So this will get long-winded, because there's a lot I've been through in the last couple months. Fair warning.

To start, as of January I had been started on lithium with instructions from the neuro to take 300 mg the first week, increasing to 600 mg the second week, then 900 mg the third week if no response. No blood tests were ordered during this time. On week three, I went to work feeling shaky and unsteady on my feet. I'd been dehydrated from nausea, so I chalked it up to that. But after having lunch with coworkers, I got back to work and started having strange symptoms. My hearing was "double", like there was an echo in the room. I started to get weird shaky jerks in my body whenever someone made a loud sudden noise. Then the next thing I knew, I had blanked out while convulsing and collapsed. I think I was out only for a few seconds. Friends said it looked like a seizure.

I was taken to the ER where they ran a bunch of tests. I told them about the lithium I was on, and they took a blood test. Apparently the acceptable upper limit is 1.2 and mine was 1.7. Yikes! I spent a couple days in the hospital while they pumped me full of fluids and made sure I was okay. Lithium was discontinued. 

Followed up with GP, he confirmed I should stop taking it as my body was metabolizing too well at that dose, which was so far ineffective. While in the hospital, I was also prescribed metoprolol and amlodipine for high blood pressure they discovered. Yet, when I saw my doc, my BP was 90/60. He felt the BP meds were maybe working TOO well. Yet when I got home, my BP was back up and I decided to keep taking the dose I was prescribed. They said it might also help with my headaches.

Well, this weekend I took the usual dose but woke up feeling weak, dizzy, and heart pounding. Decided to go to ER, where they discovered my BP was 80/50, pulse rate 50 bpm, and my heart rhythm was all over the map. Part of my heart had stopped working, and the rest of it was working overtime to compensate. Something about an "junctional escape rhythm". I was admitted to hospital again.

Turns out, my prescription was wrong. I was taking two times more medication than I needed. Pharmacy did not make the mistake, as I checked the written prescription with them. Someone at the hospital screwed up. Could have killed me. 

Right now, I'm not on any prevents. I've failed all of the normal ones. I'm looking into the alternatives, of course. And 02 and Imitrex continue to abort, thank goodness. It's been a scary ride, and I've had quite enough of being a pharmaceutical guinea pig. It never seems to end well for me.

So thanks for reading, and sorry I've been out of touch.

Several years ago I was put on lithium for CH.  I also take Toprol for high blood pressure.  I don't know if this has anything to do with anything, but I started to hallucinate.  I recall driving home one night and the traffic light turned into a giant twinkie hanging from the sky.  I had other hallucinations around that time.  I stopped the lithium and the hallucinations stopped.

My major concern after reading your report centers around a doctor who is/was doing a very poor job of monitoring your condition. This especially true when starting Lithium.

ER is simply not the source of stable, long term care. We need one trusted doc who has the whole picture and who monitors, especially when starting new treatment protocols.

And under the present conditions trying new suggestions you get here is an unwise move! Achieving medical stability is the immediate need--and that takes you back to working with a trustworthy doctor.

Mike NZ, yeah I agree I should have been better monitored. I did ask several times about having my lithium levels tested, only to have the new neuro say it wasn't necessary. I guess I should have been more persistent?

Slim, not sure about the hallucinating. I think I just had a small sort of seizure but no one knows for sure.

Callico, I will file away the kudzu suggestion for possible future use. Right now I am "detoxing" from all of the prevents and relying solely on oxygen and Imitrex. And I do so hate Imitrex, but it works.

Bob, I agree that my monitoring should have been better. But the neuro visit was my first with the guy, and even though I asked about having blood levels drawn several times, he felt it wasn't necessary. Obviously it was, in retrospect, but I have been somewhat at the mercy of local doctors. I have no car, and no ability to go beyond local docs at the moment. My plan is to get out of Richmond by the end of the year and move to NYC. There have got to be better doctors there. I hope.

And Guiseppi? I had no idea that Dr. Mareska of Neurological Associates was on the list of approved CH docs. I feel like I've checked that several times and not noticed him. But this is the same group from which I've selected the past two neuros! The first one there got me on Topamax and left me hanging to lose 60 lbs, and the second was the doc who started me on Lithium with no blood tests. I am wary of trying a third. 

Thanks to all for your responses. I am starting to wonder if I should spend more time at Clusterbusters but... I feel I am not a great candidate for anything even remotely prone to causing side effects. I've had fungal remedies before, and let's just say it did not go well.