my husband was started on lithium last week, and since then, he's already had several of the side effects. i'm just wondering if the side effects are safe to be having. he's been complaining that his knees are hurting/aching all the time now (and it wakes him up from sleep). and, the "tremors" he had before are now much much worse - now they don't seem to ever stop, and they're more severe (more..exaggerated if that makes sense). they don't stop all night, and he also has been making moaning/painful sounds all night when he's asleep. the last two nights i've woken up to his entire body shaking for 30sec-a few minutes several times (and it looks exactly like he's having a seizure). and i've woken up to his head shaking back and forth a few times too - before this had only happened once or twice over the last few months, but since he started the lithium it has happened 1-2x a night.

before starting the lithium, his attacks were down to 1-2x a week, which i know isn't ideal, but it is better than 2-4x a day. i'm just wondering if staying on the lithium and having all of these adverse side effects is worth it. (and especially because the lithium will not have any effect on the constant headache, which is the more major problem now.) any advice would be appreciated.

There are known side effects which the doc should have told you about. Routine blood tests are mandatory because individuals differ in their response and dosing can be adjusted to avoid potential toxic effects.

This is not an argument to avoid using a well established and effective med. Monitoring is important.

Reporting these effects to the doc is essential and, if he didn't give the side effects list, ask for this information.

can anyone tell me what the normally prescribed doseage of lithium is?

Krys,

The real expert on lithium is Guiseppi (joe).  Use the search tool at the upper right side of this page and do a search on "Guiseppi Lithium dose"

One of Guiseppi's posts is particularly interesting... 

"Be patient with the lithium, takes about 10-14 days to get up and running as a prevent for me. And get ready to get up to pee 5 times a night for the first week or two! Grin

Joe"

Take care,

V/R, Batch

See the PDF file below.

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