Lithium?

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Before I knew I was autistic a therapist tried to get me to take lithium. He said that "lithium is so mild that you can have it lying around the house in candy bowls" in actuality however it can be very harmful. I'm not bipolar and thankfully I didn't take lithium, but has anyone else encountered a situation like this?

i heard somebody joke about it, "it made me fat but at least the cat stopped talking."

I took lithium for a while with antidepressants. It had no effect at all, positive or negative.

My old psychiatrist mentioned that he had considered prescribing me lithium, but that he was fairly reluctant, I think, due to me having to get weekly blood tests to monitor the effects. In the end, I wasn't put on it, so I have no personal experience. I find it odd what you were told, though, as I had heard that lithium can be a risky drug to take, as the recquired dose is apparently quite close to the lethal dose. I might be wrong, though.

Lithium is still the most effective anti-manic agent, but it is NOT "mild." As LookingLost said, patients on lithium need regular blood tests to monitor for possible lithium toxicity. Too much is especially bad for the kidneys. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a highly useful medication. Unfortunately, lithium use has declined in recent years, due to the increased use of atypical anti-psychotics. People are starting to be more scared of lithium blood tests when they don't realize that the atypical anti-psychotics can be just as dangerous.

I got put on Lithium in November while I was inpatient after a manic episode that crashed into depression. They tried Epival at first on my request, because I was afraid of Lithium, but the Epival made me even more depressed so they switched me to Lithium. It worked pretty fast to get me out of depression, but I don't know if it's working. I'm dealing with an eating disorder and an autism regression right now so I don't know what my mood is or if the bipolar disorder is in this mix at all.

The reason I was afraid of Lithium is how easy it is to move from a therapeutic blood level to a toxic blood level. And I'm not good at getting my blood tested. I have a form sitting on my shelf right now.

My opinion of it is mixed though. I'm not depressed, but I'm a whole lotta other messed up right now. I don't know if the lithium could be doing better job.

I've never taken lithium & don't believe I need it, however, I do have a couple of pieces of Brazilian quarried lithium quartz crystals in my water bottle for it's metaphysical elixir properties - which are calming. I have another piece or two in a collection of meditation stones.

To each their own in whether they think that's a load of hippie crap or not, I'm really indifferent as to what anyone else thinks about it - but I know for myself what they do and do not have an affect on, and I prefer to drink my calm peaceful water.