Bipolar Depression

ii was wonder how many have been on lithium and ended up having hypothyroidism.I've read that lithium is one cause of it.so is there really a thyroid problem or is the lithium causing it.if so does cuting back,or changing meds put the thyroid back to normal.my wife's TSH was a 6.1,normal is .3-3.0.they didnt test prior to starting meds so no way to know what level was.now they want to do a ultrasound and more meds,and more bloodwork.big cost when you dont have insurance.

anyone experience this ,and how did it turn out.

I'm watching this thread, I just started on Lithium. I absolutely love what it's doing for me, but terrified about the side effects.

whats your dosage,and what does it do for you?my wife is on 1200 mg lithium and 20 mg of abilify for 2 months now..she has hand tremors bad,memory loss,tired alot(maybe thyroid)and for last 2 days she is experiencing some nausia,dizzinessand a few othoer wierd symtoms.so i'm gonna play doc and had her skip a dose of lithium.i fear she may be getting toxic.we will know by tonight.it takes 12-24 hours for lithium to get out of your system.if nothing changes then she can take next dosage and i guess we will call the doc.i hate to do that cause i really dont care for him.he was supposed to check thyroid and kindney levels prior to starting lithium,but didn't.
hope it works for you.

Hey Rob,

I'm on a low dose, only 600 mg. I use it to supplement Lamictal, which I consider my "main" med.

Toxic comes to my mind also, but like you said, I hate to play doctor.

My dosage is low enough that I've avoided the side effects. I suffered a lot of agitation the first couple of weeks, but that's gone and I'm doing great. The agitation and hypomania I was feeling is gone. It's like it put in an upper ceiling. The ceiling is pretty low, I'd like to escape upward from time to time, but I'll take the stability.

My pdoc sent me for blood tests after prescribing Lithium. He told me to go ahead and start even though it would be a week or so before I could get into the primary care physician for blood work. It sounds like this is pretty common.

well it was 5 weeks till he decided to get bloodwork.porbably not a good call on his part.anyway she is alot better today so we resumed with a lower dose till we see doc.we goota keep that "cieling" in place.i like that.she is aliitle "up"this evening,its amazing how that stuff does work.miss a dose and boom!its not much comfort realeying on that little pil to keep her from going manic.what if it stops working.that thought scares me.i cant even imagine what it must be like for her and you.but i suppose if you go manic you really wont be worried about the meds.thanks for the input and take care, rob

Hi Rob;I know your post was awhile ago, but I was on lithium for about three months and I became hypothyroid. I was placed on levothroid, a thyroid hormone, to get my thyroid back to normal levels. I went off lithium because I did not want to have to take levothroid for the rest of my life, just another drug! But the interesting thing about all of this is that the levothroid has made me feel a lot better, and I did some research and found that many people have a normal thyroid reading on lab tests but for many people, this normal is on the "low" end of normal. Many bipolars are on the low end. I also read in the Manic Depression edition 2 by Jamison and Goodwin, that a pyschiatrist should treat a bipolar patient with a thyroid hormone medication before trying an antidepressant, or even mood stabilizer. Now is this not interesting, or what? I was never told this by my pdoc.I did ask him about it and he said, yes, you can augment thyroid medication. I wondered why he did not try this from the start? Maybe I am being "mildly paranoid" that I am not getting all of the answers. In other words, don't trust everything your docs are giving you, or telling you. Read all new material out there and research things yourself. Then ask your doc questions. I don't know if I am bipolar or not. I know that I have a lot of the symptoms, but having a dysfunctional thyroid presents alot of the same symptoms seem in bipolar. I could have bipolar and still have a dysfunctional thyroid. What I am also saying is that I think it is a lot better to be tried on a treatment of a thyroid medication with a mood stabilizer, or a thyroid medication with an antidepressant, or just a thyroid medication from the start to see if after three months, you are any better. I find that docs are just putting us on more medications. Maybe just try the thryroid first...then slowly add others, if there is no improvement. Anyway, how are you doing with your hypothyroidism. If you are still on lithium, you were probably placed on a thyroid drug...lithium does cause hypothyroid. Maybe ask your doc what I just wrote about?