Lithium Toxicity

[T4C Fantasy]

Having an uncle who was effectively an orderly in the mental health system at a pretty high security facility here in the PNW region of USA, he taught me two things: 1.) there are some people who need meds and no amount of good feels will fix them and 2.) there are some people who are so far gone they really can't be entrusted to live in the outside world, meds or not.

The 2nd group was a very hard spot for my uncle who generally wanted to help people. It led to early career burnout and early retirement. It's very tough working with people you know will most likely never recover.

That's all I got.

That is nuts, also reality. I'm lucky in my case, i seem to be recovering normally with no underlying damage.

 

[R-T-B]

That is nuts, also reality. I'm lucky in my case, i seem to be recovering normally with no underlying damage.

I have my own depressive tendencies but from his stories, believe me people like you and I and that 2nd group are pretty far apart. We'll make it with a doctors help thankfully.

 

[qubit]

I'm lucky in my case, i seem to be recovering normally with no underlying damage.

Good!

 

[T4C Fantasy]

100m (my speedwalking time progression) personal records
8/03/2022 (1:01.7)
8/08/2022 (1:00.8)
8/09/2022 (1:00.5)
8/10/2022 (0:56.7)
8/11/2022 (0:55.0)
8/18/2022 (0:54.7)
9/10/2022 (0:52.1)
9/30/2022 (0:48.1)

Post-Lithium Toxicity
100m (my speedwalking times)
10/24/2022 (1:02.9 / 0:57.2 / 0:53.9)
10/26/2022 (0:59.4)
10/27/2022 (0:57.1 / 0:55.7 / 0:53.4)
10/28/2022 (0:55.2 / 0:53.1 / 0:49.3)

my balance and strength is coming back

 

[ShiBDiB]

Awesome to hear you're recovering well! I've never heard a good thing about Lithium and this thread follows that trend. Definitely seems to be somewhat over prescribed and should be a last resort type of drug.

 

[T4C Fantasy]

Stats for the curious (minutes:seconds.miliseconds) - 106m/404m actual length
400m (my speed walking time progression)
07/29/2022 (4:46.1)
08/03/2022 (4:24.7)
08/05/2022 (4:18.9)
08/08/2022 (4:14.9)
08/09/2022 (4:06.1)
08/10/2022 (3.55.3)
08/11/2022 (3:52.7)
09/30/2022 (3:40.6)

100m (my speed walking time progression)
08/03/2022 (1:01.7) 241.1lbs
08/08/2022 (1:00.8)
08/09/2022 (1:00.5)
08/10/2022 (0:56.7)
08/11/2022 (0:55.0)
08/18/2022 (0:54.7)
09/10/2022 (0:52.1) 225.3lbs with knee bands
09/30/2022 (0:48.1) 217.8lbs with knee bands
10/29/2022 (0:43.9) 216.4lbs

100m (my jogging time progression)
08/03/2022 (0:34.0)
08/10/2022 (0:26.7)
08/11/2022 (0:25.3)
08/25/2022 (0:24.0)

Post-Lithium Toxicity
100m (my speed walking times)
10/24/2022 (1:02.9 / 0:57.2 / 0:53.9)
10/26/2022 (0:59.4) 213.8lbs
10/27/2022 (0:57.1 / 0:55.7 / 0:53.4) 214.8lbs
10/28/2022 (0:55.2 / 0:53.1 / 0:49.3) 215.8lbs
10/29/2022 (0:52.3 / 0:49.3 / 0:47.2 / 0:43.9) 216.4lbs

20.8m (my speed walk times)
10/30/2022 (0:12.75 / 0:11.75 / 0:11.22 / 0:10.33 / 0:09.42 / 0:08:95)

 

[Valantar]

Great to see that you're recovering well and (seemingly/hopefully) not having any lasting adverse effects from this. Also wishing you luck in getting back on the lithium at a suitable dose and seeing positive effects of it later on, and managing the dose relative to your body mass successfully as you keep exercising. As many have said above this is an incredibly finicky drug, in many ways.

Also: this is an excellent example of how incredibly hard work mental illness is, and treatment for it too - and how easy it can be to mess things up. The mental labor and cognitive effort involved in following many treatment regimes is staggering, and managing it at all is damn impressive.

 

[Aquinus]

As many have said above this is an incredibly finicky drug, in many ways.

To be fair, most medications need to be adjusted when you lose or gain weight because if you lose weight, then you're going to have more of the drug in your body most of the time. Lithium in this situation is just more dangerous because of how toxic it is compared to the therapeutic dosage for a given body mass. My wife is also ADHD and is prescribed a stimulant. She lost weight and she found that she needed to reduce her dose because it was basically causing her to go manic.

I guess the moral of the story is that if your body weight significantly changes, you should consult your doctor about dosing of your current medications.

 

[T4C Fantasy]

im almost completely recovered now, some balance issues here and there but im even faster than i was before when walking.

stats for the curious
100m (my speed walking time progression)
08/03/2022 (1:01.7) 241.1lbs
08/08/2022 (1:00.8)
08/09/2022 (1:00.5)
08/10/2022 (0:56.7)
08/11/2022 (0:55.0)
08/18/2022 (0:54.7)
09/10/2022 (0:52.1) 225.3lbs with knee bands
09/30/2022 (0:48.1) 217.8lbs with knee bands
10/29/2022 (0:43.9) 216.4lbs
10/31/2022 (0:41.4) 217.0lbs

 

[T4C Fantasy]

Back to 100%, thank you all for the support and for reading my synopsis.

 

[qubit]

Wicked, so glad for you.

 

[T4C Fantasy]

Stats for the curious (minutes:seconds.miliseconds) m = meters
Post-Lithium Toxicity
102m (my speed progression)
10/29/2022 (0:44.0) 216.4lbs - 5.19mph / 8.35kmh
10/31/2022 (0:41.4) 217.0lbs - 5.5mph / 8.9kmh
11/02/2022 (0:40.2) 214.4lbs - 5.7mph / 9.1kmh
11/08/2022 (0:34.6) 215.8lbs - 6.5mph / 10.5kmh
11/11/2022 (0:31.5) 213.6lbs - 7.1mph / 11.5kmh
11/14/2022 (0:23.0) 217.2lbs - 9.9mph / 16.0kmh