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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> lithium how long it takes to work
        
(Message started by: debmurph on Jul 4^th, 2005, 11:34am)

Title: lithium how long it takes to work
Post by debmurph on Jul 4^th, 2005, 11:34am

hey how long does it take lithium to work? have been on it for seven days today and wondering how long it took other people to work

Title: Re: lithium how long it takes to work
Post by Karla on Jul 4^th, 2005, 5:30pm

I took 900mg in pm and it worked within a prox 3 weeks. However, it only cut the number of ha in half from 8 /day to 4/day and lowered the frequecy from kip 10 to kip 6-8. It worked for 2 years and then one day it just stoped working.

Title: Re: lithium how long it takes to work
Post by burnt-toast on Jul 10^th, 2005, 12:14am

on 07/04/05 at 11:34:04, debmurph wrote:

hey how long does it take lithium to work? have been on it for seven days today and wondering how long it took other people to work

At one time Lithium was the only med. that I needed to control CHs. I started at 1500mg daily 300x5 with good results in 2 weeks and great results within 4 weeks. After about 14 mos. @ 1500mg I started getting hand tremmors so I adjusted back to 1200mg and eliminated that problem. Unfortunately I had to add 720mg Verapamil and 9mg melatonin to regain CH control. I've been using lithium for 8 or 9 years now.

My symptoms are primarily chronic (I get a short 1 to 3 mos. break every few years). With Lithium I have control on frequency and severity but am unable to stop the CHs. Missing a dosage can be CH disaster - I know the lithium/verapamil work to some extent but I am searching for better options.

As I understand it every individual responds differently to lithium and it is common to require constant adjustment during early treatment. Maintaining good salt levels and avoiding severe sweating is important to avoiding lithium intoxication.

Good luck on you search for answers.

Tom

The attached information and link should help.

Pharmacokinetics: Lithium ions are rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and plasma lithium peaks are reached 2 to 4 hours after lithium administration. The distribution of lithium in the body approximates that of total body water, but its passage across the blood-brain barrier is slow and at equilibration the CSF lithium level reaches only approximately half the plasma concentration.

Lithium undergoes a biphasic elimination pathway with an alpha half-life of 5 hours and beta half-life of 18 hours.

Lithium is excreted primarily in urine with less than 1% being eliminated with the feces. Lithium is filtered by the glomeruli and 80% of the filtered lithium is reabsorbed in the tubules, probably by the same mechanism responsible for sodium reabsorption.

The renal clearance of lithium is proportional to its plasma concentration. About 50% of a single dose of lithium is excreted in 24 hours. A low salt intake resulting in low tubular concentration of sodium will increase lithium reabsorption and might result in retention or intoxication.

Renal lithium clearance tends to be remarkably constant in the same individual but decreases with age and when sodium intake is lowered. The dose necessary to maintain a given concentration of serum lithium depends on the ability of the kidney to excrete lithium. However, renal lithium excretion may vary greatly between individuals and lithium dosage must, therefore, be adjusted individually. In clinical reports, it has been noted that serum lithium may rise an average of 0.2 to 0.4 mEq or mmol/L after intake of 300 mg and 0.3 to 0.6 mEq or mmol/L after intake of 600 mg of lithium carbonate. It has been suggested that manic patients retain larger amounts of lithium during the active manic phase, but recent studies have been unable to confirm a clear difference in excretion patterns. However, patients in a manic state seem to have an increased tolerance to lithium.

http://www.rxcarecanada.com/Carbolith.asp?prodid=299