Lithium and luvox togehter?

Question

is the combo of lithium and luvox good for bipolar? i have tried everything from luvox alone to trazodone and klonopin to geodon and lamictal. Lamictal seemed to kind of help, but i got baddd migraines and couldn't drive w/o getting sick. So should these two meds together help me better??

Answer 1

Lithium is good stuff for about 50% of the people who try it.  The only side effect that I have is a slight tremor in my left hand when I am dehydrated, which is very easy to solve.  Lithium shut off the noise in my head and calmed me down about two weeks after I got to the effective serum level.  I can and do take Lamictal, but run into cognitive dulling over 150mg so I can't max the antidepressant effect.  Lithium, however, gives me a good antidepressant boost and I'm sure it's additive to Lamictal.  The antidepression effect for me takes 3-4 weeks to take hold, btw.  It's not as fast as the antimanic action.  If you can take Li without serious side effects, it should act as both a good antimanic and antidepressant augmentor.  Whether Luvox is the antidepressant for you is something your history with it should indicate.  I can't take antidepressants w/o agitation or hypomania even with stabilizers.  So, I'm a bit jealous and also not the most knowledgeable about them.

Hang in there. It takes time and trial and error to find what works, and then some more time to find what works with the least amout of side effects.  I've been at this for almost two years and am still tweaking out some minor issues.  It's frustrating at times, but even as it is for me now, it's been well worth it.  I have my life back again.  Keep working with your doc and you will have yours again, too.

Answer 2

Hi Ellie!

Lithium salts has long been used to make people feel better, and its effect was first noted in natural "mineral springs" that had lithium salts as one of the minerals.  People felt more relaxed after soaking in the mineral baths.  The lithium salts were actually being absorbed through their skin.  So lithium has been around, in one form or another, for centuries.  Lithium is currently one of the old standards for controlling manic behavior.  It does require a few blood serum level tests to ensure you are at the proper dosage.

An antidepressant, of which many are available, is often combined with lithium to control the ups and downs of bi-polar disorder.

Here's the thing....no one knows for sure which combination will work for you, except you, and then only by trying a number of combinations.

This can be very frustrating, because you have to titrate the dosage up gradually to an effective level before you know if the combination will work for you, or not.  This can take weeks, or even months, to find the right meds that take care of your problem.  

Mostly, patients discontinue their meds because of side-effects, even if the meds are working fine.  So the trick here is to have the perseverance to keep at this trial and error until you find the right combination that works for you, and has minimal or no side effects.

So, don't give up.  The results are well worth the effort!!!