Does fatigue from Lithium subside with time?

[schrodingers_cat_lives]

For those of you on Lithium, have you experienced a lot of fatigue as a side effect? If so, does this subside with time? I just started on Lithium for the first time a few weeks ago and have been feeling tired all the time. I'm on 900mgs. I'm just wondering what your experience has been with side effects (if any) and if there is anything you take with the lithium to counteract the sedating side effects.

 

[Loven God]

I never got to find out lithium made my face break out in little red blisters and made my hair fall out so I had to stop it .

 

[CraftyTurtle]

I've been on Lithium for over 5 years. 900mg. Yes, initially sleepiness is ridiculous! It wears off over time, say a few months, but in my experience that particular side effect will never be *completely* gone. I find in times of depression, I am so sleepy and dopey I can't think straight. Of course I don't know how much of that is the Lithium and how much is the depression.
Just my experience..... others may differ. Give it time. You can always go back to your doctor and say this is an unwanted side effect, and ask if there is an alternative that would suit you better.

 

[BRERDO]

Lithium is only effective if it falls within a certain level or range as it exists in your body. I took 1500mg for the longest time and now I am at 1200mg because my blood tests kept putting 1500mg at the top of my range of effectiveness. I haven't had any side effects at all from Lithium. I hope you can find the best solution to get by these issues because for me Lithium has been exactly what I had been looking for.

 

[ChristianSambodhi]

Speaking of Lithium, did anyone ever hallucinate on Lithium? I don't hallucinate typically and when I started it, I hallucinated one night. It wasn't scary, I simply saw a figure at the end of my bed (it was a Yeti). I laughed and went back to sleep. It was the only time I've ever had that happen on a Bipolar med (I hallucinated like crazy on Ambien, the only other time I hallucinated on any med).

 

[schrodingers_cat_lives]

I've been on Lithium for over 5 years. 900mg. Yes, initially sleepiness is ridiculous! It wears off over time, say a few months, but in my experience that particular side effect will never be *completely* gone. I find in times of depression, I am so sleepy and dopey I can't think straight. Of course I don't know how much of that is the Lithium and how much is the depression.
Just my experience..... others may differ. Give it time. You can always go back to your doctor and say this is an unwanted side effect, and ask if there is an alternative that would suit you better.

I asked this question on another forum and a few other people had the same fatigue side effect. They did say it subsided, but the duration varied. Someone else, like you, did say a few months as well. A few months really seems like a long time though..... don't want to be sitting on the couch or taking naps through out the day for months. Ugh... Normally i would just tell the doc to change my meds, but i was just hospitalized twice within these past 5 months for chronic suicidal depression and lithium was the only medication that magically made my symptoms vanish within just a few days, so i don't want to mess with changing the meds considering i've been out of the hospital for only a month.

Here's the thing though that i didn't mention and didn't realize till this week. Since i was concerned about future weight gain from the lithium, towards the end of my stay at the hospital, i asked my doc there if she could put me on something to counteract the weight gaining side effects and she put me on rather high doses of topamax which works as an appetite suppressant. So for the first few weeks after the hospital i didn't feel any fatigue at all---in fact quite the opposite. The new doc i started seeing after the hospital thought i was a little manic and so did my boyfriend. Well, long story short, a week ago, this new doc wanted to take me off the topomax because of the cognitive side effects which i agreed after doing some reading on it and was actually experiencing some short term memory loss myself. I heard some scary testimonies from people on topomax and it wasn't a risk i was willing to take. Anyway, he replaced the topomax with lamictcal (starting dose) and after the topomax left my system, that's when i began to feel the sedating side effects. After doing some research, turns out that topomax not only suppresses your appetite, but it also gives you an energy boost which is why i seemed manic and why it counteracted the fatigue.

I did tell my doc about the fatigue on my last visit and how not even strong cuban coffee was making a dent. He said that as he increases the lamictal, it should counteract the fatigue side effect. I hope he's right because this constant fatigue that prevents me from even moving, is really unbearable. Yesterday i was really upset (crying) because i finally found something that lifted the depression, yet is now keeping me "couch-locked" and unmotivated since i'm so tired. It made me feel similar to being depressed since i felt "stuck" again and unable to get things done. I just felt like i couldn't catch a break after this horrible depressive episode i just experienced. I came out of the hospital with all these plans to start exercising, re-joinging the human race, getting projects done around the house, doing my art work again and for the first few weeks i was getting stuff done, but now everything is at a stand still and i feel bored out of my mind, cranky/whiny and sluggish.

I guess I should be grateful though to at least not be in that horrific black hole of suicidal depression i've been in, but i'm just so sick of these trade-offs when it comes to meds. I guess being an unmotivated slug is better than being a suicidal slug crying every 2 minutes. I just wish i were normal. Anyway, forgive my venting. I really need to find a therapist who could help me cope with this stuff. I pray i could find a private therapist that would take my insurance----not an easy task in NJ.

 

[BRERDO]

Yep. It has been known to cause Hallucinations for those who take it. I have them a lot. No Yetis yet, though. Well, I guess that can be a side effect. Hallucinations, not Yetis.

 

[schrodingers_cat_lives]

Lithium is only effective if it falls within a certain level or range as it exists in your body. I took 1500mg for the longest time and now I am at 1200mg because my blood tests kept putting 1500mg at the top of my range of effectiveness. I haven't had any side effects at all from Lithium. I hope you can find the best solution to get by these issues because for me Lithium has been exactly what I had been looking for.

Did you or have you been taking anything else with the lithium? Just asking to see if those with no fatigue side effects are on something that counteracts it.

One thing i have noticed from all the people on lithium i've been asking is that females have reported the sedating side effect whereas the males have not had this side effect. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I wonder if it has something to do with height/weight or some difference with the way males/females metabolize it? Dunno...just wondering.

 

[BRERDO]

I have had Seroquel, Klonopin, Lamictal and Lithium all at once. Now I am on Lamictal and Lithium and the benzo Klonopin when needed for anxiety. Seroquel turned me into a zombie.

No fatigue, though. I am sure it is possible for some people to be affected differently, whether it be male/female or age or height/weight. All of our neurotransmitters are firing so incomparable to each other. I have noticed it seems more females have that side effect so I can go with you on that one.