Lurker with a question about Lithium
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| Sat, 12-30-2006 - 7:18pm |
Hi Everyone - My name is Jena. I come around the board about every six months or so when things aren't going so great for support and you guys always pull through for me. I know I should come around more. I don't know why I don't....anyway, the purpose of this post is to see if anyone here is on Lithium? It's kind of a long story so I'll try to sum it up. I gained 125 lbs on a medication called Depakote ER. I got off of it a little over a year ago and have lost almost 90 lbs. Now, they put me on Lithium and I heard that can cause you to gain weight and I am scared to death. I am a BIG Girl still!!! I wear a 26/28. I can't afford to go up to a bigger size. I'll just die if I have to order clothes out of a catalog again. I weighed myself today and I gained 5 lbs. since last week. I'm thinking it is because of the holidays (or atleast I hope so). I have been on Lithium for about 3 weeks now and it seems to working a miracle for me. I do feel tons better so far. I'm also on Klonopin, Abilify, Geodon and Lamictal. What has been your experience with Lithium? I am already started to get the hand tremors a little bit which scares me because I am an artist and have an art class beginning Wednesday. I do watercolors. Any words of wisdom on how to avoid the weight gain with Lithium? Thanks! Have a happy new year!
Jena


Jena,
Some of my sources don't list weight gain as a side effect at all, while others list it as a less common side effect.