity, prevents phosphoinositide metabolic rate and GSK-3b signalling. It also minimizes glutamate excitotoxicity by raising NMDA receptor agonist-evoked apoptotic currents and boosts the endogenous nitric oxide synthase activity in nerve cells [36]
Lithium is well endured by the majority of people with bipolar illness, but it has a couple of side effects that should be thought about. These include a decreased capability to focus urine (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus) and a boost in the focus of lithium in the blood (lithium poisoning). It is therefore very essential to follow your medical professional's guidelines about having routine blood examinations.
