Posted by Laurence on July 01, 1998 at 20:24:56:
In Reply to: Re: Cluster Update posted by DonnaM on July 01, 1998 at 15:57:48:
Hi Donna,
I suppose it's my own fault, I post something which leads to questions, which leads to replies which leads to more questions. At the rate I am going I will be in danger of filling up the pages here and making everybody fed up.
Anyway to answer your questions Donna. I have had no real problems with Lithium. I took it in my first bout in 1991 for several months, again in 1995 and now again starting about six weeks ago.
It is reported that it can take a couple of weeks or so to kick in before taking full effect. Personally, it was only a couple of days or so before I began to feel the benefit of it. In my own personal experience I continued to get for weeks and weeks a sort of shadow cluster for much of the day but no breakthroughs.
It doesn't suit everybody. One of the difficult aspects of the drug (as told to me by my doctor) is maintaning the right therapeutic levels in the blood. Some patient's bodies get rid of it too quickly for it to be effective. In others the Lithium can build up to dangerous levels. That is when problems can start as in Kidneys, Liver etc.That obvioulsy can be very dangerous. Your doctor would therefore want to take a blood sample after a week or two to test the Lithium levels and also to check how your thyroid etc is working. If you stay on it for any length of time, or the levels are not quite right, you may have further blood tests. They don't hurt.
My own GP's comment was that it was, relatively speaking, a fairly safe drug when compared with some of the others that are used to treat this condition.
My own problem with it this time is that it seems to be no longer 100% effective for me. Increasing the dosage is dangerous so it is being topped up as it were. First with Prednisone and then the new forthcoming attraction for me: Verapamil.
Good luck with your search for something that works for you Donna.
Laurence